Subject, Academic

a system of knowledge and skills selected from a branch of learning, technology, art, or industry and studied at an educational institution.

The content of an academic subject is determined by the syllabus. The academic subjects taught at various types of general-education schools, the areas of specialization at specialized educational institutions, and the interrelationships and sequence of study are determined by the curriculum. There are two types of academic subjects. General-education subjects include those subjects that embody the principles of the various branches of learning and that are taught in all types of secondary schools, as well as the social sciences, foreign languages, higher mathematics, and physics, taught in the higher schools. Specialized academic subjects, on the other hand, train specialists. Other general-education academic subjects are those studied at technical educational institutions; they include hydraulics, resistance of materials, and machine parts.