History SOAR Gateway

What is a FIG?

A First-Year Interest Group (FIG) is a kind of academic learning community designed specifically for first-year students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each FIG is a unique cluster of UW classes, linked together to explore a common theme or topic. All FIGs are based on a small seminar and most FIG seminars are connected to two other classes.  We highly recommend this program, and you can find out more about it on the FIG Program website.

History seminars anchor the following FIGs:

• FIG 20 – Gandhi, King, Mandela: Nonviolence in the World, with Mou Banerjee
• FIG 49 – Russia and America: From the 19th Century to Today, with Francine Hirsch
• FIG 54 – Wisdom and the Good Life: Historical Perspectives, with Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

You can also take History or History of Science classes as part of the following FIGs:

• FIG 1 – Big Data and Society, History of Science 150: The Digital Age
• FIG 29 – Laboring for Revolution: An Introduction to the Life, Thought, and Legacy of Karl Marx, History 120: Europe and the Modern World: 1815 to the Present
• FIG 35 – Molecules to Meaning-Making: Frameworks for Understanding Sickness and Health, History of Science 212: Bodies, Diseases, and Healers: An Introduction to the History of Medicine
• FIG 36 – National Identity in the Global World: The Italian Case, History 120: Europe and the Modern World: 1815 to the Present
• FIG 37 – Observation and Discovery: How Astronomy Shapes our Worldview, History of Science 201: The Origins of Scientific Thought
• FIG 39 – The Periodic Table of Life, History of Science 201: The Origins of Scientific Thought
• FIG 51 – Sports, Games, and Spectacles in Antiquity, History 136: Sports, Recreation, & Society in the United States

At the heart of the FIG program are top-notch instructors who enjoy working with first-year students. Watch as students from Professor Mou Banerjee’s Fall 2020 FIG surprise her with a thank you at the end of the semester over Zoom!

Academic Advising

Incoming transfer students who are intending to major in or explore the History Major or Certificate can make an in-person or remote appointment with our academic advisor, Scott Burkhardt, through Starfish or by emailing Scott directly.  Scott is happy to answer questions about our programs or our courses, so don’t hesitate to reach out to him.

The Historian’s Craft (History 201 or Hist Sci 211)

Transfer students interested in the History Major or Certificate should take The Historian’s Craft (History 201 or Hist Sci 211) in their first year at UW-Madison, ideally in their first semester. History 201 and History of Science 211 are topics courses, which means that each semester there are different versions of the course with different emphases and themes – the only difference between History 201 and History of Science 211 is that History of Science 211 focuses on themes related to the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology. For Fall 2024, we have a wide range of these courses on sixteen different topics, including “African Decolonization” and “Russia and America.” You can find more details about these options (and all of our other courses) by using the Course Search and Enroll tool.

The Historian’s Craft courses give students a foundational experience of research and writing in the discipline of history and they also satisfy the Com-B General Education requirement.  Transfer students have top priority on our wait lists for the 201s, so if you are interested in a 201 with a wait list please be sure to enroll on the wait list and email Scott Burkhardt to let him know that you are hoping to take that section.

History Requirements at UW-Madison

You can find the official requirements for both our major and certificate in the UW-Madison Academic Guide.  These requirements are flexible and allow for both a range of exploration and a depth of experience with research methods in our field.  Students are not required to have a focus in any particular area of coursework, but are encouraged instead to consider writing a senior honors thesis if they want to pursue a specialized research topic in history.

History Transfer Credits

History and History of Science courses taken at other institutions can be used to fulfill the breadth requirements of the History Major at UW-Madison.  If you see courses on your DARS that have been given non-direct equivalencies (any course number that begins with an X, e.g. History X13), please speak with our academic advisor to make sure that they will count appropriately toward our major requirements.

It’s intellectually exciting! History asks: how did the world get to be this way?

To study history is to study change: historians are experts in examining and interpreting human identities and transformations of societies and civilizations over time. Historians use a wide range of sources to weave individual lives and collective actions into narratives that bring critical perspectives on both our past and our present. Studying history helps us understand and grapple with complex questions and dilemmas by examining how the past has shaped (and continues to shape) global, national, and local relationships between societies and people.

Great Teachers

Our department cares about undergraduate teaching and is full of outstanding teachers.  Eleven members of our faculty have won the University Distinguished Teaching Award, including Professor Cindy I-Fen Cheng, who teaches Asian American History and won a Distinguished Teaching Award in 2017.

Academic Support from the History Lab

UW-Madison is one of a handful of schools with a dedicated writing center for history, the History Lab.  During the academic year, the History Lab serves as a resource center for undergraduate students who are studying, researching, or writing about the past. It is staffed by experienced graduate students from the Department of History.

Through individual tutoring, the Lab focuses on honing students’ abilities to form topics, conduct research, develop arguments and thesis statements, cite evidence, and write effectively. The Lab is equipped also to support challenges faced by English-language learners.

The History Major and Certificate are very flexible

History makes it easy to pursue a variety of interests, goals, and professional paths.

History is a core discipline of the Liberal Arts, and History students at UW-Madison can meet the requirements of the College of Letters & Science (L&S) in ways that make it possible to: double major, study abroad, pursue honors, or fulfill pre-requisites for professional and graduate programs.  Majors that students most frequently pair with History are: Economics, English, Environmental Studies, Journalism, and Political Science. History majors can also choose to add certificates in L&S or from outside the college, such as the certificates in Business or Education and Educational Services. The history advising team is happy to discuss ways for you to make your intellectual and career goals work as part of a four-year plan.

What skills make studying history so valuable and applicable?

• Historians are storytellers. We examine a time, place, or experience that is not our own, then write and talk about it in a way that engages and enlightens others. Many individual courses nurture students’ storytelling abilities – some through novel routes such as digital history projects or using family ancestry to understand immigration patterns. We know that communication skills flourish when used often, so our major is constructed to give students repeated practice and focused, constructive criticism.
• Critical and analytical thinking. Studying history teaches us to examine and explain past events in all their contexts and complexities. Searching for patterns to help understand the past can help us see patterns in our present; historians specialize in viewing and explaining change over time, and learning to see themes and patterns in historical contexts enhances our ability to see them in current events as well. Everything we do is shaped by our past, and understanding political, cultural, and social change can help us improve our present and shape our future.
• Problem-solving. History students excel at asking difficult questions and then pursuing their answers. We don’t only seek to know “who” and “when” – history is also about understanding “how” and “why,” and those questions take flexibility, creativity, and persistence to answer. Anyone who has written a research paper will know well the experience of revising a question mid-project, identifying alternate sources, and making sense of unexpected forms of information; often historical questions do not have conclusive answers. History teaches us to be comfortable with the imprecision and nuances that flavor our daily lives even as we work towards our best possible understanding of the world around us.

Christina Matta & Career Advising

The Department of History is fortunate to have our own in-house Career Advisor, Christina Matta! Christina helps undergraduate history students explore career options that will engage and challenge the critical thinking, analytical, and communication skills they learn during their time at UW. She also works with our alumni and private/public sector organizations to identify internships and other professional opportunities for undergraduates to gain exposure to fields they are interested in before graduation. To schedule an appointment with Christina, you can use the scheduling assistant Starfish, or you can email her directly.