Academic discipline

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, language, art and cultural studies), the scientific disciplines (such as physics, chemistry, and biology); and the formal sciences like mathematics and computer science.^{[citation needed]} The social sciences are sometimes considered a fourth category.^{[citation needed]} It is also known as a field of study, field of inquiry, research field and branch of knowledge.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

While each academic discipline is a more or less focused practice, scholarly approaches such as multidisciplinarity/interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, and cross-disciplinarity integrate aspects from multiple disciplines, thereby addressing any problems that may arise from narrow concentration within specialized fields of study.^{[citation needed]} For example, professionals may encounter trouble communicating across academic disciplines because of differences in jargon, specified concepts, or methodology.^{[citation needed]}

Some researchers believe that academic disciplines may, in the future, be replaced by what is known as Mode 2^[1] or "post-academic science",^[2] which involves the acquisition of cross-disciplinary knowledge through the collaboration of specialists from various academic disciplines.^{[citation needed]}

^ Gibbons, Michael; Camille Limoges, Helga Nowotny, Simon Schwartzman, Peter Scott, & Martin Trow (1994). The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies. London: Sage.
^ Ziman, John (2000). Real Science: What It Is, and What It Means. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[1] Gibbons, Michael; Camille Limoges, Helga Nowotny, Simon Schwartzman, Peter Scott, & Martin Trow (1994). The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies. London: Sage.

[2] Ziman, John (2000). Real Science: What It Is, and What It Means. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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