THE BRITISH ACADEMY,
established by Royal Charter in 1902, champions and supports the humanities and social sciences. It aims to inspire, recognise and support excellence and high achievement across the UK and internationally.
PORTAL subject coverage
PORTAL covers the full range of the humanties and social sciences. The areas of study listed under each heading are indicative, not exclusive, and they evolve over time. Please note that these listings do not represent the Academy's research priorities.
Covers: the ancient Near East; ancient languages (other than Greek and Latin); Chinese languages, literatures and culture; Japanese languages, literature and culture; other Asian languages, literature and culture; modern Middle-Eastern languages, literature and culture; modern African languages, literature and culture
Covers: archaeology of all regions and periods; archaeological conservation; archaeological techniques; science relating to archaeology; cultural heritage
Covers: Latin (language and literature in the original language and in translation); ancient and classical Greek (language and literature in the original language and in translation); ancient Egypt and Egyptology; classical civilisation; ancient and classical history (from earliest times to c. AD400)
Covers: English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish history, including regional and local history; history of other countries, nations and regions; Byzantine history; religious history; military history; political history; history of ideas; aspects of history such as military, political and social history not covered under other headings
Early Modern Languages and Literature (1500-1800)
Covers: European languages, literatures and cultures; Latin American languages literature and culture; Scandinavian languages, literature and culture; Russian languages, literature and culture; Slavonic and East European languages, literatures and cultures; other European languages and literatures; comparative literature and European literature in translation
Economics and Economic History
Covers: Economics; macroeconomics; microeconomics; economic policy; applied economics; business economics; political economics; development economics; economic systems; ecological economics; agricultural economics; health economics; mathematical economics; quantitative economics; econometrics; quantitative analysis; computing economics; financial economics; overseas economics; technological economics; economic history; social history
Covers: history of fine and applied art; history of design; history of music
Covers: jurisprudence; European Community law; European legal studies; legal systems in the UK; legal systems in other countries; commercial law; constitutional law; contracts; criminal law; environmental law; international law; comparative law; legal process; property law; public law; legal history; socio-legal studies; theory of law
Covers: applied linguistics; corpus linguistics; computational linguistics; phonetics; philology; etymology; language in community; theoretical linguistics; psycholinguistics; sociolinguistics; endangered languages; language acquisition in adults and children; language teaching; less-commonly spoken/taught languages
Medieval Studies: History and Literature (c. 800 to c. 1500)
Covers: European languages, literatures and cultures; Latin American languages, literature and culture; Scandinavian languages, literatures and cultures; Russian languages, literature and culture; Slavonic and East European languages, literatures and cultures; other European languages and literatures; English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish history, including regional and local history; religious history; history of other countries, regions and nations; Byzantine history; history of ideas; aspects of history such as military, political and social history not covered under other headings
Covers: English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish history, including regional and local history; history of other countries, nations, and regions; aspects of history such as military, political and social history not covered under other headings
Modern Languages, Literatures, and Other Media (from c. 1800)
Covers: European languages, literatures and cultures; Latin American languages, literature and culture; Scandinavian languages, literatures and cultures; Russian languages, literature and culture; Slavonic and East European languages, literatures and cultures; other European languages and literatures; comparative literature and European literature in translation; American studies; human communication; film; television; other media
Covers: natural philosophy; mental philosophy; social philosophy; moral philosophy; metaphysics; logic
Political Studies: Political Theory, Government and International Relations
Covers: politics; political theory; communism; government; public administration; politics and administration; politics and government; parliamentary studies; European Community studies; policy and administration studies; international politics; international relations; strategic studies; comparative politics; politics of a specific country; development studies; peace studies; conflict resolution; defence/security studies; war studies
Covers: applied psychology; clinical psychology; clinical science; experimental psychology; social psychology; occupational psychology; applied cognitive science; applied psychology; human psychology; behavioural science; cultural social psychology; applied social psychology; occupational psychology; educational psychology; experimental psychology; developmental psychology
Social Anthropology and Geography
Covers: maritime geography; environmental geography; physical geography; topography; topographical science; applied geography; human geography; cartography; demography; economic geography; geographical techniques; Asian and African geography; social anthropology; biological anthropology; cultural studies; cultural social anthropology; ethnomusicology
Sociology, Demography and Social Statistics
Covers: statistics and probability; applied statistics; management statistics; mathematical statistics; operational statistics; operational research techniques; social statistics; sociology; applied sociology; social studies; applied social studies; social science; applied social science; human and social science; probation and after care training; cultural sociology; criminology; women's studies; race relations; applied education
Theology and Religious Studies
Covers: theology; divinity; biblical studies; religious studies; comparative religion; pastoral studies; Christian education; social ethics; church history
Information for users
Institutional index - lists the resource descriptions by institution/department
Selection criteria - how we choose resources for listing in PORTAL