Outline of academic disciplines
An academic discipline or field of study is a branch of knowledge, taught and researched as part of higher education. A scholar's discipline is commonly defined by the university faculties and learned societies to which they belong and the academic journals in which they publish research.
Disciplines vary between well-established ones that exist in almost all universities and have well-defined rosters of journals and conferences, and nascent ones supported by only a few universities and publications. A discipline may have branches, and these are often called sub-disciplines.
The following outline is provided as 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 basic identity felt by its scholars; and lower levels of the hierarchy are sub-disciplines not normally having any role in the structure of the university's governance.
Humanities
Performing arts
- Music (outline)
- Dance (outline)
- Television (outline)
- Theatre (outline)
- Film (outline)
Visual arts
- Fine arts
- Applied arts
- Fashion
History
- African history
- American history
- Ancient history
- Ancient Egypt
- Carthage
- Ancient Greek history (outline)
- Ancient Roman history (outline)
- Assyrian Civilization
- Bronze Age Civilizations
- Biblical history
- History of the Indus Valley Civilization
- Preclassic Maya
- History of Mesopotamia
- The Stone Age
- History of the Yangtze civilization
- History of the Yellow River civillization
- Asian history
- Australian history
- Ecclesiastical history of the Catholic Church
- Economic history
- Environmental history
- European history
- Intellectual history
- Jewish history
- Latin American history
- Modern history
- History of philosophy
- Political history
- Pre-Columbian era
- Russian history
- History of culture
- Scientific history
- Technological history
- World history
- Public history
Languages and literature
- Linguistics (Outline of linguistics)
- Applied linguistics
- Composition studies
- Computational linguistics
- Discourse analysis
- English studies
- Etymology
- Grammar
- Historical linguistics
- History of linguistics
- Interlinguistics
- Lexicology
- Linguistic typology
- Morphology (linguistics)
- Natural language processing
- Philology
- Phonetics
- Phonology
- Pragmatics
- Psycholinguistics
- Rhetoric
- Semantics
- Semiotics (outline)
- Sociolinguistics
- Syntax
- Usage
- Word usage
- Comparative literature
- Creative writing
- English literature
- History of literature
- Medieval literature
- Post-colonial literature
- Post-modern literature
- Literary theory
- Poetry
- World literature
Law
- Administrative law
- Canon law
- Civil law
- Admiralty law
- Animal law/Animal rights
- Civil procedure
- Common law
- Contract law
- Corporations
- Environmental law
- Family law
- Federal law
- International law
- Public international law
- Supranational law
- Labor law
- Property law
- Tax law
- Tort law (outline)
- Comparative law
- Competition law
- Constitutional law
- Criminal law
- Islamic law
- Jewish law (outline)
- Jurisprudence (Philosophy of Law)
- Legal management
- Procedural law
- Substantive law
Philosophy
- Aesthetics (outline)
- Applied philosophy
- Philosophy of economics
- Philosophy of education
- Philosophy of engineering
- Philosophy of history
- Philosophy of language
- Philosophy of law
- Philosophy of mathematics
- Philosophy of music
- Philosophy of psychology
- Philosophy of religion
- Philosophy of physical sciences
- Philosophy of social science
- Philosophy of technology
- Systems philosophy
- Epistemology (outline)
- Justification
- Reasoning errors
- Ethics (outline)
- Logic (outline)
- Meta-philosophy
- Metaphysics (outline)
- Philosophical traditions and schools
- Social philosophy and political philosophy
Theology
- Biblical studies
- Religious studies
- Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Greek, Aramaic
- Buddhist theology
- Christian theology
- Anglican theology
- Baptist theology
- Catholic theology
- Eastern Orthodox theology
- Protestant theology
- Hindu theology
- Jewish theology
- Muslim theology
Social Sciences
Economics
- Agricultural economics
- Anarchist economics
- Applied economics
- Behavioural economics
- Bioeconomics
- Complexity economics
- Computational economics
- Consumer economics
- Development economics
- Ecological economics
- Econometrics
- Economic geography
- Economic sociology
- Economic systems
- Education economics
- Energy economics
- Entrepreneurial economics
- Environmental economics
- Evolutionary economics
- Experimental economics
- Feminist economics
