Program Requirements for the Major and Minor

• NEW Major Requirements for students who declare CHID as their major in Autumn 2009 or later

• Major Requirements for students who declared CHID as their major before Autumn 2009

• NEW Minor Requirements for students who declare CHID as their minor in Autumn 2009 or later

• Minor Requirements for students who declared CHID as their minor before Autumn 2009

• Departmental Honors

Major Requirements for students who declare CHID as their major in Autumn 2009 or later

1. CHID 101: Introduction to CHID (1 course)
   This course introduces students to the CHID learning community. It incorporates discussions about the program’s philosophy, structure, resources, faculty and students. It is an introduction to the content and logistics of learning in CHID.
2. Gateways to CHID (2 courses)
   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.
3. 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.  
  * OR *
• 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.   
  * OR *
• 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.

4. 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.
5. 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.
6. CHID 390: Junior Colloquium (1 course)
   The core course for all majors, 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.
7. Electives (to bring total CHID credits up to 55 credits; 18 credits)
   Each student is required to complete at least fifteen elective credits by taking courses that contribute to her/his focus in her/his degree. The only stipulation for this requirement is that the courses be at the 300-level or above, and that the CHID Academic Counselor has agreed that the classes fit into the student's course of study.
8. Senior Thesis/Capstone Project (one 5-credit course, required; option to expand to 15 credits)
   This requirement asks students to solve specific intellectual problems, ensuring a form of specialization that goes beyond simply a narrowing of academic focus. The senior project should demonstrate that the student has attained the educational objectives of the major. It can be fulfilled in one of two ways:

• CHID 490: Research Seminar
  This seminar is designed to help students conceive of, undertake, and finish significant research projects within the limited time of a single quarter. Each seminar will take up a broad theme around which the readings and research projects will be organized. This theme will change each quarter.
   * OR *
• CHID 491: Senior Thesis (CHID 492 / CHID 493 optional)
  CHID currently allows for three versions of a senior research project: a 5, 10, or 15-credit senior thesis. Students who have planned and finished a large-scale academic project will not only have the ability to finish similar projects in their chosen field of work; they will also have developed the communication skills necessary for the successful dissemination of their ideas.

Major Requirements for students who declared CHID as their major BEFORE Autumn 2009

The Comparative History of Ideas Program offers a Major leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree.  Major requirements total 55 credits.

1. Group A: Introduction to the History of Ideas (two 5-credit courses required).  The courses that make up this requirement are meant to introduce students to the interdisciplinary, comparative study of ideas in historical and cultural contexts.  Each course examines a fundamental, organizing idea in human culture (e.g. human nature, community, religion, art, etc.).  The courses are grounded in specific disciplines but ultimately incorporate multiple disciplinary perspectives.

2. Group B: The Study of Distinct Historical Cultures (two 5-credit courses required).  The purpose of this requirement is to introduce students to the reality of cultural difference and the importance of a comparative perspective on the meanings according to which people organize their lives.  Students should take two courses that examine cultures that are clearly different from each other - a difference that can be expressed in terms of time as well as geographic and social space.  The goal should be to attain a critical cultural self-consciousness through the knowledge of contrasting cultural perspectives.

3. Group C: The History of Particular Ideas or Themes (two 5-credit courses required).  This requirement introduces students to various ways of applying different disciplinary and cultural perspectives to specific problems and themes.  It thus provides an appropriate introduction to CHID's problem-based or theme-based foreign study programs as well as to the formulation of the Senior Thesis project.

4. CHID 390: The Interpretation of Texts and Cultures (5-credit course, required).  The original, and still central, require core course for all majors, this course introduces readings pertinent to central concepts, like culture, cultural identity and collective memory, and to the cross-disciplinary representation of these concepts across an array of times and cultures.  At the same time, the course is organized as a seminar in which students help define the format of the classes in collaborative fashion and are encouraged to engage in both oral and written exchanges with their peers.

