HIUS 1559

I would recommend this class to anyone at UVA. I thought it was extremely interesting, and it discussed a history of UVA that is frequently glossed over but very important. That said, I thought the course was harder than it needed to be for a 1000 level course. I agree with what the person below me said in that the reading and grading weight on the essays was more like a 3000 level history class. The essays were graded pretty harshly for a 1000 level course, and the reading was similar to a 3000 level history course as well. Honestly, I didn't do most of the reading. Most people in the class didn't. That may be why I didn't get the grades I wanted. But I also feel like no matter how much work I put into my essays, I was going to get the same sub-par grade. The class was mostly guest lecturers and panels, which was interesting but sometimes inconsistent. Most of the lectures also did not apply to the essay topics, which was frustrating. KvD is cool though and keeps the class interesting. You already know what is on the final before you walk in, making it an easy A. The same cannot be said for the essays though, and the essays are a pretty large portion of your grade. Overall, I think the issues with the class will be worked out over time, and I would still recommend this class to anyone. Just don't start the essays the night before like most of my class did.

This class is very interesting if you want to learn about the history of UVA involving slavery. KvD is an awesome professor, but the majority of the class consists of guest lecturers so you don't always get to be taught by him. The readings are assigned by these guest speakers and they are very hit or miss. Class is completely dictated by whether the speaker that day is good or not. You have to write three papers and an essay/definitions for the final. My least favorite part of this class was the amount of reading it had for a 1000-level course. Overall, I would recommend this class but sometimes I felt like it was more of a 3000-level than intro.