History
Explore events and people from the past — and better understand how we got to where we are today — with a bachelor's degree in history from UWEC.
Discover and Analyze Our Past
Designed so you can explore and pursue multiple passions, degree requirements for our history program are flexible and personalized. Coursework throughout the history major will provide you with a strong foundation in world history and introduce you to the theories, concepts, methodologies, research methods, and historiographic traditions used by historians.
Through unique projects and assignments, you'll learn how to uncover evidence and use it to explain the meaning and impact of events in local, national and global contexts. You will also discover how to conduct independent research; evaluate the views of historical scholars; and assess the credibility, position and perspectives of various forms of historical evidence. This real-world, learn-by-doing approach gives you an inside look at the types of projects and initiatives you may be leading once in the field — and gives you firsthand experience prior to graduating.
No matter your career goals, here, you'll feel motivated and supported while on your journey to pursuing your bachelor's degree. Classes are taught by passionate, supportive faculty members, each with a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Through their diverse backgrounds and past experiences, they'll show you all that is possible with a degree in history and help you find a career path you love. Small class sizes allow you to ask questions, have thought-provoking discussions, and network with students who, like you, are interested in sharing their love of history with the world.
Program Details
A variety of electives within the program allow you to personalize your education and study multiple areas of interest. Explore courses like the African American Civil Rights Movement, Twentieth Century Europe, Origins of Current World Conflicts, Sectionalism, Civil War and Reconstruction, American Environmental History, and the History of Japan. This multidisciplinary and global approach will surround you with different perspectives, people, and ways of thinking.
All history majors at UWEC complete an independent research project as part of their senior capstone thesis. Many Blugolds also choose to participate in research collaborations with department faculty on both national and international topics. This work may lead to research presentations at local, state, and national conferences. It also will set you apart, especially when applying to graduate school or when pursuing careers requiring research skills and independent initiative.
Travel is one of the best ways to learn about history, and throughout your time at UW-Eau Claire you'll have plenty of chances to do so. Explore museums and historical sites in England and Central Europe while studying abroad, or learn about the Civil Rights Pilgrimage in Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana during a faculty-led cultural immersion experience.
UWEC is also one of 200 universities participating in the National Student Exchange, which allows you to spend a semester at a campus in one of 49 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada or Puerto Rico — all while paying your Blugold tuition rate.
Throughout our history program, you'll learn how to analyze diverse experiences; construct arguments that explain how history can inform the present; and compare and connect, local, national, and global histories. Graduates leave able to read critically, manage and analyze information, build logical arguments, write persuasively, and conduct independent research — skills that prepare them well for a wide variety of careers.
Blugold Stories
Before coming to college, I didn't expect to have as much support as I do here. There's always someone to have your back and to be there for you during hard times. I just thought I'd kind of be alone, but that's definitely not the case here.
Justthe
facts
Where can the history program lead me after graduation?
After completing UW-Eau Claire's history program, you'll become an informed citizen who understands and appreciates diversity, especially as it relates to evaluating and presenting different interpretations of the past. Our alumni go on to advance their studies in graduate or law school, or pursue careers in museums, archives, the government or historic sites. Graduates also work in management positions in the public or private business sectors.
Example Careers
- Historical Society education and programming
- Local history outreach coordinator
- State records archivist
- Travel writer
- Consulting relations
- Director of research and principal analyst
- Coordinator of library development
The curriculum within UW-Eau Claire's history program will help you gain the kind of perspective that is valuable in evaluating the institutions, ideas and values of the present day. You will develop an understanding of how and why societies and cultures change or do not change over time, as well as how interactions between the diverse peoples and cultures of the past shape our lives today. As part of a required capstone experience, you'll complete a major research project for presentation, enhancing your writing, reading, communication and analytical skills.
Pair your major with another field that interests you for even more opportunities and career paths. Popular minor choices include geography, global studies, European studies, ancient studies, religious studies, psychology, political science, economics, or a language.
Here are a few courses in History at UW-Eau Claire.
HIST 292
Origins of Current World Conflicts
Topical course exploring historical origins of current world conflicts. Causes and forms of conflict include evolution of human rights, ethnic-racial and class divisions, imperialism and decolonization, nationalism, political ideologies, total war, terrorism and comparative revolutions. Film Night Required.
HIST 318
Studies in the History of European and Mediterranean Worlds
Selected topics in the history of European and Mediterranean worlds. Topics may focus on a particular time period, region/nation, or historical process. Consult class schedule or department office for current offering.
HIST 210
African American History 1865 to Present
Course includes information on lynching, the Civil Rights Movement, and race relations.
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