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List of academic disciplines

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.

Overview

In medieval Europe, there were only four faculties in a university: Theology, Medicine, Canon Law and Liberal Arts (Arts).History of Education, Enclopaedia Britannica (1977, 15th edition), Macropaedia Volume 6, p. 337 Current-day university disciplines have their roots in the mid- to late-19th century secularization of universities, when the traditional curricula were supplemented with non-classical languages and literatures, social sciences such as political science, economics and public administration, and by natural 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, and 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.

List of academic disciplines

Overview

Languages and linguistics

Architecture, design and applied arts

Cultural studies and Ethnic studies

Earth sciences

Environmental studies and Forestry

Journalism, media and communication

Library and museum studies

Military sciences

Personal service and related professions

Human physical performance and recreation

Religious and spiritual leadership / Divinity