Discipline (academia)

What is ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE? What does ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE mean? ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE meaning

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What is ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE? What does ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE mean? ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE meaning - ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE definition - ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE explanation. Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license. An academic discipline or academic field is a branch of knowledge. It incorporates expertise, people, projects, communities, challenges, studies, inquiry, and research areas that are strongly associated with a given scholastic subject area or college department. For example, the branches of science are commonly referred to as the scientific disciplines, e.g. physics, mathematics, and computer science. 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. While academic disciplines in and of themselves are more or less focused practices, scholarly approaches such as multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, and crossdisciplinarity integrate aspects from multiple academic disciplines, therefore addressing any problems that may arise from narrow concentration within specialized fields of study. For example, professionals may encounter trouble communicating across academic disciplines because of differences in language or specified concepts. Some researchers believe that academic disciplines may be replaced by what is known as Mode 2 or "post-academic science", which involves the acquisition of cross-disciplinary knowledge through collaboration of specialists from various academic disciplines. The University of Paris in 1231 consisted of four faculties: Theology, Medicine, Canon Law and Arts. Educational institutions originally used the term "discipline" to catalog and archive the new and expanding body of information produced by the scientific community. Disciplinary designations originated in German Universities during the beginning of the nineteenth century. 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, sociology and public administration, and natural science and technology disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. In the early 20th century, new academic disciplines such as education and psychology were added. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an explosion of new academic disciplines focusing on specific themes, such as media studies, women's studies, and Africana studies. Many academic disciplines designed as preparation for careers and professions, such as nursing, hospitality management, and corrections, also emerged in the universities. Finally, interdisciplinary scientific fields of study such as biochemistry and geophysics gained prominence as their contribution to knowledge became widely recognized. As the twentieth century approached, these designations were gradually adopted by other countries and became the accepted conventional subjects. However, these designations differed between various countries. In the twentieth century, the science disciplines included: physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. The social science disciplines included: economics, politics, sociology, and psychology. Prior to the twentieth century, categories were broad and general, which was expected due to the lack of interest in science at the time. With rare exceptions, practitioners of science tended to be amateurs and were referred to as "natural historians" and "natural philosophers"—labels that date back to Aristotle—instead of "scientists". Natural history referred to what we now call life sciences and natural philosophy referred to the current physical sciences. Few opportunities existed for science as an occupation outside of the educational system. Higher education provided the institutional structure for scientific investigation, as well as economic support. Soon, the volume of scientific information rapidly increased and people realized the importance of concentrating on smaller fields of scientific activity. Because of this, scientific specializations emerged. As these specializations developed, modern scientific disciplines in universities also improved. Eventually, academia's identified disciplines became the foundations for people of specific specialized interests and expertise.