When people ask what I’m majoring in and I say “CHID,” responses are often along the lines of “What’s that?”, “What are you studying in CHID?”, and “I think I’ve heard of that.” Since I am about to finish my first quarter as an official CHID major, I thought it would be a good time to spread the word about this incredible major and department that deserves more recognition and publicity.
Let’s start with the basics: CHID stands for Comparative History of Ideas and turns 40 this year! It is an interdisciplinary liberal arts program offering a major and minor, and your course of study is very flexible and customizable.
Comparative History of Ideas focuses on asking questions to guide inquiry and acquire knowledge and experience. The department values critical thinking, interactive experiences, travel, and community. CHID classes are often small and taught by highly acclaimed professors who design their classes around current research and personal interests; having a teacher who is passionate about their subject makes classes all the more meaningful and engaging.
The main attribute that drew me to CHID was its flexibility in what I can study during my time at the University of Washington. When searching for a major, I knew I wanted to continue taking classes on a variety of subjects I enjoyed in high school like philosophy, international studies, and English. After my first year at UW, having had the opportunity to explore topics not in typical high school curriculums, I had added even more to my list of what I wanted to learn about—things like sociolegal studies and criminology, sociology, geopolitics, architecture, and real estate. Choosing a major, especially from an extensive list that comes with large research universities, was really overwhelming yet felt limiting at the same time. Even when planning a double major with a minor – for example, Law, Societies, and Justice, Political Science, and math – I felt I had to forego interesting classes outside of those departments in order to finish requirements. It seemed contradictory that although there are so many diverse classes offered at UW, I wouldn’t get to take them because I would be too busy trying to fit all of my major requirement classes into my schedule.
Faced with this problem, I realized that CHID presented the perfect opportunity to study exactly what I want while earning a versatile degree and developing skills through engaging experiences. While CHID, like any major, has its requirements, classes from a wide range of departments—think Geography, JSIS, Political Science, English, and dozens others—can count toward requirements and electives. For example, in addition to classes taught under the CHID department heading, I have so far applied political theory, environmental literature, and sociology classes to my CHID major. Next quarter I am even taking a landscape architecture class as a CHID elective. A CHID major or minor is a great option for both humanities and STEM students as it adds diverse skills to your degree and highlights values like critical thinking, writing, and gaining knowledge through experience.
Because CHID is a relatively small department, majors and minors also get to experience extensive community and professional support in a very personal way. The CHID advisor is extraordinarily helpful and empowered me to explore and take advantage of opportunities and strive to get the most out of my college experience.
CHID is also designed to cultivate community—for example, we have quarterly departmental potlucks with staff, faculty, students, friends, and family—while embracing education and enabling students and faculty to study what interests them collaboratively.
CHID also offers affordable study abroad programs that focus on unique topics like diversity, memory and history, LGBTQ communities, and migration. The department also has a great network to help students get involved in internships and other activities as well to ensure students are fully informed about opportunities that can enhance their education and college experience.
Majoring in CHID so far has empowered me to take classes and study what I want without traditional departmental restrictions. It has helped me personalize my education build a community and network to help augment all of my experiences and opportunities.
Finally, here are some links to help you learn more about the department!
Main website: https://chid.washington.edu
Study Abroad: https://chid.washington.edu/study-abroad
Major Requirement Categories: https://chid.washington.edu/ba-comparative-history-ideas
News and Highlights! https://chid.washington.edu/news/recent