Maritime studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that usesliberal arts or business as the foundation for exploring humankind's relationship withwaterways andwatersheds. Incorporatingmaritime history,sea literature,poetry,film,cultural studies,anthropology,archeology,cartography,oceanography,environmental studies, and contemporarymarine policy, maritime studies covers a broader scope than traditional maritime history orseamanship.[1][2][3][4][5]
Maritime Studies "must be broad based and multidisciplinary and involve 'almost every profession having to do with the sea.'"[6]Some of the institutions providing maritime studies combine a broad grounding in technical and scientific coursework with the study of courses in arts and humanities.[7]
Whilemaritime academies frequently prepare cadets for careers in themerchant marine, maritime studies programs prepare students for a variety of careers in the civilian maritime industrial and service sectors. Graduate and undergraduate programs are offered at the following institutions:[citation needed]