- Financial econometrics
- Financial economics
- Green economics
- Growth economics
- Human development theory
- Industrial organization
- Information economics
- Institutional economics
- International economics
- Islamic economics
- Labor economics
- Law and economics
- Macroeconomics
- Managerial economics
- Marxian economics
- Mathematical economics
- Microeconomics
- Monetary economics
- Neuroeconomics
- Participatory economics
- Political economy
- Public economics
- Public finance
- Real estate economics
- Resource economics
- Social choice theory
- Socialist economics
- Socioeconomics
- Transport economics
- Welfare economics
Geography
- Physical geography
- Atmology
- Biogeography
- Climatology
- Coastal geography
- Emergency management
- Environmental geography
- Geobiology
- Geochemistry
- Geology
- Geomatics
- Geomorphology
- Geophysics
- Glaciology
- Hydrology
- Landscape ecology
- Lithology
- Meteorology
- Mineralogy
- Oceanography
- Palaeogeography
- Palaeontology
- Petrology
- Quaternary science
- Soil geography
- Human geography
- Behavioural geography
- Cognitive geography
- Cultural geography
- Development geography
- Economic geography
- Health geography
- Historical geography
- Language geography
- Marketing geography
- Military geography
- Political geography
- Population geography
- Religion geography
- Social geography
- Strategic geography
- Time geography
- Tourism geography
- Transport geography
- Urban geography
- Integrated geography
- Cartography
Political science
- American politics
- Canadian politics
- Civics
- Comparative politics
- European studies
- Geopolitics (Political geography)
- International relations
- International organizations
- Nationalism studies
- Peace and conflict studies
- Policy studies
- Political behavior
- Political culture
- Political economy
- Political history
- Political philosophy
- Public administration
- Public law
- Psephology
- Social choice theory
Psychology
- Abnormal psychology
- Applied psychology
- Biological psychology
- Clinical neuropsychology
- Clinical psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Community psychology
- Comparative psychology
- Conservation psychology
- Consumer psychology
- Counseling psychology
- Criminal psychology
- Cultural psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Differential psychology
- Ecological psychology
- Educational psychology
- Environmental psychology
- Evolutionary psychology
- Experimental psychology
- Group psychology
- Family psychology
- Feminine psychology
- Forensic developmental psychology
- Forensic psychology
- Health psychology
- Humanistic psychology
- Indigenous psychology
- Legal psychology
- Mathematical psychology
- Media psychology
- Medical psychology
- Military psychology
- Moral psychology and Descriptive ethics
- Music psychology
- Neuropsychology
- Occupational health psychology
- Occupational psychology
- Organizational psychology
- Parapsychology (outline)
- Pediatric psychology
- Pedology (children study)
- Personality psychology
- Phenomenology
- Political psychology
- Positive psychology
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychobiology
- Psychology of religion
- Psychometrics
- Psychopathology
- Psychophysics
- Quantitative psychology
- Rehabilitation psychology
- School psychology
- Social psychology
- Sport psychology
- Traffic psychology
- Transpersonal psychology
Sociology
- Analytical sociology
- Applied sociology
- Architectural sociology
- Area studies
- Behavioral sociology
- Collective behavior
- Social movements
- Community informatics
- Comparative sociology
- Conflict theory
- Criminology/Criminal justice (outline)
- Critical management studies
- Critical sociology
- Cultural sociology
- Cultural studies/ethnic studies
- Demography/Population
- Digital sociology
- Dramaturgical sociology
- Economic sociology
- Educational sociology
- Empirical sociology
- Environmental sociology
- Evolutionary sociology
- Feminist sociology
- Figurational sociology
- Futures studies (outline)
- Gender studies
- Historical sociology
- Human ecology
- Humanistic sociology
- Industrial sociology
- Interactionism
- Interpretive sociology
- Jealousy sociology
- Macrosociology
- Marxist sociology
- Mathematical sociology
- Medical sociology
- Mesosociology
- Microsociology
- Military sociology
- Natural resource sociology
- Organizational studies
- Phenomenological sociology
- Policy sociology
- Psychoanalytic sociology
- Science studies/Science and technology studies
- Sexology
- Social capital
- Social change
- Social conflict theory
