<p>I saw a post on here that said UW-Madison had a top 3 U.S. History department. I am interested- what makes it so great? What differentiates it from the rest?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I cannot speak specifically about UW History, but as the spouse of a humanities professor – generally, what goes into departmental rankings are factors such as research quality of the faculty, faculty success in getting research awards. Often, within large departments such as History, there will be sub-groups and specialities which are stronger than others, hence the ranking in particular subject matter areas.</p>
<p>There can be lots of discussion about which rankings are credible etc., and that often varies by field. For instance, in philosophy, it is the Philosophical Gourmet. I imagine in other fields, there are other lists which are respected. </p>
<p>Good luck with your search, and your decision.</p>
<p>That was probably more true in the past (60s-70s) than currently as many of the stars have retired or moved on. These days Top 10-15 more accurate.</p>