Field of study

A field of study, sometimes called an academic discipline, is a specific area of learning that focuses on understanding one topic or subject. People who study a field use special ideas, rules, and methods to learn more about that subject. They also build knowledge by working together and sharing their findings. Each field has its own way of deciding what counts as good information, what questions are worth asking, and how to find the answers. These fields often use their own special words and tools to help them study more deeply.^[1][2]

Astronomy is an example of a field of study

Fields of study can be grouped into large categories like natural sciences, social sciences, formal sciences, humanities, and applied sciences. Each of these categories has smaller parts called disciplines. For example, biology is part of natural sciences, and economics belongs to social sciences. These disciplines can be divided even further. For instance, biology includes smaller areas like molecular biology, and economics includes parts like behavioral economics. This helps people focus more closely on specific topics as they learn and research.^[3][4]

Many fields have grown out of changes in history, culture, or technology. For example, computer science was created from a mix of math, logic, and engineering during the 1900s.^[5] Environmental science started because of concern about pollution and nature, and it brings together ideas from many different fields.^[6] Each discipline also uses its own special ways to study, like lab experiments in medicine or studying texts in literature. Experts in these fields usually share their work through research papers, conferences, and journals where others can check their work.^[7]

Some areas of study combine knowledge from different fields. These are called interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary fields. Examples include bioinformatics (biology + computer science),^[8] cognitive science (psychology + neuroscience),^[9] and nanotechnology (chemistry + engineering).^[10] These mix-and-match fields help solve big problems that one field alone cannot handle. Universities play a big role by teaching students in these fields and offering degrees like bachelor's, master's, and PhDs, which show how advanced a person’s learning and research are.^[11]

Fields of study are always changing. New ones like data science and neuroeconomics have appeared because of new technology or changes in society.^[12] Others, like phrenology or alchemy, are no longer used because they were based on false ideas.^[13][14] This shows that learning through research is always growing and improving. What gets studied and funded often depends on what is important to society. For example, government money for defense helped develop better airplanes, and social changes have influenced what people study in sociology or gender studies.^[15]

Etymology and History

The University of Bologna in Italy, founded in 1088, is the world's oldest university.

A field of study is a specific area where people focus their learning and research, like science, history, or art. The word field originally came from farming. Just like a farmer works in a field of land, scholars began using the word to describe a space where they grow ideas and knowledge. The word study comes from the Latin word studium, which means effort, passion, or hard work in learning something. So, a “field of study” really means a space where people seriously work to understand a topic.^[16][17][18]

Long ago, in places like Mesopotamia and Egypt, people began specializing in subjects like math, astronomy, and medicine. These early experts were often priests or scribes who recorded important knowledge. In ancient Greece, learning became more organized. Greek thinkers like Aristotle studied philosophy and started breaking it into smaller parts, such as logic, ethics, and the study of nature, what we now call science.^[19] Later, during the Islamic Golden Age (from about the 8th to 13th century), scholars like Alhazen studied light, Avicenna wrote about medicine, and Al-Khwarizmi developed ideas in math. They translated older texts and added new ideas, helping shape clear subjects that others could build on.^[20][21]

In Europe, by the 1100s, universities started to appear. Students there learned subjects like grammar, logic, and math, which were grouped into what was called the liberal arts. Over time, more serious subjects like theology (study of religion), law, and medicine were added as separate fields. When scientists began using experiments and observations during the Scientific Revolution (in the 1500s and 1600s), fields like physics, chemistry, and biology became their own areas instead of being part of philosophy. The Enlightenment period made this even clearer, with experts choosing specific methods and goals for each subject.^[22][23]

In the 1800s, new technologies and ideas created even more fields. For example, Auguste Comte came up with sociology to study how societies work, and people started learning about economics, engineering, and more. Universities created departments to match these new subjects. In the 1900s, new problems like climate change and artificial intelligence needed people to mix ideas from many fields. This created subjects like biochemistry (biology + chemistry) or environmental studies. Today, organizations like the Library of Congress help keep track of all these fields so people around the world can share and organize what they learn.^[24][25]

Characteristics

Chemistry is an example of a field of study.

A field of study is a specific area of learning that focuses on certain topics, questions, or problems. Each field has its own ideas, special words, tools, and ways of thinking that make it different from other fields. For example, in physics, people study motion and energy using math and experiments. In economics, they study how people and businesses make choices using ideas like supply and demand. These basic ideas, called principles or axioms, help guide learning and problem-solving in each field.

Different fields also use different methods to study things. A scientist in physics might use a lab to test how fast things fall, while an anthropologist studying people and cultures might spend months living in a small village to observe daily life. Some fields become very detailed and create subfields, smaller areas within them. For example, biology has subfields like microbiology (the study of tiny living things), and psychology includes areas like social psychology (how people behave in groups).

