List of academic disciplines
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This SourceAn 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
- American history
- Ancient history
- Chinese history
- Diplomatic history
- Ethnohistory
- European history
- History of science and technology
- Military history
- Modern history
- Intellectual history
- Cultural history
- Economic history
- World history
- See also Branches of history
Philosophy
- Social and Political Philosophy
- Philosophical traditions and schools
- African philosophy
- Analytic philosophy
- Continental philosophy
- Eastern philosophy
- Feminist philosophy
- History of philosophy
- See also Branches of philosophy
Religion
- Taoic religions
- Other religions
- See also List of religions
Languages and linguistics
|
Literature
- English literature
- Literary theory
- Creative writing
- Creative nonfiction
- Fiction writing
- Non-fiction writing
- Literary journalism
- Poetry composition
- Screenwriting
Visual arts
Architecture, design and applied arts
- Architecture and related design
Performing arts
- Music
- Performance and literature
- Organ and historical keyboards (e.g., harpsichord)
- Piano
- Strings, harp, and guitar
- Voice (Singing)
- Woodwinds, brass, and percussion
- Orchestral studies
- Choreography
- Dance analysis
- Dance notation
- Dance studies
- Ethnochoreology
- History of dance
- Performance, somatic practice
Social sciences
Anthropology
- Biological anthropology
- Forensic anthropology
- Gene-culture coevolution
- Human behavioral ecology
- Human evolution
- Paleoanthropology
- Population genetics
- Primatology
- Anthropological linguistics
- Anthropology of religion
- Anthropology of technology
- Economic anthropology
- Ethnography
- Ethnohistory
- Ethnology
- Ethnomusicology
- Folklore
- Mythology
- Political anthropology
- Psychological anthropology
- Urban anthropology
- See also Branches of anthropology
Archaeology
- See also Branches of archaeology
Area studies
- Celtic studies
- European studies
- German studies
- Indology (Indian studies)
- Iranian studies
- Japanology (Japanese studies)
- Latin American studies
- Sinology (Chinese studies)
- Scandinavian studies
- Slavic studies
- See also Branches of area studies
Economics
- Agricultural economics
- Behavioural economics
- Bioeconomics
- Computational economics
- Consumer economics
- Development economics
- Econometrics
- Economic geography
- Economic history
- Economic sociology
- Energy economics
- Entrepreneurial economics
- Environmental economics
- Evolutionary economics
- Experimental economics
- Feminist economics
- Financial economics
- Game theory
- Green economics
- Human development theory
- Industrial organization
- Institutional economics
- International economics
- Islamic economics
- Labor economics
- Law and economics
- Macroeconomics
- Managerial economics
- Mathematical economics
- Microeconomics
- Monetary economics
- Neuroeconomics
- Political economy
- Public finance
- Public economics
- Platform economics
- Real estate economics
- Resource economics
- Socialist economics
- Socioeconomics
- Transport economics
- Welfare economics
- See also Branches of economics
Ethnic studies
- Native American studies
- Persian Studies
- Italian American Studies
Gender and Sexuality studies
Geography
- * Geodesy
- See also Branches of geography
Political science
- American politics
- Canadian politics
- Civics
- Comparative politics
- Geopolitics (Political geography)
- International relations
- International organizations
- Peace and conflict studies (Irenology)
- Policy analysis/Policy studies
- Political behavior
- Political culture
- Political economy
- See also Branches of political science
Psychology
- Abnormal psychology
- Applied psychology
- Behavioural science
- Biological psychology
- Clinical psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Cognitive science
- Community psychology
- Differential psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Educational psychology
- Emotion
- Evolutionary psychology
- Experimental psychology
- Forensic psychology
- Health psychology
- Intrapersonal communications
- Legal psychology (Psychology & Law)
- Neuropsychology
- Organizational psychology
- Parapsychology
- Personality psychology
- Positive psychology
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychometry
- Psychophysics
- Quantitative psychology
- Social psychology
- Sport psychology
- Media psychology
- See also Branches of psychology, Psychotherapy
Sociology
- Applied sociology
- Collective behavior
- Community informatics
- Comparative sociology
- Conflict theory
- Cultural studies
- Criminology/Criminal justice
- Demography/Population
- Environmental sociology
- Feminist sociology
- Future studies
- Human ecology
- Interactionism
- Sociology of culture
- Sociology of deviance
- Sociology of education
- Sociology of gender
- Sociology of the family
- Sociology of knowledge
- Sociology of law
- Sociology of religion
- Sociology of sport
- Sociology of work
- See also Branches of sociology
Natural sciences
Space sciences
- Astrobiology
- Astronomy
- Astrophysics
- Gravitational astronomy
- Interstellar medium
- Numerical simulations in
- Astrophysical plasma
- Galaxy formation and evolution
- High-energy astrophysics
- Hydrodynamics
- Magnetohydrodynamics
- Star formation
- Physical cosmology
- Stellar astrophysics
- Observational astronomy
- See also Branches of astronomy
Earth sciences
- See also Branches of earth sciences
Life sciences
- Aerobiology
- Anatomy
- Animal communications
- Biochemistry
- Bioinformatics
- Biology
- Biophysics
- Botany
- Ethnobotany
- Cell biology
- Chronobiology
- Cryobiology
- Ecology
- Endocrinology
- Entomology
- Evolutionary biology
- Genetics
- Human biology
- Limnology
- Linnaean taxonomy
- Marine biology
- Microbiology
- Molecular biology
- Mycology
- Neuroscience
- Paleobiology
- Parasitology
- Pathology
- Phycology
