US universities are generally divided into schools or colleges, which may be further subdivided into departments. For instance, my university had a School of Education, Business School, School of Engineering, School of Nursing, and a College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts was further subdivided into many departments (mathematics, chemistry, history, Slavic languages, English, etc. etc.). Hope that helps you out.

Russian term (edited): кафедра

A department can be divided into units.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 59 mins (2006-07-20 01:59:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

For example:

The Reproductive Endocrine Unit of the Department of Medicine was ... The Harvard-wide Reproductive Endocrine Sciences Center and Core Laboratories ...
http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/reproendo/reu_aboutus.htm

A faculty member who has been named to one of the College’s new Core chairs, Gareth Williams is seen to be one of the leaders of the future, ...
www.college.columbia.edu/include/morestory. php?populations=&Story_ID=942&Story_Version=4 - 7k - Сохранено в кэше - Похожие страницы

Mechanical Engineering was one of the core disciplines when the practice of ... received various distinguished awards and held the Canada Research Chairs. ...
www.me.uvic.ca/Welcome.html

with this context (рекомендательное письмо для студента- reference letter) i'd use 'leading'

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2006-07-20 04:37:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I believe it actually depends whether it's Applied Sciences or, say, Arts...

LEADING STREAMS (in the department)

Like below:
http://www.civil.iitm.ac.in/academics/academics-intro.html

The M.Tech. programme is offered in the following streams in the department:

Building Technology and Construction Management
Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering
Structural Engineering
Transportation Engineering

department of his major/ department in which he is majoring(majored)

Что такое профильная кафедра? Та кафедра, где преподаётся основной предмет, или предмет, по которому у студента специализация. Соответственно, непрофильные кафедры отвечают за сопутсвующие предметы. В английской системе это будет major.
Что касается различения кафедры и факультета в английском, то тут я согласен с Дженифер: то, что соответсвует нашему факультету и будет соответствовать либо school, college или даже division - тут кто во что горазд, каждый ВУЗ может назвать это по своему, а дальше уже идут departments.
А чтобы избежать некоторого несоответсвия со словарным переводом (факультет= department, и это не всегда так), я бы опустил слово "факультет", думаю и так будет понятно, не на чужом факультете же он на профильных кафедрах работал :-)

What is a Major?
A major is a concentration of courses that give a student a basic knowledge of a field of study. A major prepares you to go on for graduate work in the same field or for particular types of professions. A chemistry major, for example, typically prepares a student to take a masters degree in chemistry or to take a job as a chemist in a drugs and medicines company.

Majors are offered by departments within a college or school. An economics major may be housed within a college of arts and science or a college of business. The school or college will require you to take courses in the fields beyond your major. For instance, an economics major may be required to take specific statistics, history, and math courses.


Want More Information? Look at major descriptions prepared by university academic advisement staffs.