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Learn history — and make it too. Exploring the past helps you understand today’s world, preparing you for diverse career options worldwide.

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Undergraduate programs

History

Undergrad major Undergrad minor

The study of history is more than a window into the past. A good history education will help you understand the present and how you, as an individual and global citizen, can improve the future.

In UWL's history program, you'll discover how societies originated and explore cultural, political, social, and economic perspectives across time and space. You'll see how past experiences inform who you are and recognize your role in historical change.

Catalogfor History
Quick glancefor History

Broadfield Social Studies Education

Undergrad major Teacher license

The Broadfield Social Studies Education program provides skills-based training for teacher candidates seeking to teach social studies. The program prepares candidates to teach all social studies disciplines including economics, geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology.

 

Areas of study

History Concentration

The broadfield social studies education major: history concentration is intended for those who intend to seek licensure in the grades 4-12 developmental range. It provides a grounding in the core courses of the history major, as well as a foundation in four categories of history covering much of the world and its time periods.

Undergrad major Teacher license View a sample plan for History Catalogfor History

Political Science Concentration

Political science is the study of governments, policies, institutions, and the behavior of participants in the political world. Broadfield social studies education: political science concentration students are prepared to teach a range of civics, social studies, and government courses. This major prepares students to earn a Wisconsin teaching license for grades 4-12 in the six subjects of social studies: economics, geography, history, psychology, political science, and sociology.

Undergrad major Teacher license View a sample plan for Political Science Catalogfor Political Science

Sociology Concentration

Sociology is the study of human groups and how the group influences social behavior. Students in the broadfield social studies education major: sociology concentration can be licensed to teach through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This major prepares students to earn a Wisconsin teaching license for grades 4-12 in the six subjects of social studies: economics, geography, history, psychology, political science, and sociology.

Undergrad major Teacher license View a sample plan for Sociology Catalogfor Sociology
Catalogfor Broadfield Social Studies Education
Quick glancefor Broadfield Social Studies Education

International & Global Studies

Undergrad minor

International and global studies is an interdisciplinary study of the political, economic, social and cultural issues throughout the world, as well as the increasingly interconnected nature, complexity and diversity of the world community. Students often compare subjects across regions of the world, and develop skills and abilities for meaningful cross-cultural and transnational interactions.

Catalogfor International & Global Studies
Quick glancefor International & Global Studies

