The Comparative History of Ideas Minor

Students may declare a CHID Minor at any time after completing 90 credits. Requirements for the Major and Minor are very similar; please read the "Major Requirements" for details.

As of Autumn Quarter 2009, the requirements for the CHID minor will be the following. Any students who declared the CHID minor before the start of Autumn Quarter 2009 will be responsible for fulfilling the previous minor requirements and not the new requirements.

Gateways to CHID (1 course)

Each of these courses will offer students a particular approach to the comparative history of ideas. Classes in this category examine a particular topic/idea from a variety of disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives. In taking at least two courses in this category, students will begin to think comparatively and from a range of perspectives. Students can choose from a variety of courses taught by CHID faculty.

Cultural and Historical Engagements

This requirement asks students to engage in rigorous and comparative cultural analysis, which may or may not involve international study. It can be fulfilled in one of three ways:

CHID Study Abroad (1 quarter)
Students spend one quarter studying in one of the various CHID study abroad programs. In addition to fulfilling the requirements of the study abroad program, students will also be asked to write a concise 1 page paper describing the ways in which their international study informed their understanding of cultural engagements and encounters. If a student feels that a non-CHID study abroad program may also satisfy this spirit of comparative cultural study, he/she may consult with CHID’s academic advisor for approval.

Local/Global Engagements (1 course)
Though based at the UW, these courses use a transnational theme and structure to explore the links between local and global forces. For example, a course which uses communication technology (e.g. webcasts, online learning, etc.) to link students at the UW with other communities outside of the U.S. would satisfy this requirement. Alternatively, a course that provides students with out-of-classroom experiences (field visits, community work, field research, etc.) tracing the global and local intersections in areas such as immigration, agriculture, transnational advocacy, artistic production, etc., would also fulfill this requirement.

Encounters Across Cultures (2 courses, 1 of which can be a non-CHID study abroad program)
Students may satisfy this requirement by taking at least two courses on different peoples, places, spaces, or moments. The goal of such exposure to different contexts is to provide the opportunity to make cross-cultural comparisons regarding power, difference and belonging. As with the CHID study abroad requirement, students will be asked to write a brief 1 page paper based on the courses taken for this requirement, detailing the value of comparative research.

Ideas in the World (1 course)

Through these courses, students will explore various systems of belief, conceptual frameworks, paradigms, historical understandings, and ways of knowing. For example, these courses can include such diverse areas as science and technology, European intellectual history, indigenous intellectual production, and post-structural theory.

Power and Difference (1 course)

Oppression, injustice and efforts to combat forms of domination work through the cultural politics of identity in various ways. Such a course should emphasize the ways in which categories like gender, race, class, sexuality, and religion structure the terrain of social orders and struggles.

CHID 390: Junior Colloquium (1 course)

The core course for all majors and minors, this course introduces students to central concepts like culture, identity, and power, and to the cross-disciplinary study of these concepts. Organized as a seminar, students are expected to shape the direction of these explorations in a collaborative fashion and are encouraged to engage in both oral and written exchanges with their peers.

Upper Division CHID Course

This requirement can be satisfied by any course with a CHID prefix, 300-level and above.