UPF Fact Sheet
HUMANITIES
Teaching
The principles of interdisciplinarity, critical thinking and intellectual rigor coupled with a cross-disciplinary perspective on our times and the world to come are defining features of the academic offer of the Faculty of Humanities at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. These same principles also link the Faculty’s overall project to both the longstanding tradition of the humanities and contemporary globalized societies. Among other programmes, since the 2016-2017 academic year the Faculty has offered the bachelor’s degree in Global Studies. This pioneering threeyear programme, taught entirely in English, addresses global challenges based on a cross-disciplinary, plural and integrated approach.
Key figures —— —— —— ——
28% of official master’s students are international (2018-2019) 39% of doctoral students are international (2018-2019) 33% of graduates have studied abroad (2017-2018) Internship agreements with more than 60 companies, such as Penguin Random House, Primavera Sound, Telefónica I+D and Planeta
Research agreements
The Department of Humanities encompasses 38 areas of knowledge, grouped into four paths: History, Thought, Art, and Literature and Literary Theory. There is a consistent link between research and teaching, particularly within postgraduate programmes, as witnessed by the topics explored in the Faculty’s master’s theses and PhD dissertations.
Key figures —— Horizon 2020:[1] €3.7 million / 9 projects —— 2 ERC grants —— 5 Marie Curie Actions —— Spanish R&D and Innovation Plan:[2] €904,000 / 24 projects —— International teaching staff:[3] 12% —— ICREA research professors:[4] 4 —— Theses defended in English: 7% (2017-2018)
Data refer to the 2014-2018 period only. They include individual and consortia projects. [2] Data refer to the 2014-2017 period. [3] Data as of January 2017. [4] The Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) offers permanent tenured positions at Catalan host institutions to top researchers from around the world. [1]
Research centres —— CER Jaume Vicens i Vives Institute of History —— CER Institute of Culture
Study centres —— Eugenio Trías Centre for Philosophical Studies (CEFET) —— Barcelona International Book Studies Centre —— UPF Centre for Vattimo’s Philosophy and Archives
Research groups (RG) —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— ——
Research Centre for Primitive Art and Primitivism (CIAP) Intercultural Spaces, Languages and Identities RG (GREILI) History of Creative Writing RG Comparative Literature RG Magic and Divination in Greece and Rome RG Bibliotheca Mystica et Philosophica Alois M. Haas RG Social Movements RG (CEMS) Mediterranean Archaeology RG (GRACME) History of Science RG Institutions and Society in Modern Catalonia RG Colonialism, Gender and Materialities RG (CGyM) States, Nations and Sovereignties RG (GRENS) Complexity and Socio-Ecological Dynamics RG (CaSEs) Ethnography, Cultural Encounters and Religious Missions RG (ECERM) RG on Empires, Metropolises and Extra-European Societies (GRIMSE) Nexuses between Science, Culture, Politics, Religion and Society RG (NEXES) —— Archaeology Laboratory
International agreements
The Department collaborates and has exchange agreements for pre- and postdoctoral researchers with the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, Brown University, the University of California-Berkeley, the European Institute of Florence, the Machiavelli Center for Cold War Studies at the University of Florence, Casa Velázquez in Madrid, the Max Planck Institute, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Europaeum, a consortium led by Oxford University. At the undergraduate level, the international dimension is reflected in the high rate of student mobility with various Erasmus+ partners, such as: —— Sciences Po and ENS-Lyon (France) —— Kings College London and Edinburgh and Warwick universities (United Kingdom) —— University College Dublin (Ireland) —— Amsterdam, Maastricht and Tilburg universities (the Netherlands) —— Aarhus University (Denmark) Bilateral agreements have also been signed with universities in the United States, Korea, Japan, China and Australia and, more recently, in Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Iran in North Africa and the Middle East. Global Studies students can thus use this global network of partners to broaden their perspectives on the world and sharpen their intercultural skills during their compulsory period abroad. An International Week is also held each academic year in which visiting professors from partner universities are invited to share their views on current global challenges, thereby further internationalizing the curriculum. This international focus is not only present in the curriculum for the bachelor’s degree in Global Studies, but also at the master’s level, where the Faculty now offers regional studies on Asia Pacific and China, to which end it has reaffirmed its longstanding relationships with some universities in the region even as it forges others. Similarly, the master’s degree in World History receives students from Johns Hopkins University and has exchange agreements with Bologna, Cologne, Paris I, Freie Berlin and Sheffield universities.
UPF is included on some of the most influential global rankings:
Global rankings and results by subject
—— 1st Spanish university, 135th worldwide and 58th in Europe (Times Higher Education ranking, 2019) —— 11th university worldwide among universities aged 50 and under (Times Higher Education Young Universities Ranking, 2018) —— 2nd university in Spain and among the top 250 universities in the world (Shanghai ranking, 2018) The University also ranks very high in the humanities: —— 150th in arts and humanities (Times Higher Education ranking, 2019) —— 213th in the world in arts & humanities (QS Ranking, 2019)
—
Bachelor’s degree in Humanities (launched in the 2008-2009 academic year). This interdisciplinary programme combines subjects on various languages and literatures, history, art history, and thought with a clear overarching aim: to produce graduates with knowledge of humans as both individuals and a society.
—
Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies (launched in the 2016-2017 academic year). This programme is intended for students from all over the world interested in understanding the cultural, economic, legal, environmental, political, social, and technological phenomena that affect us all, regardless of our precise geographical location.
—
Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. This programme approaches social sciences from a variety of angles, giving students the tools they need to analyse today’s increasingly global, complex and connected world. The programme is offered jointly by UPF (Barcelona), Carlos III University (UC3M) in Madrid, the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), and students follow parts of it at all three institutions. Study abroad is also encouraged.
—
Simultaneous Studies Programme: Humanities degree/Journalism degree. This is a special degree programme covering two areas of study that allows students to earn two degrees (in Humanities and in Journalism) in a period of five years.
—
Master’s degree in Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Thought. This programme combines common subjects in comparative literature, art and thought with a wide variety of optional subjects, allowing students to create an interdisciplinary curriculum tailored to their specific interests.
—
Master’s degree in World History. This programme trains students in the history of power within empires, states, and colonies in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Students acquire interdisciplinary skills needed to analyze politics, society, economics, and international relations over the longue durée.
—
Master’s degree in Chinese Studies. This programme offers specialized training in modern and contemporary China to professionals and university graduates with different backgrounds and from a variety of fields.
—
Master’s degree in Asian-Pacific Studies in a Global Context. This programme offers comprehensive training on the different areas of the Asia-Pacific region in the fields of economics, culture, international relations, history and language oriented towards both career opportunities and research.
—
PhD programmes. The Faculty offers two PhD programmes, the PhD in History and the PhD in Humanities.
April 2019
www.upf.edu/web/humanitats