Amy Morsman

Loved this class and would definitely recommend it to any history majors/minors. The class is very straightforward and Prof. Morsman established what she wanted from students at the beginning of the semester; pay attention during lectures, read before and participate during discussion section, and don't be afraid to ask questions. I will say that the class project could be confusing at times, but besides that, I feel that I gained a lot from this class and thought that Prof. Morsman's teaching style helped me become more comfortable with participating in discussions.

Loved this class and would definitely recommend it to any history majors/minors. The class is very straightforward and Prof. Morsman established what she wanted from students at the beginning of the semester; pay attention during lectures, read before and participate during discussion section, and don't be afraid to ask questions. I …Read more

This class was unlike any I have taken at Middlebury—it started out relatively normal, with lectures and a novel to read, and then got pretty weird. Prof. Morsman definitely has an experimental approach to teaching and is interested in trying new/different methods and emphasizing student participation, but sometimes it bordered on handholding. I really think she could adopt a more "show, don't tell" approach. Every assignment came along with like a 2 page email or 30 min lecture about her pedagogy and what innovative new thing she was trying to achieve. We appreciate it, but it also got super repetitive after a while. It chewed up huge chunks of class time and actually made it really difficult to participate .This class also had zero business being a 300 level history class- it was more like a 100. The class also probably should have way fewer students if she wants to weigh participation so highly. Prof. Morsman emphasizes approachability, but at the cost that she waters down the content / difficulty / value a lot. We did so much interesting stuff in this class (oral history, archive work, etc.) and Prof. Morsman is so energetic and clearly knowledgeable that I would still recommend it, but be prepared for extreme annoyance at times.

This class was unlike any I have taken at Middlebury—it started out relatively normal, with lectures and a novel to read, and then got pretty weird. Prof. Morsman definitely has an experimental approach to teaching and is interested in trying new/different methods and emphasizing student participation, but sometimes it bordered on ha …Read more

I thought the content of this class was very interesting and Professor Morsman did a great job helping students understand the relatively large amount of content in a way that makes sense. The readings aren't too bad and Professor Morsman does a good job varying them from week-to-week in terms of medium (books, articles, etc.) and content. I also loved Professor Morsman as a person and she is clearly very knowledgeable about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and how the topics relate to modern times. The one thing I would say is this class is definitely taught in an introductory style --- she spends a lot of time teaching you how to read, which is great if you have never taken a college-level history class before, but a bit cumbersome if you're a major or minor.

I thought the content of this class was very interesting and Professor Morsman did a great job helping students understand the relatively large amount of content in a way that makes sense. The readings aren't too bad and Professor Morsman does a good job varying them from week-to-week in terms of medium (books, articles, etc.) and co …Read more