Outline of academic disciplines

Outline of academic disciplines

Collage of images representing different academic disciplines

Mind map of top level disciplines and professions

Wage by profession in the United States

Underemployment by major in the United States

An academic discipline or academic field is a subdivision of knowledge that 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 within colleges and universities to which their practitioners belong. Academic disciplines are conventionally divided into the humanities (including philosophy, languages, art and cultural studies), the scientific disciplines (such as physics, chemistry, and biology); and the formal sciences like mathematics and computer science. The social sciences are sometimes considered a fourth category. It is also known as a field of study, field of inquiry, research field and branch of knowledge. The different terms are used in different countries and fields.

Individuals associated with academic disciplines are commonly referred to as experts or specialists. Others, who may have studied liberal arts or systems theory rather than concentrating in a specific academic discipline, are classified as generalists.

The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to academic disciplines. In each case, an entry at the highest level of the hierarchy (e.g., Humanities) is a group of broadly similar disciplines; an entry at the next highest level (e.g., Music) is a discipline having some degree of autonomy and being the fundamental identity felt by its scholars. Lower levels of the hierarchy are sub-disciplines that do generally not have any role in the title of the university's governance. The proper criteria for organizing knowledge into disciplines is open to debate.

Humanities

History

Also regarded as a Social science

Languages and literature

Linguistics listed in Social science

Law

Also regarded as a Social science

Philosophy

Also regarded as the separate, an entry at the highest level of the hierarchy

Religious studies

Also regarded as a social science

Social science

Futurology

(also known as future studies or prospective studies)

Main articles: Outline of futures studies and Futures studies

Linguistics

Also regarded as a formal science

Formal science

Computer science

Also a branch of electrical engineering

Logic

• Mathematical logic • Set theory • Proof theory • Model theory • Recursion theory • Modal logic • Intuitionistic logic • Philosophical logic • Logical reasoning • Modal logic • Deontic logic • Doxastic logic • Logic in computer science • Programming language semantics • Formal methods (Formal verification) • Type theory • Logic programming • Multi-valued logic • Fuzzy logic