Goals and Objectives

• to provide in-depth exposure to history as a discipline and traditional subject within the framework of a liberal arts education.

The general premise underlying the study of history is that by understanding the past, one can comprehend the present. The array of coursework provides access for both majors and non-majors to the historical experience of humankind. The department offers courses in American, European, World, Asian, and Latin American history, as well as courses in women’s history, ethnic history, art history, public history, and film history. It is central to the mission of the history department to attract and maintain the highest caliber of professional historians in each core area.

In recognition of the university’s mission to meet the educational and personal developmental needs of students through effective teaching, academic advising, and counseling, the history department provides cultural opportunities, foreign and domestic travel seminars, and extracurricular programs in addition to traditional courses. Foreign study opportunities are offered in the university’s Wisconsin in Scotland program in Dalkeith, Scotland, in the Semester Abroad Program, in programs in France and Mexico and China and Japan. Tours are offered in the Colonial United States and to France, Italy, China, and other countries.

Career in Teaching

Students who wish to teach history or any of the other social sciences (anthropology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, or sociology) in the states of Wisconsin or Minnesota are advised to take a Broad Field Social Studies degree. This includes a 36-credit major in history as well as additional courses in the other social sciences. Students will also take the required courses in the College of Education and Professional Studies and become certified to teach at the middle school and/or high school level.

Faculty

The history and philosophy department includes six full-time history faculty and two full-time philosophy faculty, all with doctoral degrees in their area of expertise.

Career Opportunities

Students with a history major are armed with skills for many different and rewarding careers. Below are some of the career fields of recent UWRF history graduates:

• advertising—writing, editing, creative director
  
• business—management, marketing, communications, public relations, human resources, research and development, publications
  
• civil service
  
• communications
  
• public relations
  
• education—elementary teaching, secondary teaching, college teaching, educational administration
  
• financial services
  
• foreign service and consular service
  
• human services
  
• journalism
  
• lawyer or para-legal
  
• public history—national and state archives, business and medical archives, historical societies and museums
  
• publishing
  
• travel industry