Otago's Humanities research output is rated the best in New Zealand in a number of disciplines
Recent research quality evaluations rate the Division of Humanities research output to be the best in New Zealand in a number of disciplines, and rank some of our subjects among the top 50 internationally.
Read more about the details of our PBRF and QS rankings.
Pāho, the Humanities Research blog
Pāho highlights the new and exciting research happening within the Division of Humanities at Otago.
Find out about recent publications, awards, grants, postgraduate and other research news.
Read our current research stories.
Go to Pāho, the Humanities Research blog.
Research centres, themes and clusters
Research in the Division of Humanities is inclusive and collaborative, as evidenced by the range of areas covered in our research centres, themes and clusters.
Find out about more about our research centres, themes and clusters.
Digital Humanities
Support for digital humanities scholarship and practice including an annual digital humanities expo.
Exceptional doctoral theses in the Division of Humanities
Go to a list of exceptional doctoral theses produced by students in the Division.
Quality evaluations on the Division's research output and academic excellence
The 2017 QS World University Rankings by Subject showed the following Humanities subjects at Otago to be rated in the top 50 in the world: Archaeology (40th) and Development Studies (44th). The following subjects ranked in the top 100 in the world: Anthropology, Education, Geography, History, Law and Performing Arts. English Language & Literature, Modern Languages and Politics & International Studies featured in the 101-150 band, and Communication & Media Studies, Linguistics, Sociology and Philosophy in the top 200 in the world.
The new global rankings in faculty areas (aggregations of subject areas) used by QS have Otago arts, humanities and social sciences in the top 100 world-wide:
- 88th for arts and humanities
- 89th for social sciences and management
The 2012 Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) quality evaluation confirmed the research strengths of the Division of Humanities at Otago. The following subject areas were ranked either first or second in the country: Anthropology and Archaeology; Education; History, Art History and Classics; Law; Philosophy; Sociology, Gender and Social Work; Theology and Religious Studies. The Division also hosts 6 of the top 12 nominated academic units within the University.
Find out more about the 2012 Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) Quality Evaluation.
