History Department

News & Events

History Department Plans New Curriculum

Beginning in the fall 2008 semester, the History Department will launch a new curriculum. Our current major, which consists of 36 credits, divides courses into three categories: United States, European, and Non-Western history. The new curriculum still requires 36 credits for majors. But courses are now divided among Global & Comparative, United States, and Regional History.

The new labels are more than superficial. They signify a much stronger emphasis on world history. The department has long offered a freshman-level survey of world history. But added to this will be new requirements in Global & Comparative history at the 200- and 300-level. Students will fulfill these requirements by choosing from a menu of courses in such topics as world history of medicine, global environmental history, world military history, and the United States and the world. This change will help the History Department keep pace with trends in research and teaching in history. It will also better prepare students for successful careers in an increasingly global society.

For more information, click on the "Courses & Programs" link above.

Department Newsletter Now Available

The inaugural edition of History News, a twice-yearly update on events and activities in the UWSP History Department, is now available on our Web site. Just click on the "Department Newsletter" link to the left. And look for the second edition, Spring/Summer 2008, later this semester.

History Department Launches New Website

With the support of the History Alumni Group and the UWSP Information Technology Office, the History Department launched a new website in May 2007. The site features an updated look and improved resources for students, faculty, and alumni, including a News & Events page for announcements of upcoming activities. If you have any thoughts on additional material you’d like to see added to the site, contact Greg Summers at gsummers@uwsp.edu.

New Application Procedure for Teacher Certification

Beginning this fall 2007, new application procedures for Social Science majors seeking admission to the UWSP Professional Education Program will go into effect. The most important change is that students will now be required to submit to the History Department a portfolio to be evaluated by a faculty committee.

In the past, students have been admitted to the Professional Education Program solely on the basis of their GPA. While the GPA remains the most important criteria for admission, the portfolio provides students with the opportunity to be evaluated on the quality of their work in history and social science.

The portfolio will include a table of contents, a letter of application indicating why you wish to pursue a career in teaching, and one to three samples of writing that give evidence of critical thinking and knowledge of your discipline. You may include papers, essays, or exams; graded assignments are preferred. One paper should be from a methods course in your major or field of certification, such as History 290, for example. The portfolio may include additional material such as evidence of tutoring or volunteer work.

Check the history website under Resources for a complete description of the policy and the evaluation rubric that will be used to evaluate the applications. The history department will hold a meeting about the new policy for admission to the Professional Education Program at the beginning of the fall semester. In the meantime, if you have any questions, contact Greg Summers at gsummers@uwsp.edu.

The purpose of the new policy is to ensure that the students who are admitted to the Professional Education Program have the knowledge, skills, and dedication to become excellent teachers of history and social science. UWSP has been and will continue to be extremely proud of its teaching graduates.

New Faculty Join the Department

In the Fall 2007, the History Department will add two new members to its faculty. They are Lee L. Willis, a recent Ph.D. from Florida State University who specializes in the history of race and ethnicity in the United States and Edgar Francis from the University of California, Los Angeles, an expert in Middle Eastern history. In addition to surveys of U.S. and world history, this fall Prof. Willis will offer an upper-level course in African American history while Prof. Francis will teach a class on Islam in the modern world.