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List of academic disciplines

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An academic discipline, or field of study, is a branch of knowledge which is taught or researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties to which their practitioners belong.

Fields of study usually have several sub-disciplines or branches, and the distinguishing lines between these are often both arbitrary and ambiguous.

History

In medieval Europe, there were only four faculties in a university: Theology, Medicine, Jurisprudence and Arts, with the last one having a somewhat lower status. Current-day university disciplines have their roots in the mid- to late-19th century secularization of universities, when the traditional curriculum was supplemented by non-classical languages and literatures, and by science and technology disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering.

In the early 20th century, new disciplines such as education, sociology, and psychology were added. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an explosion of new disciplines focusing on specific themes, such as media studies, women's studies, and Black studies. Many disciplines designed as preparation for careers and professions, such as nursing, hospitality management, corrections, also emerged in the universities. Finally, the visibility of such interdisciplinary scientific fields as biochemistry and geophysics increased, as their contribution to knowledge became widely recognized.

A "*" denotes a field whose academic status is debated. Note that the area into which some fields should be classified is debated, such as whether anthropology and linguistics are social sciences disciplines or humanities disciplines. Note that some people, particularly critical theorists are critical of the division of disciplines, and virtually every division of disciplines, as well as the structure of the concept of disciplines in general, is disputed by some.

A provocative question to ask might be "how many disciplines of study are there?" And an answer to this question could reasonably be that there is no end to the amount of academic disciplines one could have.

In academia today, it is a growing practice to incorporate fields of study that are created by extending the ideas, theories, and methods of more traditional disciplines. Also, new times and revolutionary thinkers can enhance or renew existing disciplines, or even create new disciplines altogether. For example, it can be argued that Freud created a new sub-field of psychology with his new perspective of psychoanalysis.

Humanities

History

See also Branches of history

Philosophy

See also Branches of philosophy

Religion

See also List of religions

Languages and linguistics

See also List of languages, Branches of linguistics, Anthropological linguistics

Literature

Visual arts

Architecture, design and applied arts

Performing arts

  • Dance

    • Social sciences

    Anthropology

  • Cultural anthropology

  • Historical anthropology
  • Medical anthropology

    • See also Branches of anthropology

    Archaeology

    See also Branches of archaeology

    Area studies

    See also Branches of area studies

    Economics

    See also Branches of economics

    Ethnic studies

    Gender and Sexuality studies

    Geography

    * Cultural geography
    * Feminist geography
    * Economic geography
    * Development geography
    * Historical geography
    * Time geography
    * Political geography & geopolitics
    * Military geography
    * Strategic geography
    * Population geography
    * Social geography
    * Behavioral geography
    * Children's geographies
    * Health geography
    * Tourism geography
    * Urban geography

    * Biogeography
    * Climatology
    *Palaeoclimatology
    * Coastal geography
    * Geomorphology
    * Geodesy
    * Hydrology/Hydrography
    * Glaciology
    * Limnology
    * Oceanography
    * Landscape ecology
    * Palaeogeography

    See also Branches of geography

    Political science

    See also Branches of political science

    Psychology

    See also Branches of psychology, Psychotherapy

    Sociology

  • Medical sociology
  • Organizational studies
  • Science studies/Science and technology studies
  • Social capital
  • Social control

  • Social economy
  • Social philosophy
  • Social psychology
  • Social policy
  • Social research

  • Social theory
  • Social stratification
  • Sociological theory
  • Sociobiology
  • Sociocybernetics
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Urban studies or Urban sociology/Rural sociology
  • Visual sociology

    • See also Branches of sociology

    Natural sciences

    Space sciences

    See also Branches of astronomy

    Earth sciences

    See also Branches of earth sciences

    Life sciences

    See also Branches of life sciences

    Chemistry

    See also Branches of chemistry

    Physics

    See also Branches of physics

    Formal sciences

    Mathematics

    See also Branches of mathematics and AMS Mathematics Subject Classification

    Computer sciences

    See also Branches of computer science and ACM Computing Classification System

    Professions and Applied sciences

    Agriculture and forestry

    Business

    Education

  • Educational leadership
  • Educational psychology
  • Educational technology
  • Critical pedagogy

    • Engineering

    See also Branches of engineering

    Family and consumer science

    Health sciences

  • Pharmaconomy
  • Pharmacy
  • Veterinary medicine

    • See also Branches of medicine

    Journalism, media and communication