Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences header
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Why study with DCU’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences?

Why study with DCU’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences?

There are a lot of reasons to study with DCU’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, which has seven schools and is the largest faculty in the university. Naturally we’re a bit biased about it – but also passionate about top-quality education – which is why we believe that you won’t get a better personalised student experience anywhere else at undergraduate, postgraduate or PhD level.

Our courses are modern, interactive and challenging, taught by experts with strong links to industry who always have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the real world. Plus our state of the art facilities are second to none, with a brand new media studio plus multimedia and language labs with the latest technology. 

You might not believe us when we tell you that studying at DCU means you’ll never want to leave… but it’s true, according to recent feedback from our students and alumni.

Thanks to our seven schools, our students often enjoy the benefit of expertise from more than one school and discipline. For example, students taking our MSc in Climate Change: Media, Politics and Society get the best of both worlds with expertise delivered from both our School of Communications and our School of Law and Government. In fact, our lecturers and academic staff are always looking for ways to collaborate with other schools, faculties and universities to deliver the best teaching and the best research to benefit society as a whole. Many of our postgraduate courses are also accredited by relevant professional bodies.

But don’t just take our word for it about why you should choose DCU – get an impartial view from the latest global university rankings and some hard-to-ignore facts.

University rankings: 

DCU’s Faculty of Humanities and Social sciences ranks within the top 200 globally for Arts and Humanities and in the top 200 across many disciplines (see below), which is no mean feat as global rankings are carried out across hundreds of universities around the world. (2021 Times Higher Subject Rankings and QS Rankings).

Furthermore, DCU is ranked no.1 in Ireland for Communications and Media Studies. 

We’re in the top 200 list worldwide for:

  • History 
  • Philosophy 
  • Theology
  • Languages 
  • Literature 
  • Linguistics 
  • Politics
  • International Relations
  • Communications & Media Studies

More facts about DCU’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences:

  • Our School of Law and Government is Law School of the Year as voted at the 2021 Irish Law Awards.
  • DCU’s Fiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge is the largest Irish department in the country and home to digital initiatives Gaois, Ainm, Logainm, Téarma and Dúchas.
  • Our Jazz and Contemporary Music course is the only music degree in the country specialising in improvisation and performance which are vital skills for any professional music career.
  • Our School of English made ground-breaking history in initiating the academic study of children’s literature as a postgraduate discipline in Ireland. 
  • Our history and geography courses are unique in Ireland sharing expertise across both disciplines where students taking the MA in History can use geographic systems to manage and analyse historical evidence.
  • Our MA in Ethics (Corporate Responsibility) is ranked No. 37 in the 2021 Eduniversal's Ranking of best Masters and MBA programmes in Corporate Social Responsibility worldwide.

More widely across DCU:

  • DCU is 2021 University of the Year as voted by the Sunday Times Good University Guide.
  • DCU is no.1 for graduate employability and continuously ranks highly for student experience.
  • DCU is known in Ireland and internationally for its diverse student body, with over 17,500 students from 55 countries across the world.

Fantastic choice in courses:

  • In the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at DCU we offer 19 undergraduate degrees across our seven schools - click here to see the full list.
  • We offer 25 postgraduate degrees across our seven schools - click here to see the full list.
  • Click here to learn about all courses available at DCU.

Learn more about our seven schools:

If you have any questions about any of our courses, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Email facultyhss@dcu.ie or studenthelp@dcu.ie