<p>I'm an admitted student, and I'd like to hear about the University's history and political science departments (particularly from the eyes of an undergrad or University official). Thanks!</p>
<p>I would rate both departments as strong.</p>
<p>My brother was a history major (CLAS '04) and spoke highly of many of the dept’s professors. If you are into Civil War era, it is hard to beat Gary Gallagher. For more recent political history, Phillip Zelikow, also teaches (famous for being on the 9/11 Commission). He had an Ancient Civ. professor that took his class out onto the law to learn how to reenact battles (I remember seeing pictures of this!).</p>
<p>There are also a large number of professors that specialize in regional studies, or who have joint-posts between various departments, including the Law School.</p>
<p>Courses are often heavy on reading and writing though, so don’t be surprised if you are taking 3-4 history classes and have like 30 books between them.</p>
<p>I minored in Gov’t (1 class short of a major), and I felt the department offered a lot of depth, similar to the History dept. Many classes (with the exception of the 400 level seminars) were larger than those of similar level in the History dept., but they often included discussion sections and were also heavy on the reading and writing.</p>
<p>The Politics Department as a whole, as far as faculty goes, can be a bit of a dice roll. There are some terrific professors (Freedman, O’Brien, Sabato) and then some not so great professors. Sabato is most famously known for being “the most quoted man in politics” and runs the Miller Center for Politics. He also routinely brings Government/Political big wigs in to speak to his intro class. During my time at UVA he had Justice Sam Alito and Hilary Clinton speak, to name a couple.</p>