- Social control
- Social economy
- Social philosophy
- Social policy
- Social psychology
- Social stratification
- Social theory
- Social transformation
- Sociobiology
- Sociocybernetics
- Sociolinguistics
- Sociology of aging
- Sociology of agriculture
- Sociology of art
- Sociology of autism
- Sociology of childhood
- Sociology of conflict
- Sociology of culture
- Sociology of cyberspace
- Sociology of development
- Sociology of deviance
- Sociology of disaster
- Sociology of education
- Sociology of emotions
- Sociology of fatherhood
- Sociology of finance
- Sociology of food
- Sociology of gender
- Sociology of generations
- Sociology of globalization
- Sociology of government
- Sociology of health and illness
- Sociology of human consciousness
- Sociology of immigration
- Sociology of knowledge
- Sociology of language
- Sociology of law
- Sociology of leisure
- Sociology of literature
- Sociology of markets
- Sociology of marriage
- Sociology of motherhood
- Sociology of music
- Sociology of natural resources
- Sociology of organizations
- Sociology of peace, war, and social conflict
- Sociology of punishment
- Sociology of race and ethnic relations
- Sociology of religion
- Sociology of risk
- Sociology of science
- Sociology of scientific knowledge
- Sociology of social change
- Sociology of social movements
- Sociology of space
- Sociology of sport
- Sociology of technology
- Sociology of terrorism
- Sociology of the body
- Sociology of the family
- Sociology of the history of science
- Sociology of the Internet
- Sociology of work
- Sociomusicology
- Structural sociology
- Theoretical sociology
- Urban studies or Urban sociology/Rural sociology
- Victimology
- Visual sociology
Social Work
- Clinical Social Work
- Community practice
- Mental health
- Psychosocial rehabilitation
- Person-centered therapy
- Family therapy
- Financial social work
Natural Sciences
Biology
- Aerobiology
- Anatomy
- Comparative anatomy
- Human anatomy (outline)
- Biochemistry (outline)
- Bioinformatics
- Biophysics (outline)
- Biotechnology (outline)
- Botany (outline)
- Cell biology (outline)
- Chronobiology
- Computational biology
- Cryobiology
- Developmental biology
- Ecology (outline)
- Endocrinology
- Evolutionary biology
- Genetics (outline)
- Histology
- Human biology
- Immunology (outline)
- Limnology
- Linnaean taxonomy
- Marine biology
- Mathematical biology
- Microbiology
- Molecular biology
- Mycology
- Neuroscience (outline)
- Nutrition (outline)
- Paleobiology
- Parasitology
- Pathology
- Physiology
- Human physiology
- Structural Biology
- Systematics (Taxonomy)
- Systems biology
- Virology
- Xenobiology
- Zoology (outline)
Chemistry
- Agrochemistry
- Analytical chemistry
- Astrochemistry
- Atmospheric chemistry
- Biochemistry (outline)
- Chemical biology
- Chemical engineering (outline)
- Cheminformatics
- Computational chemistry
- Cosmochemistry
- Electrochemistry
- Environmental chemistry
- Femtochemistry
- Flavor
- Flow chemistry
- Geochemistry
- Green chemistry
- Histochemistry
- Hydrogenation
- Immunochemistry
- Inorganic chemistry
- Marine chemistry
- Mathematical chemistry
- Mechanochemistry
- Medicinal chemistry
- Molecular biology
- Molecular mechanics
- Nanotechnology
- Natural product chemistry
- Neurochemistry
- Oenology
- Organic chemistry (outline)
- Organometallic chemistry
- Petrochemistry
- Pharmacology
- Photochemistry
- Physical chemistry
- Physical organic chemistry
- Phytochemistry
- Polymer chemistry
- Quantum chemistry
- Radiochemistry
- Solid-state chemistry
- Sonochemistry
- Supramolecular chemistry
- Surface chemistry
- Synthetic chemistry
- Theoretical chemistry
- Thermochemistry
Earth science
- Edaphology
- Environmental chemistry
- Environmental science
- Gemology
- Geochemistry
- Geodesy
- Physical geography (outline)
- Atmospheric science / Meteorology (outline)
- Biogeography / Phytogeography
- Climatology / Paleoclimatology / Palaeogeography
- Coastal geography / Oceanography
- Edaphology / Pedology or Soil science
- Geobiology
- Geology (outline) (Geomorphology, Mineralogy, Petrology, Sedimentology, Speleology, Tectonics, Volcanology)
- Geostatistics
- Glaciology
- Hydrology (outline)/ Limnology / Hydrogeology
- Landscape ecology
- Quaternary science
- Geophysics (outline)
- Paleontology
Space sciences
- Astrobiology
- Astronomy (outline)
- Observational astronomy
- Gamma ray astronomy
- Infrared astronomy
- Microwave astronomy
- Optical astronomy
- Radio astronomy
- UV astronomy
- X-ray astronomy
- Observational astronomy
- Astrophysics
- Interstellar medium