5. Electives (fifteen credits required).  Each student is required to complete at least fifteen elective credits by taking courses that contribute to her/his focus in her/his degree.  The only stipulation for this requirement are that the courses be at the 300-level or above, and that the CHID Academic Counselor has agreed that the courses fit into the student's course of study.

6. CHID 491: Senior Thesis/Capstone Project (5-credit course, required; option to expand to 15 credits).  CHID currently allows for three versions of a senior research project - a 5-, 10-, or 15-credit senior thesis.  We feel that students who have planned and finished a large-scale academic project will not only have the ability to finish similar projects in their chosen field of work; they will also have developed the communication skills necessary for the successful dissemination of their ideas.  In a multidisciplinary program such as CHID, a thesis also encourages students to solve specific intellectual problems, ensuring a form of specialization that goes beyond simply a narrowing of academic focus.  The senior project should demonstrate that the student has attained the educational objectives of the major.

7. Cumulative 2.5 grade point average at graduation.

The following are not required to attain the Major, but are strongly recommended:

8. CHID 496B: New Major Focus Group (2-credit seminar; strongly recommended).  This course is designed to introduce the students who sign up as majors each quarter to the CHID program - its philosophy, structure, resources, faculty, and students.

9. CHID International Programs.  Each international program offers a unique experience combining travel and rigorous intellectual inquiry with current topics.  Local academics and community members join students and faculty in their exploration of specific themes and topics relevant to the location of the program.  It is highly recommended that all CHID students participate in a study abroad program as part of their undergraduate education.  For details on upcoming programs, please visit the CHID International Programs page.

10. Focus Groups.  Focus Groups serve an important function in CHID.  They often begin when a couple of tudents want to do reading on a particular topic, and discuss ideas with others who share this interest.  Students typically organize and lead focus groups under the supervision of the CHID Academic Counselor, a graduate student, or a faculty member affiliated with CHID.

Other academic opportunities in the CHID Program:

11. Peer Facilitation.  Peer Facilitators are advanced undergraduates who take part in teaching a class which they have previously taken.  Their role is to facilitate discussion in smaller groups that permit less upservised conversational exchanges than regular T.A. sections or the full classroom.

12. DIALOGUE Project.  The DIALOGUE (Developing International Alliances with Local Organizations for Global Understanding and Education) Project serves to facilitate greater international and intercultural dialogue within our own community centered around topics germane to participating students' own educational goals.  Students work collaboratively with numerous organizations both within and outside of the University of Washington. 

13. Student Publications.  Founded in 1992 by students, interSections is an interdisciplinary journal that showcases poetry, prose, scholarly work, as well as original artwork produced by undergraduates at the University of Washington.  The journal is committed to providing a forum for the free expression of intellectual ideas and inquiry and promotes the continued growth of interdisciplinary scholarship on campus.  Letters Home is an anthology that records the struggles and joys of the personal transformation that can occur with reflective travel.

Minor Requirements for students who declare CHID as their minor in Autumn 2009 or later

1. 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.
2. 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:

3. 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.
4. 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.
5. CHID 390: Junior Colloquium (1 course)
   The core course for all majors, 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.
6. Upper Division CHID Course
   This requirement can be satisfied by any course with a CHID prefix, 300-level and above.

Minor Requirements for students who declared CHID as their minor BEFORE Autumn 2009

The Comparative History of Ideas Program offers a 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" above for details.  Minor requirements total 30 credits.

1. Group A (one 5-credit course required).

2. Group B (two 5-credit courses required).

3. Group C (one 5-credit course required).

4. CHID 390 (5 credit course, required).

5. CHID 498 (variable-credit seminar, required).

Departmental Honors Requirements

Candidates for departmental Honors must exhibit advanced reading knowledge of a foreign language (usually through the sixth quarter or second year); complete two Honors courses related to the CHID major; write an Honors 15-credit senior thesis (CHID 491, 492, and 493); and achieve a grade-point average of 3.5 in the major (3.3 overall).  Please contact the Academic Counselor for details and options for these four requirements.