Sometimes, big changes happen in a field when new discoveries do not fit old ideas. These big shifts are called paradigm shifts, a term made popular by a scientist named Thomas Kuhn. A famous example is when scientists stopped believing that the Earth was the center of the universe (Ptolemaic model) and started accepting that the sun is at the center (Copernican model). These changes help science grow and become more accurate.

A field of study usually has support from universities and organizations. There may be departments, like a Department of History or Engineering, that teach and do research in that area. There are also professional groups, journals, and meetings where experts share ideas and set rules for what counts as good work. For example, psychologists have the American Psychological Association. These systems help make sure new knowledge is trustworthy, through things like peer review, where other experts check someone's work before it gets published.

Sometimes, fields mix together to create new ones. This is called interdisciplinary work. For example, computational linguistics mixes computers and language, and neuroeconomics combines neuroscience with economics. Fields also connect theory and practice. That means what people learn in books or labs can be used in real life. For instance, ideas from fluid dynamics help build bridges, and knowledge from psychology can help teachers in classrooms.

Fields of study are also shaped by the world around them. Politics, money, and history can all affect which fields grow and which ones do not. For example, during the Cold War, countries spent a lot of money on physics. Today, data science is growing fast because businesses and technology companies need people who can work with digital information.

Classification

The scale of the universe mapped to the branches of science

Fields of study are grouped into five main categories: natural sciences, social sciences, formal sciences, applied sciences, and the humanities. Each category deals with a different part of the world, some focus on nature, some on people, some on ideas, and some on solving real-world problems. The natural sciences include subjects like physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth science. These fields study the natural world, the things we can see, touch, and measure. Scientists in these areas use the scientific method, which means asking questions, making hypotheses, and testing them with experiments. For example, in physics, people study how energy and matter work, and in biology, they look at how living things grow and survive. Some areas, like quantum mechanics or molecular biology, explore things that are too tiny to see without special tools.

The social sciences study people and how they live together. Subjects like sociology, psychology, economics, political science, and anthropology look at things like culture, behavior, and government. Unlike natural sciences, it is harder to do controlled experiments on people, so social scientists often use surveys, interviews, and case studies. They also have to think about people’s feelings, beliefs, and actions, which cannot always be measured with numbers. These fields try to understand human life, but they also have to deal with questions of fairness and ethics.

The formal sciences are fields like math, logic, statistics, and computer science. These subjects do not study the physical world directly, they work with ideas and symbols. For example, math uses numbers and rules to solve problems, and logic helps people think clearly and make good arguments. These sciences are important because they help other fields make sense of data, create computer programs, or build scientific models. Even though they do not rely on experiments, they are the foundation of many technologies and theories.

The humanities focus on human culture, creativity, and values. This includes subjects like history, literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts. People in these fields read, write, and think deeply about how humans express themselves and what we believe. They study old texts, write essays, and create works of art or music. Some smaller fields in the humanities include aesthetics (the study of beauty), philology (the study of ancient languages), and mythology (the study of stories and legends). These subjects help us understand ourselves and our societies across time.

The applied sciences are about using knowledge to solve problems in real life. This includes areas like engineering, medicine, agriculture, and architecture. People in applied sciences take ideas from other fields and turn them into tools, machines, medicines, or buildings. For example, biomedical engineering mixes biology with technology to make medical devices, and environmental science uses knowledge from many fields to help protect nature. These subjects are often very practical and focus on helping people in everyday life.

Some fields go even further by mixing subjects together. These are called interdisciplinary fields. For example, cognitive science mixes psychology, neuroscience, and computer science to study how the mind works. Gender studies looks at gender identity using ideas from history, politics, and culture. Environmental science brings together science, politics, and economics to solve problems like climate change. These fields do not fit neatly into just one category, they use tools from many areas at once.

To keep track of all these fields, people use classification systems like the OECD’s Fields of Science and Technology, the Dewey Decimal System, or the Library of Congress system. These systems help organize books, research, and school subjects. However, they often reflect old traditions, like focusing mostly on Western ideas or keeping science and art separate. Today, many people are moving past strict categories. Some researchers work with people outside of schools, like doctors, engineers, or local communities, to solve big problems together. These new ways of working, called transdisciplinary research, are used in areas like sustainability and health, where the goal is to make real-world changes, not just study theories.

Institutions

MIT's Building 10 and Great Dome overlooking Killian Court

Universities are the main places where different fields of study are organized and supported. Each field, or discipline, is usually placed in its own department or faculty, like the Department of Physics or the Faculty of Arts. These departments are run by academic systems that include things like peer review boards, tenure (a job security system for professors), and professional groups such as the American Physical Society or the American Anthropological Association. These groups help make sure that people in each field follow the rules, use fair methods, and do ethical research. They also help set the goals for what the field should focus on.

