BACHELOR OF ARTS IN HISTORY

To say that the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have experienced instability in their histories would be a significant understatement. Since the ninth century at least, the region has endured invasions from the Kingdoms of Denmark and Poland, German traders, and, from across the Baltic Sea itself, the Kingdom of Sweden.

“But the big constant for so many of the peoples in this part of Eastern Europe has been Russia, which expanded beginning in the 16th century, and then into the Baltic region in the 18th century,” University of New Haven associate professor of history Dr. Bradley Woodworth said. “So even though these peoples speak very different languages, they have this shared past as being part of the Russian Empire.”

Today, Russia continues to loom over the region, due to Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of nearby Ukraine. It’s in this context that Dr. Woodworth, as vice president for conferences with the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) for the past two years, organized the association’s annual conference held in New Haven over four days in June.

Co-hosted by the University of New Haven and Yale University on the Yale campus, the conference featured panels from all fields of the humanities and social sciences, education, technology, transnational security, safety, and well-being—with 12 of the panels chaired by University of New Haven faculty members. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Shaily Menon, Ph.D., and School of Health Sciences Dean Betsy Francis-Connolly, Ph.D., also chaired panels. Faculty members Maria Tcherni-Buzzeo, Ph.D., (criminal justice) and Matthew Schmidt, Ph.D., (national security) presented papers as part of the proceedings.

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The University of New Haven was named one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education by The Princeton Review in its 2025 "The Best 390 Colleges" guidebook, amd we were ranked a top-tier university in the North region by U.S. News & World Report in its annual "Best Colleges" rankings. In addition, our Tagliatela College of Engineering is rated among the top third in the country in our category in U.S. News' rankings of the best undergraduate engineering programs.

Our Pompea College of Business is accredited by AACSB International, placing it among the Top 6 Percent Worldwide. We are also a proud member of The New American Colleges and Universities (NAC&U), an exclusive national consortium of selective, small to mid-size (2,000-7,500 students) independent colleges and universities that are dedicated to the purposeful integration of liberal education, professional studies, and civic engagement.

All University of New Haven students have access to the many resources available through the University’s Career Development Center, which has been named one of the best in the nation by The Princeton Review.

From career assessments, networking, and job shadowing to on-campus interviews and salary negotiation, the Career Development Center provides the skills and connections to identify a meaningful career and an opportunity to pursue your passion.

Cody Wallace ’13, a junior research fellow for the Centre for Security Governance at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, spent part of his college career in Jordan studying Arabic. "What’s fascinating about the Arabic language is that it is so dynamic and complex," he said. "It is a skill that cannot be learned in a classroom or from a book; it is a language you pick up from constantly talking to people and from those intimate social connections."

His experiences abroad as a student reshaped his vision of the world. "I chose to study abroad so I could really experience a whole new world outside the classroom," he said.

This is one example of the hundreds of the hundreds of opportunities University of New Haven students have across the globe to live and learn in a variety of diverse cultures.

William Adams, an emeritus professor of computer science, led a program for many years that brought students to the University’s satellite campus in in Tuscany, Italy, in the cradle of the Renaissance for their initial semester as first-year students.

"I tell parents that their son or daughter will be standing taller when they see them again after their European experience," said Adams. "Upon their return, parents often attest to this fact."

The University of New Haven’s innovative Enhanced Learning Communities (formerly "LLCs") enable first year students to live with students in the same major or interest area, enabling the educational experience to transcend far beyond the walls of the classroom.

Robin Willick ’16 remembers her first year in the LLC like yesterday. She and her suitemates and hallmates – still her best friends – would study together late into the night. "And I’d make waffles," she said. "We had so much fun." That year she and other LLC residents attended the Imagination Quest at Villanova University and she "began to see all the possibilities out there for women engineers."

"In the LLC, you were always being encouraged to take chances," she said. "I tell the students I tutor to say yes – say yes to a project or an internship or a trip. I said yes to research and it led to two internships."

Today, she is a manufacturing engineer for John Deere.

"Before I got to the University, I didn’t think I would want to live in an LLC," Willick said. "I’m so glad I did."