Engaging Area High School Students

For the past several years, the History Department has participated in an important outreach to area high schools with its UT Bridge to AP U.S. History program. UT History professors and lecturers interact with students and lead university-type Advanced Placement classes at Austin-East and Fulton high schools, covering topics from the colonial period to the present, including Reconstruction, the Great Depression, Civil Rights, and the Second Wave feminist movement.

In addition to professor and lecturer visits to Advanced Placement high school classrooms, the UT History department hosts an annual on-campus visit for these AP classes. Students from Austin-East and Fulton visit UT’s campus in early April and experience a history lecture given by a professor in the department. They also meet with admissions leaders, tour the campus, and visit the McClung Museum.

The program has been highly successful. UT professors have consistently commented that they have been impressed with the engagement of the high school students; likewise, the high school history teachers have asked to continue the program.