What are the 11 branches of humanities?

The humanities are a broad category of academic disciplines focused on human thought, culture, and society. These disciplines include the arts, social sciences, and the study of language. This article will answer the question “what are the 11 branches of humanities?”

What are the 11 branches of humanities?

The 11 branches of humanities are the following:

  • Literature
  • Philosophy
  • History
  • Theology
  • Languages
  • Art 
  • Music
  • Film
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology
  • Psychology

What are the humanities?

The humanities are a broad term that refers to the academic disciplines concerned with human knowledge and culture: literature, history, philosophy, art, music, and religion, among others.

Humanities are the study of human beings and the societies they create past and present. It is also the study of intellectual and artistic endeavors that are not physical sciences and technical disciplines.

There are many different disciplines within humanities, such as anthropology, art history, psychology, and sociology as well as social sciences, philosophy, and the arts. These are just some of the branches of humanities that are studied. 

The study of humanities is extremely important for our society because it allows us to better understand human nature and the world around us.

What is Literature?

Literature is a term used to describe a body or a collection of written and spoken works.  Written works expressing ideas, emotions, and stories are usually in prose or verse specifically those regarded to have the artistic or creative caliber of permanent value.

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions about reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It aims to provide an understanding of fundamental issues relating to life. 

Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument.

What is History?

History is the study of the past, how it has changed, and how it has been influenced by various factors over time. It is the story of what has happened in the past and can be used to predict what may happen in the future. 

It is important to remember that history is not just a study of what has happened, but also how it has been written and how it has been interpreted. History is usually broken up into different branches, such as the following: 

  • Social History
  • Economic History
  • Political History

What is Theology?

Theology is the study of God, divine things, and the relationship between humanity and God. It is the study of religious doctrines, beliefs, and practices. It is a field of study that explores the relationship between humanity and God.

What is Language?

Language is a human structured system of standard spoken, manual,  arbitrary signals, or written symbols by means of which communication is enabled by human beings.

There are currently 7,139 spoken languages in the world today according to Ethnologue but only 23 are used by more than half the population of the world.

What is Art?

Art is a creative process in which an individual or group uses one or more of the following media to create beauty, social commentary, and/or spiritual experience: 

  • Visual arts
  • Dance
  • Literature
  • Theater
  • Performance
  • Sculpture
  • Architecture
  • Comics
  • Media

What is Music?

Music is a fundamental part of human culture and is an art form that crosses many boundaries. There are many different forms of music, but the most common ones are classical, jazz, pop, rock, and folk. Each of these forms of music has different instruments and different ways of playing the instruments.

What is Film?

The film is a medium of motion pictures, a process that uses light and a camera to capture images, which are then exhibited to an audience. The film is used for entertainment, documentary, news, drama, and non-fiction purposes. 

It is a very broad medium, and some films are subject to different definitions, such as documentary films and feature films. Other films are classified as international co-productions and are not intended for commercial distribution.

What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is a field of academic study that is concerned with the study of humankind. It is a social science that seeks to understand the origins of culture, language, and social structure. It is a field that is often considered a sister science of physical anthropology. 

Anthropology includes the study of the origin and development of the human species, including their physical and cognitive characteristics and how these characteristics have changed over time. 

What is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of society and human interaction. It is a scientific discipline that uses the methods of the natural and social sciences to study how society works. 

It is a multi-disciplinary field that draws on other social sciences such as anthropology, economics, political science, and psychology. Sociology includes topics such as: 

  • How society is structured 
  • How people interact with one another 
  • The influence of culture on society 
  • The effects of social structures on people 
  • The role of social institutions in society

What is Psychology?

Psychology came from the Greek words “psychē” meaning mind, soul, or spirit, and “logos” which means study. Psychology is the study of the human mind, its inner workings, and how it affects behavior.

Psychology is a discipline that covers a wide selection of topics from the faculties of the brain to the whole activities of nations, from child development to care for the elderly, to the conscious and unconscious brain and behavior phenomena and all aspects of the human experience

Conclusion

The humanities are the study of humans. They encompass the study of language, history, philosophy, literature, art, music, and religion. It’s easy to think humanities are just a cluster of subjects that study humans. But in reality, it’s a lot more than that. The humanities are a collection of fields that study everything from language and literature to history and sociology. There are 11 different branches which are Literature, Philosophy, History, Theology, Languages, Art, Music, Film, Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): what are the 11 branches of humanities?

What is the difference between the humanities and the social sciences?

The humanities are the study of how humans live and how they make meaning. They are concerned with the lives of individuals and their cultures. They are mainly focused on the past and present. The social sciences, on the other hand, are the study of human behavior. They study the past but they are mainly focused on the future and how it can be changed.

Why branches of humanities should be studied?

Humanities should be studied because it is a discipline that focuses on understanding the good and the beauty that humanity can create.

It can give students the chance to inculcate the practices of making good and beautiful things on their own. A humanistic education will also help students appreciate, understand, and produce music, theatre, art, and literature. 

Who is the father of humanities?

the German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey is considered the father of humanities. Humanities is simply described as those subject matters that lay beyond, and outside, the topics of the physical sciences. In the late 19th century, he coined the term humanities which means “the human sciences” and “the spiritual sciences” 

Reference

Small, H. (2013). The value of the humanities. Oxford University Press.

Hulme, M. (2011). Meet the humanities. Nature Climate Change, 1(4), 177-179.

Gottschall, J. (2008). Literature, science, and a new humanities. Springer.

Humanities & Social Science Resources | Databases & Journals | Gale. Retrieved from https://www.gale.com/humanities-and-social-sciences 

What are the 11 branches of humanities?

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