Related programs from other departments

Teacher Education Programs

Featured courses

  • Survey of Ancient and Medieval Worlds
    HIS 230 | 3 credits
    An historical survey of the civilizations of West Asia, North Africa, and Europe from the advent of urbanization in 4000 BC to the beginning of the Renaissance (ca. 1300 AD). Topics discussed will be the nature and status of women, ethnic and religious minorities, the importance of geography and technology. Special emphasis will be placed on studying historical themes that have survived to the present day. Offered Spring.
  • Survey of Asia
    HIS 250 | 3 credits
    This course introduces students to various aspects of Asian history with special focus on the Modern period (i.e., post-1800). In particular, students compare the political, social and economic structures as well as the religious/philosophical underpinnings of Asian countries including China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, and Indonesia. Offered Alternate Years.
  • Schools and Learning in Social Studies and Field Experience I
    HIS 304 | 2 credits
    This course is integrated with a field experience for secondary social studies teachers and provides a forum for reflection. Teacher candidates work collaboratively to design, enact, and assess activities to enhance student learning. This course is a multi-day, consistent schedule in the middle school field experience classroom. Teacher candidates collaborate with their assigned cooperating teacher to explore best practices. Prerequisite: EDS 203, EDS 206; admission to teacher education. Consent of department. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • U.S. Reform Movements
    HIS 308 | 3 credits
    In this course, students learn about reform movements in the U. S. which happen in waves around dramatic events such as a compelling story, shocking photograph, expose, scandal, investigative journalism, or the force of a charismatic person. Students also explore reforms that result from a slow evolution of policy and politics, legal changes, institutional bureaucracy, or data-driven decisions. Students discuss who initiated reforms, what their motives might have been, and whose lives were intentionally or unintentionally affected by reform. Students investigate how reform movements have shaped current American policies. Offered Alternate Years.
  • Careers in Public History
    HIS 320 | 3 credits
    This course is an introduction to the careers of public historians. The class covers such topics as cultural resource management, public policy, museums, oral history, archives, etc. As part of this class students have the opportunity to meet with professionals in the field which provides them with a sense of the various careers they may choose to pursue. This class also provides networking opportunities for future employment in public history. Offered Fall.
  • La Crosse Wisconsin in World History
    HIS 337 | 3 credits
    This course explores the connections between La Crosse, Wisconsin, and the wider world from 1840s to present. At a regional scale, students investigate how the story of La Crosse's origins and expansion fits into the broader history of the state of Wisconsin, the Mississippi River Valley, and the Midwest. At a global scale, we connect La Crosse and Wisconsin's story to long-distance and long-time frame processes including long-distance migration, industrialization, warfare (e.g., WWI, WWII, and Cold War), and demands for social and economic reform (e.g., Progressive Era, Civil Rights movement, and the student protest movement). Offered Alternate Years.
  • Sugar, Coffee, Rubber, Bananas: Commodities in World History
    HIS 338 | 3 credits
    This course examines the history of everyday commodities we consume or use, often without considering where they came from (e.g., sugar, coffee, rubber, and bananas). Students focus on the development of plantation-style agriculture in the Americas, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and Africa from the 1600s to the 1930s. Power relationships between laborers, landowners, colonial governments, and consumers are examined to connect trade goods to the historical societies in which they were produced. Particular emphasis is placed on links between European imperialism, labor migration, and inequality. Offered Alternate Years.
  • Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
    HIS 361 | 3 credits
    This course examines the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Students focus on its origins, the actors involved, and key social and political factors that have shaped it. Offered Occasionally.
  • Knowing the Oceans: A History of Human Understanding of the Ocean Environment
    HIS 371 | 3 credits
    This course explores historical attempts to access and understand the two thirds of our planet often ignored by land-focused histories. The course follows a roughly chronological path, delving into a variety of different - and changing - ways of knowing, including religious, experiential, and scientific, and it examines the various people and groups whose interests led them to and beneath the sea, as well as the various individuals and organizations whose patronage provided the means to access it. Along the way, the course considers these investigators' complicated relationships with technology, which allowed, controlled, and shaped access to and understanding of the oceans. The goal is a more complex understanding of the place of the three-dimensional, global ocean in global scientific, technological, cultural, and environmental history. Offered Occasionally.
  • The American West
    HIS 378 | 3 credits
    This course focuses on the history of the Trans-Mississippi West from European contact to the late 20th century with a focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics covered include the federal West, settlement, immigration, extractive industries, agriculture, aridity, the environment, and Native Americans. Offered Occasionally.
  • History Through Film
    HIS 392 | 3 credits
    This course uses film, television, or similar media as a primary or secondary source in the study of history of a region, nation, or historical theme. Students study the history of peoples, nations and cultures through film, rather than studying the history of film itself. This course examines the perils and promise of using film as a source, briefly discusses film criticism and terminology, and includes historical context for the films in the course. Students should expect to read and write about film criticism, history, and historiography. Lect. 2, Lab 2. Offered Occasionally.
  • Secondary Content Methods for Teaching English Language Learners
    HIS 402 | 3 credits
    This course explores the importance of teaching content to English Language Learners (ELs) at the secondary (grades 4-12) level. Students examine the various methods and teaching strategies that can be utilized to best teach students with limited English proficiency (LEP) while at the same time working to develop English language literacy. Students learn and use the Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) method. Prerequisite: EDS 203, EDS 206; admission to teacher education. Offered Spring.
  • Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in Social Studies Education
    HIS 403 | 3 credits
    This course introduces pre-service education majors to the foundational concepts, theories, and strategies associated with social studies and history education. Topics include lesson planning and learning segment design, variations of assessing student work, content literacy, teaching for social justice, theoretical approaches to social studies and history education, and instructional methods. Prerequisite: HIS 110; EDS 203, EDS 206. Offered Fall.
  • Ireland and the World: 1500-present
    HIS 414 | 3 credits
    The history of Ireland has long held the imagination of people throughout the English-speaking world. The written record of the so-called "Land of Scholars and Saints" is indicative of the Irish people's literacy and is reflective of the great deal of interest paid to its history. Ireland's history is one filled with tragedy, complexity, redemption, revolution and rebellion, nationalism, intellectualism, and imperialism. Weaving through this historical narrative is the constant struggle regarding sectarianism, matters of gender and sexuality, economy, emigration, violence, and ethnicity. The relative smallness of Ireland allows the historian - and history student - to examine a wide variety of themes without sacrificing any of the nation's narrative. It is the overarching goal of this course to explore all these themes while analyzing the narrative of modern Ireland. Offered Alternate Years.
  • International Development and Culture Change
    ANT 307 | 3 credits
    In an increasingly global world, what does it mean for cultures to change? What does it mean for cultures to stay the same? This course examines what "development" means to people in different cultures, and how the concept of development is itself a product of colonialism, the Cold War, and the current focus on what has been called the neoliberal global economy. The goals of the course are 1) to provide students with a comprehensive study of what economic, social, cultural, and political development has meant over time, and 2) to illustrate the benefits, limitations, and consequences of "progress" and "development" in the lives of people all over the globe. Course examples will come from topics such as conservation, sustainability, and the environment; the preservation of indigenous peoples' ways of life; tourism and its effects in a global world; gender and development; disaster response and reconstruction; and the roles of social movements, development aid, and non-governmental organizations in international development. Offered Occasionally.
  • World Literature and Culture
    ENG 357 | 3 credits
    This course provides diverse perspectives through the study of literature and culture from around the world and throughout history. Geographical regions may range from ancient to modern Middle East, Africa, Asia, South Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The course may consider how literary and cultural texts reflect and challenge the values and local contexts of the cultures that produce them and the relevance of course texts in the global arena. Focus and content vary with instructor. However, each instructor covers at least two distinct regions, including works in translation. Prerequisites: ENG 110; three credits in a 200-level English course. Offered Alternate Years.
  • Power, Space, and Global Change
    GEO 307 | 3 credits
    As individuals and groups interact, they create and modify political and economic structures. Conflicts and inequalities, as well as improvements to the human condition, are examined at multiple scales. Territorialities, population dynamics, states, borders, and elections are explored with the tools of human geography. Offered Fall.
  • Global Impact of Infectious Disease
    MIC 130 | 3 credits
    A multifaceted examination of issues related to infectious disease throughout the world. The course will begin with historical examples of how infectious disease has impacted society, from plagues of centuries past to recent emerging diseases. After defining the types of pathogens and methods for their control, the interplay between infectious disease and global economics, health and politics will be evaluated. Additionally, the impact of public perceptions and misconceptions on the spread of infectious disease will be analyzed. Finally, the role of current human activities in shaping disease patterns of the future will be explored. Offered Fall, Spring, Summer.
  • International Law
    POL 345 | 3 credits
    This course explores the world of international law, where politics and legal principles intersect on the global stage. Students delve into the historical and theoretical evolution of international law, examining its role in shaping contemporary global politics on topics ranging from peace and war to economic exchange, among other global challenges and opportunities. By engaging with historical and contemporary cases, students develop a deeper understanding of the forces that shape international law. The course examines how international law fosters cooperation and resolves conflict, and whether it can address some of the most pressing contemporary issues in a constantly evolving world. Prerequisite: POL 110, POL 140, or junior standing. Offered Spring - Odd Numbered Years.
  • Gender and Human Rights
    RGS 373 | 3 credits
    This course provides an overview of transnational women's human rights movements in a variety of locations around the world; locations vary with the instructor. Included in this overview is the study of women's political participation as a human rights issue; women's bodily integrity as a human right; violence against women and reproductive sexual health and rights; human rights as a framework for social and economic and gender justice; and human rights as (quasi) legal accountability; UN agreements, treaties and venues of redress. Prerequisite: RGS 100 or RGS 150 or EDS 206. Offered Fall - Odd Numbered Years.
  • Global Inequality
    SOC 404 | 3 credits
    This course explores explanations for inequality between countries. Macro-sociological theories and comparative methods are used to analyze cross-cultural and cross-national differences and similarities in basic institutions, including family, education, and political economy. The main course objective is that students develop an understanding of the consequences of living in a world of global inequality. Prerequisite: SOC 110 or SOC 120 or ANT 101 or ANT 103. Offered Every Third Semester.
View all courses
Portrait of Sara Krueger