- Physiology
- Systematics (Taxonomy)
- Virology
- Molecular virology
- Epidemial virology
- Xenobiology
- Zoology
- See also Branches of life sciences
Chemistry
- Analytical chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Cheminformatics
- Computational chemistry
- Materials science
- Mathematical chemistry
- Quantum chemistry
- Inorganic chemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Physical chemistry
- Theoretical chemistry
- Interface and Colloid Science
- See also Branches of chemistry
Physics
- Acoustics
- Astrophysics
- Atomic, molecular, and optical physics
- Biophysics
- Theoretical physics
- Computational physics
- Condensed matter physics
- Cryogenics
- Electromagnetism
- Elementary particle physics
- Fluid dynamics
- Geophysics
- Mathematical physics
- Medical physics
- Materials science
- Mechanics
- Molecular physics
- Nuclear physics
- Newtonian dynamics
- Optics
- Plasma physics
- Quantum physics
- Solid state physics
- Statistical mechanics
- Vehicle dynamics
- Thermodynamics
- Applied Physics
- See also Branches of physics
Formal sciences
Mathematics
- Algebra
- Group theory
- Ring theory
- Field theory
- Linear algebra (Vector space)
- Multilinear algebra
- Lie algebra
- Associative algebra
- Non-associative algebra
- Universal algebra
- Homological algebra
- Category theory
- Lattice theory (Order theory)
- Differential algebra
- Analysis
- Probability theory
- Geometry and Topology
- General topology
- Algebraic topology
- Geometric topology
- Differential topology
- Algebraic geometry
- Differential geometry
- Projective geometry
- Affine geometry
- Non-Euclidean geometry
- Convex geometry
- Discrete geometry
- Number theory
- Logic and Foundations of mathematics
- Applied mathematics
- See also Branches of mathematics and AMS Mathematics Subject Classification
Computer sciences
- Theory of computation
- Automata theory (Formal languages)
- Computability theory
- Computational complexity theory
- Concurrency theory
- Algorithms
- Data structures
- Computer architecture
- Operating systems
- Computer communications (networks)
- Computer security and reliability
- Distributed computing
- Parallel computing
- Quantum computing
- Computer graphics
- Software engineering
- Programming languages
- Information science
- Artificial intelligence
- Human-computer interaction
- Computing in Mathematics, Natural sciences, Engineering and Medicine
- Numerical analysis
- Algebraic (symbolic) computation
- Computational number theory
- Computational mathematics
- Scientific computing (Computational science)
- Computational biology (bioinformatics)
- Computational physics
- Computational chemistry
- Computational neuroscience
- Computer-aided engineering
- Computing in Social sciences, Arts and Humanities, Professions
- Computational economics
- Computational sociology
- Computational finance
- The Digital Humanities (Humanities computing)
- Information systems (Business informatics)
- Computer and society
- See also Branches of computer science and ACM Computing Classification System
Professions and Applied sciences
Agriculture and forestry
Business
- Accounting scholarship
- Arts administration (as a subfield of business administration)
- Business administration
- Business ethics
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
- Hospitality management (or hotel management)
- Information systems
- Management
- Marketing
- Manufacturing
- Port Management
- Real estate
- Risk management and insurance
- System
Education
- Counselor Education
- Language education
- Legal education
- Mathematics education
- Medical education
- Military education and training
- Music education
- Nursing education
- Peace education
- Physical education
- Physics education
- Reading education
- Religious education
- Science education
- Sex education
- Sociology of education
- Technology education
- Vocational education
Engineering
- Acoustic engineering
- Aeronautical engineering
- Agricultural engineering
- Architectural engineering
- Bioengineering
- Chemical engineering
- Civil engineering
- Combat engineering
- Computer engineering
- Control systems engineering
- Ecological engineering
- Electrical engineering
- Electronic engineering
- Communication engineering
- Instrumentation engineering
- Engineering physics
- Environmental engineering
- Industrial engineering
- Materials engineering
- Mechanical engineering
- Mining engineering
- Nuclear engineering
- Ocean engineering
- Optical engineering
- Quality assurance engineering
- Petroleum engineering
- Safety engineering
- Software engineering
- Structural engineering
- Telecommunications engineering
- Aerospace engineering
- Automotive systems engineering
- Naval engineering
- See also Branches of engineering
Family and consumer science
Health sciences
- Allied health sciences
- Medical technology
- Nursing
- Nutrition & Dietetics
- Optometry
- Physiotherapy
- Speech and language pathology
- Medical sciences
- Emergency Medical Care
- Emergency medicine
- Disaster Medicine
- Emergency toxicology
- Observation medicine
- Pre-hospital care
- Tactical emergency medicine
- Endocrinology
- Epidemiology
- Forensic science
- Geriatrics
- Gynaecology
- Hematology
- Internal medicine (General medicine)
- International and humanitarian medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- Obstetrics
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedic surgery
- Spine surgery
- Hand surgery
- Orthopedic oncology
- Foot and ankle surgery
- Sports Medicine
- Joint replacement
- Shoulder surgery
- Knee surgery
- Pediatric orthopedics
- Orthopedic trauma
- Otolaryngology
- Pathology
- Pediatrics
- Podiatry
- Primary care
- Public health
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Radiology
- Rehabilitation medicine
- Respiratory medicine
- Rheumatology
- Sports medicine
- Surgery
- Traumatology
- Urology
- See also Branches of medicine
Journalism, media and communication