v4.1.0 · Discipline architecture: flat 7-entry → 3-layer
Discipline architecture refactor.
The previous "Supported humanities disciplines" section listed seven entries as if they were at the same conceptual layer. They were not — three were L1 main disciplines, one was an L2 subfield, two were L3 cross-disciplinary fields. The set also reflected the author's own research range rather than the actual map of humanities scholarship.
This release restructures the discipline architecture so users from any humanities or humanities-adjacent field can find their position.
Three-layer architecture
L1 · Six main humanities disciplines
Literature · History · Philosophy · Linguistics (new) · Art studies (broader parent of the prior "Art history") · Religious studies
Each gets a refined methodology rubric with 5-7 core concerns.
L2 · Subfield inheritance
Subfields (e.g., 中国古代文学, 经济史, 伦理学, 艺术史, 音乐学, 历史语言学) inherit all parent L1 concerns and may add subfield-specific overlays. Documented common subfield overlays for each L1.
L3 · Nine cross-disciplinary fields with explicit multi-inheritance
| L3 field | Inherits from |
|---|---|
| Cultural studies | Literature + History + Sociology |
| Classics | Literature + History + Philosophy + Religious studies + Archaeology |
| Intellectual history (new) | History + Philosophy |
| History of science (new) | History + Science + Philosophy |
| Media studies (new) | Literature + Cultural studies + Philosophy of technology |
| Digital humanities (new) | Any L1 + Computation |
| Gender studies (new) | Literature + History + Cultural studies |
| Postcolonial studies (new) | Literature + History + Cultural studies |
| Environmental humanities (new) | Literature + History + Science |
Humanities-adjacent fields welcomed
- Communication studies (humanities-style) — Media ecology school (Innis / McLuhan / Postman / Carey); critical communication; rhetorical studies; philosophy of communication
- Educational research (humanities-style) — History of education; philosophy of education; critical pedagogy
Each with explicit "what we serve / what we don't serve" boundaries.
Fallback protocol
For any field not on the list: author declares object of study + primary method, skill infers closest L1 + relevant overlays.
Implementation
- Onboarding step 1 upgraded to 3-layer elicitation (L1 required, L2/L3 optional)
_writing-config/discipline.mdschema updated (backward compatible)- Mode D methodology-focus attack table restructured: 6 L1 vectors + 9 L3 overlays + 2 humanities-adjacent
- Tag format:
[Mode D · methodology · L1 X]/[Mode D · methodology · L3 Y] - Mode J standard arc table restructured: 6 L1 arcs + selected L3 / adjacent arcs (incl. media-ecology arc, history-of-education arc)
Migration
Backward compatible: v4.0.0 discipline.md files still parse correctly. New users in communication studies / educational research who previously had no entry point should re-declare in onboarding using the new humanities-adjacent option.
See CHANGELOG.md for full history.