HIST 4501

This course was unique as regards History courses I have taken at UVA. It was taught in seminar format, as opposed to lecture with (or without) discussion section. The professor explained that History courses in grad school are always taught in seminar format. This format required that we came to each meeting having prepared for an open discussion on the assigned readings. The course is classified as a Major Seminar, but was taught was a Major Colloquium. This meant that the Second Writing Requirement would be satisfied through multiple smaller writing assignments, rather than one large assignment. Rather than being writing-heavy, the professor described the course as being reading-heavy. The course material had two major focuses: economic life and economic thinking. The former dealt with the historical evolution of material living, while the latter dealt with the evolution of the academic discipline of Economics. We were assigned to read many of the greatest economic thinkers in history. As such, this course would appeal particularly to those students of History who are also interested in Economics. The bulk of the course grade came from preparation, attendance, and participation. I cannot emphasize enough how important it was to show up prepared to discuss the readings. That was the essence of the course, and the professor would get agitated (justifiably) if he felt students were not preparing adequately. The rest of the grade came from 2-page reading response papers, of which each student was expected to produce 3 over the course of the semester, as well as mid-term and final papers. The mid-term paper was a 5-page essay on what the professor viewed to be the most consequential book assigned for the course. The final paper was a 10-page historiographical essay on a pre-approved topic of your choosing, which was actually very interesting. Not only was the subject matter of this course interesting, but I gained an appreciation for the two principal forms of historical writing; namely, research and historiography. It is a distinction that is essential to one's understanding of academic History, and one I wish I had been taught sooner in my time as a History major. Overall, the course was informative and the professor is a really cool guy. I would definitely recommend this course to any student of History with an interest in Economics.