The purpose of these outlines is to train pupils to work independently and to study with definite aim. For the teacher they furnish a text for the introduction to the study of the different periods and for the student they furnish a frame-work upon which to build his study. GINN AND COMPANY, 29 Beacon Street, Boston * * * * * _You will favor advertisers and publishers by mentioning this magazine in answering advertisements._ * * * * * The History Teacher’s Magazine Volume I. Number 9. PHILADELPHIA, MAY, 1910. $1.00 a year 15 cents a copy Freshman History Course at Yale BY EDWARD L. DURFEE. The scope and character of the elementary history course at Yale[1] is determined by a twofold necessity: first, that of giving a general survey of the main facts of historical development from the fall of the Roman Empire to modern times which shall be valuable in itself and profitable to the student, even though he were to pursue his historical studies no further; and second, that of providing a course which will fit into the general scheme of the history curriculum, and serve as an introduction to the more advanced courses which follow it. According to the present arrangement, the fields of English and American History are reserved for succeeding years, and as a result, the Freshman course is limited to the study of Continental European History, from 375 A.D. to 1870 or thereabouts. Although I follow current local usage in speaking of this course as “Freshman History,” the name is not strictly appropriate; it is open to Sophomores, and even to upper classmen under certain limitations and restrictions. The name by which it is known in the catalogue, History A 1, better expresses the fact that it is the introductory course which is a necessary preliminary to all the other history work. As a matter of fact, the popular name is not seriously in error, for over four-fifths of the students pursuing it are Freshmen. The amount of time allotted to the study of the different epochs is pretty evenly distributed. Beginning with a summary view of the Roman Empire and an analysis of the causes of its decline, the work of the first twelve weeks covers rather thoroughly the history of the Middle Ages to 1250 A.D.; the Renaissance, Reformation, and Religious Wars occupy the next third of the year; and the spring term has to suffice for the period from Louis XIV to the Congress of Vienna. At that point, the course practically ends, for the events of the nineteenth century are sketched very briefly, partly because time is lacking, but more particularly for the reason that a later and more advanced course treats that period in detail.