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Faculty of Arts and Humanities REF Result

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities is a world-leading centre for research across our seven departments. As a Faculty, we celebrate our innovative collaborative work across disciplines and sectors. We research on themes from environmental, medical, and digital humanities, to culture, creativity and heritage, and provide research leadership on policy and social engagement here in the North-East in the UK and across the globe.

Find out more about our Research
5 out of 7 Departments in the Top 10 for Research Power REF 2021
4th in Classics for overall research quality in REF2021
26th in the World Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2022
8th for Theology and Religion for overall research quality in REF 2021

About Us

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities supports state of the art, collaborative research that stretches across disciplines and sectors, and which has a positive impact for the North-East of England, the UK and across the globe. As well as the innovative research undertaken within each of our seven Departments, the Faculty also promotes interdisciplinary approaches to research through links to university research institutes, such as: 

We also have our 19 Research Centres, which include Catholic Studies, Visual Arts and Cultures, the Zurburán Centre for Spanish and Latin American Art and Culture, Nineteenth-Century Studies, Contemporary African History, Culture and Ecology, Death and Life Studies, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Modern Conflicts and Cultures, Humanities Engaging Science and Society, Classical Reception, Poetry and Poetics, History of Medicine and Disease, the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, Intercultural Mediation; with new centres on Moral Injury, Language and Writings Systems, and Comparative Modernities coming on stream in October 2022.  

Our research engages with a wide variety of end-users and stakeholders, locally, nationally, and globally. Our research impact ranges from policy to creative arts, and from medical humanities to cultural heritage, with transformative results.

Explore the seven departments of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities

The academic, educational and research staff and the students of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities generate exemplary world-leading education and research in some of the strongest departments in their field.

Find out more about each of our seven departments.

Department of Classics and Ancient History

Explore the Research Excellence Framework (REF) page for Classics and Ancient History.
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Department of English Studies

Explore the Research Excellence Framework (REF) page for English Studies.
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Department of History

Explore the Research Excellence Framework (REF) page for History.
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School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Explore the Research Excellence Framework (REF) page for the School of Modern Languages and Cultures.
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Department of Music

Explore the Research Excellence Framework (REF) page for Music.
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Department of Philosophy

Explore the Research Excellence Framework (REF) page for Philosophy.
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Department of Theology and Religion

Explore the Research Excellence Framework (REF) page for Theology and Religion
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The exterior of the Ogden Centre, Department of Physics

Research and Business at Durham

At Durham, our academic staff conduct boundary-breaking research which improves lives across the world. Collaboration with a broad mix of partners is central to enhancing global knowledge and developing global citizenship.  We find it easy to be proud of the extraordinary people we have at Durham.

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Get in touch

Contact the Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Faculty Office 
Elvet Riverside Block 2 
New Elvet 
Durham DH1 3JT