The University of Vermont

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of History

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Undergraduate Programs

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Undergraduate contacts:

David Massell,
Director of Undergraduate Studies

History Department
Wheeler House, Room 309
133 S. Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05405
Phone: (802) 656-4527
David.Massell@uvm.edu

Erik Esselstrom, Coordinator of Transfer Affairs Study Abroad & Internships

History Department
Wheeler House, Room 311
133 S. Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05405
Phone: (802) 656-3536
Erik.Esselstrom@uvm.edu

For more information contact:

Kathleen Truax, Administrative Assistant

University of Vermont
History Department
133 South Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-3180
kathleen.truax@uvm.edu
The History Department recommends that incoming first-year students take any of its introductory courses, numbered 009 through 096. Students should select the introductory course or sequence of courses that seems closest to their current interests. First-year students may not enroll in any 100-level course without the prior permission of the instructor and the appropriate background in history—normally high-school AP courses or university-level work in the area.

Offerings for First-Year Students

We believe that a course in history belongs in the curriculum of every first-year university student for several reasons. First, history is a broad, encompassing discipline that deals with all past human actions. In exploring the totality of the human experience, students of history seek to understand better who they are and what they might become by examining and coming to know their collective past. In addition to this humanistic purpose, the study of history at the university level also enables students to master several essential life skills, most notably the ability to reach conclusions based upon an analysis of complex and often contradictory evidence and the skill to articulate those findings in clear, grammatical prose. In other words, the study of history emphasizes discovery and writing.

In order to help students acquire these necessary skills and to gain insight into the meaning and matter of history, UVM's Department of History offers a wide variety of courses aimed specifically at the first-year student, all of which require analysis and writing in some form or other. The History Department recommends that incoming first-year students take any of its introductory courses, numbered 09 through 096, all of which assume no previous university-level work in history. Students should select the introductory course or course sequence that seems closest to their current interests. First-year students should not take any 100-level history courses without first consulting the instructor, and normally no first-year student will be allowed into a 100-level course without AP credits or their equivalent.

Last modified November 02 2009 09:52 AM

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