Governments also play a big role in shaping which fields grow faster. Agencies like the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the European Research Council (ERC), or Nigeria’s TETFund give money to researchers, but they often choose to fund science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) more than the arts or humanities. This means some fields get more support, money, and attention than others, which can make them seem more important or powerful in universities.

Publishing research in academic journals is one of the most important parts of being in a discipline. Journals like Nature, The Lancet, or Modern Language Review are places where experts share their discoveries. But only the best-reviewed papers get published, which means these journals act like “gatekeepers” that decide which ideas are accepted. Journals are ranked by things like their impact factor, which is based on how often their articles are cited by others. Big databases like Scopus or Web of Science keep track of this, helping people measure how important certain research is.

There are also groups called accreditation bodies, like ABET for engineering or AACSB for business, that set rules for how college programs should be run. They make sure students are learning the right things and that degrees meet certain standards. These rules affect what classes universities offer, how departments are set up, and even what jobs students can get later. For example, a business degree from an unaccredited program might not be accepted by top employers.

Systems like the Carnegie Classification in the U.S. or the Shanghai Rankings around the world help rank and categorize universities. These systems look at how much research a school does, how well its professors are trained, and how much money it gets. Universities that score high in these rankings often get more funding and attract better students. This creates a kind of competition between schools and between disciplines, where some get more freedom and respect than others.

Within each field, power is often controlled by a small number of top universities, famous scholars, and long-standing traditions. For example, schools like Harvard in economics or MIT in computer science have a big influence on what gets studied and how. Professors often train students who go on to become future leaders in the field, creating mentorship lineages. Who gets cited in research papers also shapes whose ideas matter most, making some voices louder than others.

Fields that combine different discipline, called interdisciplinary fields, can have a hard time fitting into regular university structures. These fields, like cognitive science or environmental science, sometimes struggle to get funding or to find professors with permanent jobs. But some schools have made special research centers, like Stanford’s Bio-X or Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, to support them and help overcome these challenges.

Still, universities are not perfect. Sometimes the way they are set up can lead to problems. For example, the replication crisis in psychology showed that many studies could not be repeated, which made people question how reliable some research is. Other times, problems like racism or gender bias have been found in fields like anthropology. These problems show that university systems can sometimes support unfair practices and keep certain people or ideas out.

In recent years, something called academic capitalism has been changing how universities work. Many schools now act like businesses, they try to get patents, work with companies, and climb the global rankings. This often leads to more support for subjects that can make money, like biotechnology or computer science, while fields that focus on big questions or human values may get left behind. This shift changes not just what is studied, but why it is studied, and who gets to decide.

Interdisciplinarity

Bioinformatics is an example of an interdisciplinary field

Interdisciplinarity means combining ideas, methods, and knowledge from two or more different fields of study to solve problems or understand things in new ways. Instead of staying within the boundaries of one subject, like just biology or just history, interdisciplinary work blends them together. This is especially useful for complicated real-world problems, like climate change, pandemics, or artificial intelligence, that involve many parts of life, including science, society, politics, and ethics. Since these problems are too big for just one subject to solve, experts from different areas must work together.

For example, if scientists want to tackle global warming, they might need help from physics (to understand energy), economics (to study costs and policies), and sociology (to learn how people behave). Universities support this kind of teamwork by creating special programs and centers. Places like MIT’s Media Lab bring together designers, computer experts, and psychologists to invent new technology, while the Harvard Kennedy School mixes politics, economics, and public service. Governments and organizations also give money to projects that use multiple fields to work together, because they believe this leads to better ideas and solutions.

Some new fields were born directly from interdisciplinarity. For instance, cognitive science mixes brain science, psychology, language, and artificial intelligence to study how we think. Bioinformatics brings together biology, math, and computer science to understand genes and diseases. These new fields often use tools and ideas from their “parent” subjects but also create their own journals, conferences, and research methods. Sometimes, people go even further with transdisciplinarity, where they work not only with other academics but also with everyday people, like government workers, community leaders, or companies. This helps make sure the knowledge is useful and connected to real life, like in public health or disaster planning.

Even though interdisciplinarity is growing, it is not always easy. Colleges are still divided into departments, and professors usually get hired, promoted, or funded based on work in just one field. If someone studies both history and medicine, for example, they might have a hard time getting a job or publishing their research because people in each field might not fully understand their work. Interdisciplinary researchers often face problems with peer review (where other experts judge your work) because it is hard to find reviewers who understand both sides.

Interdisciplinary research also involves using different kinds of methods. This is called methodological pluralism. For example, someone studying a city might combine personal interviews (a social science method) with computer mapping (a technical method). Or, someone exploring technology and ethics might use both machine learning and philosophy. These researchers must learn how to respect and connect very different ways of thinking. Sometimes, this leads to epistemic integration, which means blending ideas and creating whole new ways of understanding, like actor–network theory, which combines sociology and science studies, or ecological economics, which changes how we think about money by adding environmental concerns.