academic specialization
{{Short description|Course of study or major at an academic institution, or the field in which a specialist practices}}
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In academia, specialization (or specialisation) may refer to a course of study or major at an academic institution, or may refer to the field in which a specialist practices.
In the case of an educator, academic specialization pertains to the subject that they specialize in and teach.{{Cite book|title=To Want to Learn:nbnfkr Insights and Provocations for Engaged Learning, ediwow ed.|last=Kytle|first=Jackson|publisher=Palggrave Macmillan|year=2012|isbn=9780230338203|location=New York|pages=120}} It is considered a precondition of objective truth and works by restricting the mind's propensity for eclecticism through methodological rigor and studious effort.{{Cite book|title=Historics: Why History Dominates Contemporary Society|last=Davies|first=Martin|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|isbn=0415261651|location=New York|pages=168}} It is also employed as an information-management strategy, which operates by fragmenting an issue into different fields or areas of expertise to obtain truth. In recent years, a new avenue of specialization has manifested through double majoring. It is a way to allow for a more diverse exposure to the college curriculum.{{Cite journal |last1=Pitt |first1=Richard |last2=Pirtle |first2=Whitney N. Laster |last3=Metzger |first3=Ashley Noel |date=2017 |title=Academic Specialization, Double Majoring, and the Threat to Breadth in Academic Knowledge |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/jgeneeduc.66.3-4.0166 |journal=The Journal of General Education |volume=66 |issue=3–4 |pages=166–191 |doi=10.5325/jgeneeduc.66.3-4.0166 |jstor=10.5325/jgeneeduc.66.3-4.0166 |issn=0021-3667|url-access=subscription }}
Development
As the volume of knowledge accumulated by humanity became too great, increasing specialization in academia appeared in response.{{cite book|title=Yale Forest School News, Volumes 77-78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AP0AAAAMAAJ&q=%22specialization%22|year=1990|publisher=Yale Forestry Alumni Assn.|page= 5}} There are also cases when this concept emerged from state policymaking to pursue goals such as national competitiveness. For instance, there is the case of Britain who began coordinating academic specialization — through the founding of the Imperial College — to catch up to the United States and Germany, particularly in the fields of scientific and technical education.{{Cite book|title=History of Universities: Volume XVIII/1 2003, Volume 18|last=Feingold|first=Mordechai|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn=0199262020|location=Oxford|pages=124}}
The split between the sciences and humanities was described by C. P. Snow as "The Two Cultures".{{fact|date=November 2024}}
Counter-developments
Interdisciplinary studies are an attempt to resist this siloing of knowledge. The integrated human studies movement is another counter-approach to specialization.{{fact|date=November 2024}}
References
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Further reading
- {{Cite web|url=http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/02/18/adventures-in-academia-the-dangers-of-overspecialization/|title=Adventures in Academia: The Dangers of (Over)Specialization|last=Crichton|first=Danny|website=Stanford Daily|date=18 February 2010 |access-date=2017-03-04}}