Outline of academic disciplines


An academic discipline or field of study is a branch of study, 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 in almost all universities with well-defined rosters of journals and conferences and nascent ones supported by only a few universities and publications. A discipline may have branches, which are often called sub-disciplines.
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 is a group of broadly similar disciplines; an entry at the next highest level 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

Performing arts

Also regarded as a Social science
Linguistics listed in Social science
Also regarded as a Social science
Also regarded as the separate, an entry at the highest level of the hierarchy
Also regarded as a social science