Durham is once again celebrating after three of its subjects were ranked in the world top 100 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2020.
The rankings, which are released in stages each autumn, ranked Social Sciences (which includes Sociology, Geography, Politics and International Studies), Education and Law at Durham amongst the very best in the world.
Our Law School has achieved its best ever result in this ranking, being placed 33rd in the world, whilst Education and Social Sciences have both retained their world top 100 positions, ranking 53rd and 63rd respectively.
If you look at our achievements in the last month, it's not hard to see why we continue to be so strong in these subjects.
Distinguished social scientists
Just three weeks ago five of our academics were awarded Fellowships by the prestigious Academy of Social Sciences.
The Academy of Social Sciences is the UK's national academy of academics, learned societies and practitioners in the social sciences. Fellowships are awarded to distinguished scholars and professional practitioners from academia and the public and private sectors.
Leading educational change
Two weeks ago, our School of Education completed an innovative 18-month research collaboration with Arts Council England to understand how creativity and creative thinking can influence the lives of young people.
The collaboration, called the Durham Commission, found that creativity can have a positive personal, social and academic impact on young people. The report calls for creativity in teaching to be prioritised, to help young people to work and think creatively, equipping them with skills for later life.
Influencing pornography laws
Our Law School is at the forefront of research into the effectiveness of laws around extreme pornography. Research published in early October found that a law against possession of rape pornography is rarely used.
The researchers are calling for a review of the role and purpose of extreme porn laws based on their findings.
Earlier research in this area influenced the Government's decision to reform the extreme pornography offence, to cover the possession of extreme images that depict rape and assault by penetration.
Global excellence
The THE World University Rankings by Subject 2020 consider the teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income of hundreds of universities across the world.
Earlier this year Durham University also recorded its highest ever number of subjects in the world top 100 of the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019.
We're also a world top 100 university in the overall QS World University Rankings 2020 and the THE World Reputation Rankings 2019.
