FYSB BC1270

three papers (about 5 pages each), reading,....not bad at all

One word: frustration. If you can get survive Prof. Schmidt's unreliablility, sloppiness, and overall obliviousness, you can survive the class. While the readings are easy, Prof. Schmidt can't lead a discussion and relies on the class to research the background of the author in order to somehow stimulate discussion. From this discussion, or lack thereof, we are supposed to form paper topics. It is the end of the semester, and I still have only received one paper back. The second she was supposed to hand back today, but as usual, says it will be in her "cubby" at the end of the day, which it isn't. When she schedules a meeting, she always cancels and she hardly ever responds to e-mails. Arg!

VERY heavy reading (expect at least 70-100 pages per class. Sometimes it will be less. Savor those moments). 2 (4-6 page) Papers (first/second drafts... although first drafts should be considered final drafts), 1 Research Paper (6-10 pages).

About 1 200-pg book a week, but varies depending on the week. There were about 3 main essays, 1 research paper, 1 in-class presentation, and no final exam.

4 Papers, the last of which can be either creative or analytical (basically anything of your choosing) and can be an extension of either the second or third paper

Reasonable-except he assigns readings he doesn't even like or feel are useful (what's the point then?)

I love Monica. So much. She is a ridiculously intelligent and genuinely compassionate. I always looked forward to class and it saddens me that she is taking some time off. When she returns (Spring 2006 I believe), I'll take anything she is associated with. She's that good. Classes were challenging (in a good way), engaging, and enlightening. Everything I thought college would be (minus the beer and stuff...)

Not bad, but she does not stick to the syllabus. She would add little reading responses that were'nt graded, but did take effort to complete.

I have her for first year english: The Americas. If you are debating taking this class and manage to know whether or not she is your professor: run away as fast as possible. Never before have I ever been so uninspired by my teacher. She assigns a VERY heavy reading/work load. This wouldn't be so bad if the classes didn't move at glacial speed. This causes everyone to be so unmotivated that when she actually does try to make up for lost time, no one is prepared. She is also very poor at seeing the subjective side of English as a subject. While she may be very good at forcing you to make a direct connection between the reading and your points, her interpretation almost always in the only interpretation. She is very knowledgeable, but that is her tragic flaw. She tries to do too much, all the time. She'll bring in 20 page essays and add it to our 100-300 page reading assignments for the next class. She also tries to bring in other type of media, movies and computer presentations, which I admit are nice. However, I feel like often these come to the expense of the class. I find myself often lost in the reading, without any explanation. Even when I go to her office, I usually leave feeling no more reassured. I even asked a student who had her last semester if she had any tips for me. She told me that even after she went through the entire course, she has absolutely no idea what Estr…

Please, please do not take this class - it will cause you to hate English, hate Barnard, and, without a doubt, hate Professor Amanda Springs. She is, in every sense of the phrase, an awful educator. As many others have stated, I went into the course loving reading and enjoying intellectual conversation - two predilections Springs sought to destroy with all of her might. Springs offers virtually nothing as a professor - she arrived to class very late, she typed on her iPad the entire course while insisting we "talk amongst ourselves" about a theme. When we went to reconvene, she remained seated with her eyes down, looking at her iPad (texting? playing Angry Birds? writing comments about us? The world may never know). The class was student-run to the extent that the professor was absent, not even directing conversation but just seated, occasionally looking up. Springs was not unfriendly necessarily, but she was wholly inaccessible - in lieu of office hours she exclaimed we "email her." For the 8 emails I sent Professor Springs I received one response in which she called me by the wrong name - Ariella, when our class only had 14 people in it and none went by that name. On the upside, the class is not hard - because Springs does legitimately nothing during class time, you don't really have to have read to be able to participate because you're only speaking to your peers. The essay…