- Numerical simulations
- Physical cosmology
- Stellar astrophysics
- Planetary science
Physics
- Acoustics
- Aerodynamics
- Applied physics
- Astrophysics
- Atomic, molecular, and optical physics
- Biophysics (outline)
- Computational physics
- Condensed matter physics
- Cryogenics
- Electricity
- Electromagnetism
- Elementary particle physics
- Experimental physics
- Fluid dynamics
- Geophysics (outline)
- Mathematical physics
- Mechanics
- Medical physics
- Molecular physics
- Newtonian dynamics
- Nuclear physics
- Optics
- Plasma physics
- Quantum physics
- Solid mechanics
- Solid state physics
- Statistical mechanics
- Theoretical physics
- Thermal physics
- Thermodynamics
Formal Sciences
Computer Science
Also a branch of electrical engineering
- Logic in computer science
- Formal methods (Formal verification)
- Logic programming
- Multi-valued logic
- Programming language semantics
- Type theory
- Algorithms
- Computational geometry
- Distributed algorithms
- Parallel algorithms
- Randomized algorithms
- Artificial intelligence (outline)
- Data structures
- Computer architecture
- Computer graphics
- Image processing
- Scientific visualization
- Computer communications (networks)
- Cloud computing
- Information theory
- Internet, World Wide Web
- Ubiquitous computing
- Wireless computing (Mobile computing)
- Computer security and reliability
- Cryptography
- Fault-tolerant computing
- Computing in mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, and medicine
- Algebraic (symbolic) computation
- Computational biology (bioinformatics)
- Computational chemistry
- Computational mathematics
- Computational neuroscience
- Computational number theory
- Computational physics
- Computer-aided engineering
- Computational fluid dynamics
- Finite element analysis
- Numerical analysis
- Scientific computing (Computational science)
- Computing in social sciences, arts, humanities, and professions
- Community informatics
- Computational economics
- Computational finance
- Computational sociology
- Digital humanities (Humanities computing)
- History of computer hardware
- History of computer science (outline)
- Humanistic informatics
- Database (outline)
- Data management
- Data mining
- Information architecture
- Information management
- Information retrieval
- Knowledge management
- Multimedia, hypermedia
- Distributed computing
- Human-computer interaction
- Operating systems
- Parallel computing
- High-performance computing
- Programming languages
- Compilers
- Programming paradigms
- Concurrent programming
- Functional programming
- Imperative programming
- Logic programming
- Object-oriented programming
- Program semantics
- Type theory
- Quantum computing
- Software engineering
- Theory of computation
- Automata theory (Formal languages)
- Computability theory
- Computational complexity theory
- Concurrency theory
- VLSI design
Mathematics
- Mathematical logic and Foundations of mathematics
- Intuitionistic logic
- Modal logic
- Model theory
- Proof theory
- Recursion theory
- Set theory
- Algebra (outline)
- Associative algebra
- Category theory
- Differential algebra
- Field theory
- Group theory
- Homological algebra
- K-theory
- Lattice theory (Order theory)
- Lie algebra
- Linear algebra (Vector space)
- Multilinear algebra
- Non-associative algebra
- Representation theory
- Ring theory
- Commutative algebra
- Noncommutative algebra
- Universal algebra
- Analysis
- Complex analysis
- Functional analysis
- Harmonic analysis
- Non-standard analysis
- Ordinary differential equations
- p-adic analysis
- Partial differential equations
- Real analysis
- Probability theory
- Ergodic theory
- Measure theory
- Stochastic process
- Geometry (outline) and Topology
- Number theory
- Algebraic number theory
- Analytic number theory
- Arithmetic combinatorics
- Geometric number theory
- Approximation theory
- Combinatorics (outline)
- Cryptography
- Dynamical systems
- Chaos theory
- Fractal geometry
- Game theory
- Graph theory
- Information theory
- Mathematical physics
- Numerical analysis
- Operations research
- Assignment problem
- Decision analysis
- Dynamic programming
- Inventory theory
- Linear programming
- Mathematical optimization
- Optimal maintenance
- Real options analysis
- Scheduling
- Stochastic processes
- Systems analysis
- Statistics (outline)
- Theory of computation
Statistics
Applied Sciences
Business
- Accounting
- Business management
- Finance
- Marketing
- Operations management
Engineering and technology
- Bioengineering
- Catalysis
- Materials engineering
