Professor Gilliam is, without a doubt, the best history professor that I have had at U.Va. His desire to engage with students is unparalleled and he is someone who is truly passionate about history. If you're a good writer, then this is definitely the class for you. The primary component of the course grade is a primary research paper (8-10 pages long) and as long as its well-researched and composed then you'll be fine. Outside of that, as long as you do the readings and make an effort to engage in the class then it's pretty hard to not walk out without at least an A- if not an outright A. I would also consider him to be one of the most understanding professors that I have had (especially in light of all the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic) and a fairly lenient grader. Bottom line: If you're looking for an interesting history class where you will make a real, tangible connection with your professor, Gilliam is the man.

A lot of reading and writing but Gilliam is amazing!! He is a classic UVA professor that you need to experience at least once during your time here. He is super passionate about the subject and uses a lecture style in every class. A few papers and then a final term paper which is pretty hard but if you go to him enough you can get a good grade. Final was one of the craziest finals I have ever taken, a 10 page essay in 3 hours which must incorporate all the books and articles we read. Overall, a worthwhile class for the experience but was not the easiest!

Dr. Gilliam is an all-star. He is the most approachable and kind professor I've ever had. He is incredibly straight forward about what he expects out of his students, and he offers a substantial amount of help if you need it. All of the assignments are papers that he will proofread as many times as you need him to. I thought the readings for this course were awesome. Dr. Gilliam has good lectures, although there are times when he thinks some topics are more interesting than they really are. Regardless, you will learn a lot from this class. It's one of those courses that you will always be glad you took, especially if you enjoy history.

Gilliam is a very nice professor but he skips the most interesting part of Virginia History, the Civil War. And the final paper is ridiculous. He expects you to write a paper at the level a historian would even though we are no older than 22 years old.

This is by far the most fulfilling class I have taken at UVA. Professor Gilliam is absolutely wonderful, insightful, and caring. He spends most classes lecturing with a few slides and assigns two short papers and one long term paper. The midterm is a little difficult, but is only 10% of the grade. The final is a full length paper. Professor Gilliam makes time for his students and will help you every step of the way. He is willing to read multiple drafts of papers and meet with students in his office hours or any other time he is available. He invites students to a dinner at his home with his wonderful wife as well. The class is incredibly interesting and it is very evident that Professor Gilliam spends a great deal of time preparing his materials. Overall, an amazing course that I would recommend to anyone- history major or not.

Prof Gilliam has been one of the most supportive professors I've had at UVA. His door is always open for students who want to talk to him, and he'll let you submit first drafts of your papers before the deadline if you want some feedback before you submit the final (graded) version, which is amazing. He was also pretty generous with extra credit (up to 4% for attending two lectures), which helps to balance out the midterm, which is definitely the hardest part of the class. Quite a lot of reading which can be pretty dry, but overall a fairly easy class.

Easily one of the best classes I have taken. George Gilliam is awesome and one of the nicest guys ever. He will invite everyone to his apartment for dinner over the course of the semester, which is a ton of fun. The material can definitely be a little dry and there is a large amount of reading that you need to do. Grading is based on a midterm (which is very hard but only 10%), two short papers, a take-home final, and a large term paper that makes up most of your grade. However Gilliam will go out of his way to help people do well on everything. This class is worth taking just to experience him as a teacher.