Hear from an alum

Sara Krueger

The small size of UWL's program and the extremely involved and caring professors opened up opportunities for me that I never would have had at other universities. The program prepared me extremely well for my career teaching high school history/social studies.

Portrait of José Rubio-Zepeda

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José Rubio-Zepeda

In the International and Global Studies minor, I had the opportunity to engage in an array of courses, which allowed me to envision myself working in Latin America and to specialize in the region. I took the knowledge gained and continued to develop my research interests into graduate school.

Portrait of Amanda Kind

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Amanda Kind

Through my experience in the International and Global Studies program, I have been able to see how national policies have a global impact and the importance of global collaboration. Learning how to think beyond borders is important when addressing global challenges, which I plan to do as a State Department employee someday.

Portrait of Kenzie Molledahl

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Kenzie Molledahl

The amount of experiences I was given has provided me with multiple opportunities to grow as an educator! UWL was super supportive of all their education students. They did everything they could to help us succeed!

Portrait of Laura Godden

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Laura Godden

History Professor Víctor Macías‑González taught me how to grow my communication and intellectual reading skills. Through memorable lessons, he demonstrated what it is to be a scholar, and how to analyze and add academic contributions. He also gave unparalleled educational advice and inspired me to go on to graduate school in history.

Portrait of Ashley Schwartz

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Ashley Schwartz

What I loved about UWL's International and Global Studies minor was the flexibility to take classes in a variety of disciplines. The capstone also provides a great opportunity to pursue personal interests. As part of my capstone, I was able to work on a research article that was eventually published!