- Molecular engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Polymer engineering
- Process design
- Process engineering
- Reaction engineering
- Thermodynamics
- Transport phenomena
- Coastal engineering
- Earthquake engineering
- Ecological engineering
- Environmental engineering
- Geotechnical engineering
- Hydraulic engineering
- Mining engineering
- Transportation engineering
- Structural engineering
- Structural mechanics
- Surveying
- Applied physics
- Computer engineering (outline)
- Computer science
- Control systems engineering
- Electronic engineering
- Instrumentation engineering
- Engineering physics
- Information theory
- Mechatronics
- Power engineering
- Quantum computing
- Robotics (outline)
- Semiconductors
- Telecommunications engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
- Biomaterials
- Ceramic engineering
- Crystallography
- Nanomaterials
- Photonics
- Physical Metallurgy
- Polymer engineering
- Polymer science
- Semiconductors
- Aerospace engineering
- Acoustical engineering
- Automotive engineering
- Biomedical engineering
- Continuum mechanics
- Fluid mechanics
- Heat transfer
- Industrial engineering
- Manufacturing engineering
- Marine engineering
- Mass transfer
- Mechatronics
- Nanoengineering
- Ocean engineering
- Optical engineering
- Robotics
- Thermodynamics
- Chaos theory
- Complex systems
- Conceptual systems
- Control theory
- Affect control theory
- Control engineering
- Control systems
- Dynamical systems
- Perceptual control theory
- Cybernetics
- Network science
- Operations research
- Systems biology
- Computational systems biology
- Synthetic biology
- Systems immunology
- Systems neuroscience
- System dynamics
- Systems ecology
- Systems engineering
- Systems psychology
- Ergonomics
- Family systems theory
- Systemic therapy
- Systems theory
- Biochemical systems theory
- Ecological systems theory
- Developmental systems theory
- General systems theory
- Living systems theory
- LTI system theory
- Mathematical system theory
- Sociotechnical systems theory
- World-systems theory
- Systems theory in anthropology
Medicine and health
- Alternative medicine
- Audiology
- Clinical laboratory sciences/Clinical pathology/Laboratory medicine
- Clinical biochemistry
- Cytogenetics
- Cytohematology
- Cytology (outline)
- Haemostasiology
- Histology
- Clinical immunology
- Clinical microbiology
- Molecular genetics
- Parasitology
- Clinical physiology
- Dentistry (outline)
- Dermatology
- Emergency medicine (outline)
- Epidemiology
- Geriatrics
- Gynaecology
- Health informatics/Clinical informatics
- Hematology
- Infectious disease
- Intensive care medicine
- Internal medicine
- Medical toxicology
- Music therapy
- Nursing
- Nutrition (outline) and dietetics
- Obstetrics (outline)
- Occupational hygiene
- Occupational therapy
- Occupational toxicology
- Ophthalmology
- Optometry
- Otolaryngology
- Pathology
- Pediatrics
- Pharmaceutical sciences
- Physical fitness
- Group Fitness / aerobics
- Kinesiology / Exercise science / Human performance
- Personal fitness training
- Physical therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Podiatry
- Preventive medicine
- Primary care
- Psychiatry (outline)
- Psychology (outline)
- Public health
- Radiology
- Recreational therapy
- Rehabilitation medicine
- Respiratory therapy
- Sleep medicine
- Speech-language pathology
- Sports medicine
- Surgery
- Traditional medicine
- Urology
- Veterinary medicine
See also
References
- Abbott, Andrew (2001). Chaos of Disciplines. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-00101-2.
- Oleson, Alexandra; Voss, John (1979). The Organization of knowledge in modern America, 1860-1920. ISBN 0-8018-2108-8.
- US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). National Center for Education Statistics.
External links
- Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP 2000): Developed by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics to provide a taxonomic scheme that will support the accurate tracking, assessment, and reporting of fields of study and program completions activity.
- Complete JACS (Joint Academic Classification of Subjects) from Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in the United Kingdom
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC 2008) (web-page) Chapter 3 and Appendix 1: Fields of research classification.
- Fields of Knowledge, a zoomable map allowing the academic disciplines and sub-disciplines in this article be visualised.
- Sandoz, R. (ed.), Interactive Historical Atlas of the Disciplines, University of Geneva