List of academic disciplines

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1 Overview
2 Humanities

2.1 History
2.2 Languages and Linguistics
2.3 Literature
2.4 Performing arts
2.5 Philosophy
2.6 Religion
2.7 Visual arts

3 Social sciences

3.1 Anthropology
3.2 Archaeology
3.3 Area studies
3.4 Cultural studies and Ethnic studies
3.5 Economics
3.6 Gender and sexuality studies
3.7 Geography
3.8 Political science
3.9 Psychology
3.10 Sociology

4 Natural sciences

4.1 Space sciences
4.2 Earth sciences
4.3 Life sciences
4.4 Chemistry
4.5 Physics

5 Formal sciences

5.1 Computer sciences
5.2 Logic
5.3 Mathematics
5.4 Statistics
5.5 Systems science

6 Professions and Applied sciences

6.1 Agriculture
6.2 Architecture and Design
6.3 Business
6.4 Divinity
6.5 Education
6.6 Engineering
6.7 Environmental studies and Forestry
6.8 Family and consumer science
6.9 Health sciences
6.10 Human physical performance and recreation*
6.11 Journalism, mass media and Communication
6.12 Law
6.13 Library and museum studies
6.14 Military sciences
6.15 Public affairs
6.16 Social work
6.17 Transportation

7 Notes
8 See also
9 External links

An academic discipline, or field of study, is a branch of Knowledge which is taught and Researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part), 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

The University of Paris in 1231 consisted of four faculties: Theology, Medicine, Canon Law and Arts.^[1] Most academic 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 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, interdisciplinary scientific fields such as Biochemistry and Geophysics gained prominence as their contribution to knowledge became widely recognized.

New fields of study are often created through extending the ideas, theories, and methods of more traditional disciplines. For example, Freud created a sub-field of Psychology with his new perspective of Psychoanalysis.

There is no consensus on how some academic disciplines should be classified, e.g., whether Anthropology and Linguistics are Social sciences disciplines or Humanities disciplines. More generally, the proper criteria for organizing knowledge into disciplines are also open to debate.

An asterisk (*) denotes a field whose academic status is debated.