“Getting ranked well is fun. It’s nice to see the recognition of the outstanding group of teachers and researchers here at BU.”

—Professor Barton L. Lipman

FORGET BEST IN NEW ENGLAND, even best in the nation; this is about being best in the world.

In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015, CAS’ economics and philosophy departments placed among the top 40 programs within their disciplines. Both moved up in the rankings, with economics jumping 15 spots to 32nd; the Department of Philosophy rose to 28th (up from 31st). Higher education specialists Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) publishes the annual rankings, which “highlight the world’s top universities in a range of popular subject areas.” The listings are formulated by calculating academic reputation, student employability after graduation, and research citations.

“As philosophers, we are often skeptical about things like rankings,” says Associate Professor C. Allen Speight, chair of the Department of Philosophy, “but it’s nice to be recognized in this context for some of our strengths.” Speight says the philosophy program has a notable pluralist commitment and is especially strong in areas such as epistemology, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of law.

Though he also “doesn’t want to make too much of a ranking,” Professor Barton L. Lipman, chair of the Department of Economics, says “getting ranked well is fun. It’s nice to see the recognition of the outstanding group of teachers and researchers here at BU.”

Lipman says the department’s faculty excels in virtually all aspects of the field, from macroeconomics to industrial organization. The QS rankings define the discipline as “economics and econometrics,” he says, and econometrics is one of the department’s major strengths.