Department

Short Definition

A Department is an academic division or subdivision within a college or university responsible for offering instruction and conducting research in a particular field of study. Universities usually include two or more departments.

In-depth Overview

Department

Long definition: A "Department" in higher education refers to an academic unit within a university or college that focuses on a specific field of study or discipline. It is responsible for offering courses, conducting research and providing instruction related to that field, often leading to academic degrees.

Etymology: The term "department" has its roots in the Middle French word "departement", which means "division" or "separation". In the context of higher education, it signifies the division of academic disciplines into specialized units.

Synonyms or related academic terms: Faculty, School, Division, College, Institute.

Examples of Use:

• The Department of Physics offers undergraduate and graduate programs in various physics disciplines.
• She met with the head of the English Department to discuss her course schedule.

Translations:
Spanish: Departamento
French: Département
German: Fachbereich or Abteilung
Italian: Dipartimento
Portuguese: Departamento
Japanese: 学科 (Gakka)
Chinese (Simplified): 系 (Xì)
Hindi: विभाग (Vibhaag)

Visitors can explore departments at universities worldwide using the uniRank World Universities Search Engine.

unirank Glossary Classification

Miscellaneous higher education terms > University academic divisions