University of Richmond

History department releases spring 2010 registration info

Reminder: There are no more PIN cards. When you consult your advisor, he or she will change your BannerWeb status to "Advised." Don’t let him or her forget or you won’t be able to register.

Getting Started

Give thought to your schedule before meeting with your advisor. Since sabbaticals and the arrival of new faculty may have changed your assignment, check who your advisor is on the attached list or on the bulletin boards in Ryland Hall. Don’t wait until the last minute to consult your advisor. The advising period begins October 19; registration, October 26. Check the major/minor requirements to make sure you have all the classes you need. If you are not on the advising list, consult with Debbie Govoruhk.

Senior Audits

Seniors who have applied for graduation should have received by now their auditing packets from the Registrar. Here are the next steps:

  • Print out your GradTracker pages in BannerWeb, using the print button in the upper right hand corner.
  • Bring those printed pages and your audit form  to a meeting with your advisor. There you will determined what requirements you still need to complete and what mistakes need to be corrected in GradTracker.
  • Bring the GradTracker pages and audit form to the department chair for a signature. Alert the chair to any problems that couldn’t be solved in your advising session.
  • Return the form to the Registrar by November 16.

Internships and Directed Study

Internships are available at the many libraries, museums, and historic sites in the Richmond area. If you wish to do an internship, please consult with the John Treadway. Do not delay, as securing an internship involves applying to, and having an interview at, your chosen agency.

To qualify for directed study (HIST 401) you must have completed five history courses. To register, you must secure agreement from a faculty member to direct your work; once you have that permission, Debbie Govoruhk can key in your permission to enroll.

Sabbaticals and Visiting Faculty

Tze Loo, Manuella Meyer, and Yucel Yanikdag will be on leave for the spring semester. Visiting faculty will include William Doyle of the University of Bristol, England, who will be our Douglas Southall Freeman Visiting Professor. One of the world’s leading authorities on the French Revolution, Doyle is the author of The Oxford History of the French Revolution and, most recently, Aristocracy and its Enemies in the Age of Revolution. He will be teaching a course on Napoleon. Also enriching our offerings will be Robert Nelson, Associate Director of the Digital Scholar Laboratory, and John Pagan of the Law School.

The Freeman Visiting Professor for fall 2010 will be Alan Taylor of the University of California at Davis.  An expert on early American history, he is the author of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early Republic and The Divided Ground: The Northern Borderland of the American Revolution.

New Courses

The following courses will be taught for the first (or only) time or by new instructors:

History 299-1: Sectionalism and Nationalism before the Civil War (Nelson)
An exploration of the roots of the Civil War through investigation of  the development of national identities and ideologies in the decades before the conflict. Topics will include the cultural and economic commonalities that constituted an American identity; the sectional differences that divided Northerners and Southerners; the articulation of a transatlantic black nationalism; and radical, cosmopolitan critiques of the idea of the nation.

History 299- 2: Reformation Europe (Watts)
A survey of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations with emphasis on the social, political, and cultural implications of church reform.

History 299-3: Napoleon (Doyle) 
A close, up-to-date look at one of the few historical figures everyone recognizes and about whom perhaps more has been written than any other figure in modern history. Though attention will be paid to his military career, emphasis will be on what recent scholarship reveals about his non-military achievements and the impact of his rule on people across Europe.
 
History 307: Intellectual History of the American Founding (McGarvie)
An examination of recent scholarship on the intellectual history of America, 1776-1800, focusing on the questions of whether the Constitution was a fulfillment or repudiation of Revolutionary aims and what was the meaning of Jefferson’s election to the presidency in 1800.

Research Seminars

Three research seminars will be offered this semester:

History 400-1: The U.S. Constitution (Pagan)
An examination of the making of the United States constitution, focusing on the political ideas that led to the creation of the American republic, the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and the ratification debates.

History 400-2: Americans Abroad (Sackley) 
An examination of the changing images of the American abroad through a focus on Americans in France and China in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readings will include both narratives by Americans in the world and depictions of tourists, diplomats, expatriates, missionaries, and others in film, fiction, and journalism.

History 400-3: Food, Self, and Society (Watts)
An investigation of the social and cultural aspects of food history in Europe and the US from the pre-industrial to the post-industrial age. Topics include New World foods, court cuisine, food markets and trades, religious and medical dietary regimes, the rise of gastronomy and the restaurant, culinary tourism, consumerism, domestic science, food security and fast food culture. Among the principle themes will be the development and regulation of food systems and how dietary choices reflect and reinforce cultural identities.

Students must have the permission of the instructor to enroll in these seminars.

Posted October 22, 2009