The TOK course consists of three interlinked elements: the areas of knowledge, the optional themes, and the core theme.
The five areas of knowledge - the arts, history, human sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences - represent ways we categorize ideas and concepts in order to understand and take ownership of them.
The five optional themes – indigenous societies, language, politics, religion, and technology – are our personal and societal affiliations which shape the way we produce and acquire knowledge.
The AOKs and themes help to define us as knowers, which we focus on within the core theme – knowledge and the knower – as well as looking at the different communities of knowers to which we belong.
Dunn, Michael. “Areas of Knowledge.” theoryofknowledge.net, January 12, 2022. https://theoryofknowledge.net/areas-of-knowledge/.