ANTH V2009

Several articles to read per week, midterm + final (just memorize the reading and you're fine), weekly discussions (online or in class, your choice), and a film review. Super easy workload.

Margaret Vail is great. Her lectures could use some work - she tends to ramble, be overly apologetic, and go off on tangents. Still, she runs the class well, brings up fascinating points, and clearly cares about the subject matter. She is easy to understand and is never confusing. Students seem to really enjoy her class. Additionally, Margaret always goes out of her way to bring up interesting side opportunities that students might be interested in. The films are super interesting, but almost everything we watched was a documentary, despite the fact that she said there was going to be a "diverse" subject matter. Still, the films were interesting. I found some of the reading superfluous and unnecessary, but a lot of the questions on the midterm and final have to do with the reading material. The assignments were very clear and well explained (finally! A class that ACTUALLY tells you what they want from you). The films were diverse in topic matter and unique - definitely wouldn't have been exposed to these pieces otherwise. I'm so interested in anthropology now. Margaret obviously cares about the class, and it's nice to see that she's so dedicated. She also invokes interesting "big picture" ideas during lecture. Also, online discussion was actually interesting/effective (most online ones are not).

Film journal (1/2-1 page per week) to be turned in at the end of the semester, short 3-5 page film review, BS online postings for participation, midterm and final for which she gives you the questions in advance. The questions are multi-part and sometimes a little difficult. However, if you go to the optional discussion sections right before the midterm/final the TA's essentially read off VAIL's prepared answers. I simply jotted down everything they said, memorized it, regurgitated it on the exams and got the easiest "A" of my Columbia career. Let me just clarify that while easy, this class is NOT vapid. The easy "A" was an added benefit but I would've enjoyed this class even I came away from it with a different grade.

Overall this was a worthwhile class. Professor Vail is affable, down-to-earth, interesting, and intelligent. For a non-anthro major this is the perfect class to get a small dosage of the field. The class time isnt convenient (7:30-10:30pm Th) but she usually let us out around 10 and either way, most of the class is spent watching a film or two. The movies, for the most part, are pretty interesting and its disappointing to see that each week a large portion of the class either 1) slept through most of it or 2) didnt come at all. If you are truly interested in anthro the fact that Vail doesnt lecture too much may be disappointing. Either way, this is really a class that you can take a lot a way from depending how much you put into it.

Very reasonable. ~2 articles per week (not demanding reading), 2 page film review, a film journal due at the end of the semester, in class midterm and final (questions distributed well in advance, graded fairly). It's suggested you post on Courseworks and attend a weekly discussion section but it's not mandatory.

My feelings about this class were mixed. On the one hand, Professor Vail is a lovely person, her own fieldwork is interesting, the workload is reasonable, and her teaching style is extremely accessible. Her lectures are clear and easy to follow and her grading is fair. However, I found myself disappointed that the readings and lectures were not more challenging. If you are an anthro major (like me) I would consider this course as a 5th class to balance out an overstuffed course load, but probably not recommend it otherwise. I'd recommend it more for non majors looking for a fun, accessible foray into anthropology.

weekly journals, film review, midterm, final, 1 trip to watch a film off-campus

What a nice teacher! And such a pleasant class! Although the format of the class was kind of a pain (once a week for 3 hours + 50 minute weekly discussion class), the content is so interesting that you hardly mind it. You watch films weekly, then have readings that accompany the films you watch. There's quite a bit of reading, so it's important to not fall behind on that, since the tests are heavily based on them. And Vail is such a nice, approachable teacher. She does her best to keep the class interesting by often inviting directors or actors in the films watched in class.

midterm, final, 1 film review (~2 pages), 3-4 reading reaction papers (1-2 pages)

Vail is very nice and not very demanding. Its not essential to go to class-the exams are reading based and she gives you the exam questions beforehand.