HIS T4358

Despite his somewhat intimidating presence, Lilla’s witty and sarcastic remarks, along with his anecdotes, make each class truly enjoyable. By the end of the course, I felt like I had gotten to know him personally. However, this course is not for the lazy student. Lilla expects weekly discussion post of approximately two pages, and while the readings are not super long, they are intellectually dense. The course culminates in a final paper ranging from 10 to 15 pages. All the requirements are very manageable, but keeping up with the readings is crucial to avoid falling behind. Most importantly, active participation in his seminars key—show up, take notes, and ask questions. Lilla notices these efforts and rewards them with good grades. This is not a course for those looking for an easy A. However, if you are genuinely curious and motivated, this will be one of your most enriching experiences at Columbia.

Mark Lilla is an exceptional professor. Yes, his teaching requires our deep and thorough engagement with the readings—which are challenging and dense—yet extremely rewarding. Lilla does a great job at contextualizing these philosophers within their own era but also broader intellectual frameworks. While his intelligence is undeniable (he truly is an index of knowledge), the true success of the class really depends on the students—our own drive and curiosity. He encourages us to think critically, challenge his views, surprise him, and take the lead in discussions. In response, he guides us toward deeper interpretations within the text that make us question our own thinking.

Grades: Because discussion is so important, it officially counts as 2/3 of your final grade – the other 1/3 comes from a paper due about 3 weeks after break. There’s no size range, and it can be on any subject you desire, so long as it’s cleared with him during the semester. Students tend to focus on certain elements of Montaigne throughout the semester, so the paper is really just a deeper exploration of what attracts you the most during the semester. Now, a lot of people comment on how tough of a grader he is, but I don’t think he is. Maybe he’s harder on freshmen, but I don’t remember anyone being called out in class. As long as you put in effort it’ll be fine.

Note: Prof. Lilla asked us to write a review about this class so that people will get an idea of what the class is like – a fair amount of people dropped the class both semesters, so it might help if people had a better idea of what the class is like before trying it. The gist: Lilla is an extremely capable discussion leader, and he gives you free reign to pursue any ideas you have about Montaigne’s Essays. Very thought-provoking experience and rewarding for anyone who enjoys philosophy, history, and literature combined into a single class. Not for people who aren’t prepared to work a lot. Course Summary: The class is a year-long course on the Essays, but you don’t need to take both semesters. From what I gathered, first semester focused on a lot of different topics – virtue, politics, leadership, the self, customs, friendship, vanity, education, human nature, and some more. Second semester was definitely more focused on human nature and our relationship to knowledge, so the main chunk of the course dealt with the Apology for Raymond Sebond and related. While this course sounds like it should be offered in a lit department, Prof. Lilla really focuses on the philosophical aspect of Montaigne’s writing instead of the literary issues that make the Essays unique, and I can see why after finishing the course. Montaigne’s thought is truly unique, blending a whole bunch of ancient sc…

Courseworks postings in addition to each in-class session; expect to read a decent amount -- especially for Lit Hum. Postings are formal short papers, and constitute the bulk of the grade. No midterm. Final papers are the other determining grade factor, and can be lengthy.

I am disappointed to see that Mark Lilla no longer has a Gold nugget (star?), because if anyone in Columbia's faculty warrants such a rating, it is this professor. If you want the intellectually rigorous experience Columbia touts in its prospective student brochures, take any -- or all -- of his classes. Lilla conducts his classes seriously: the workload is manageable, but intense. As mentioned in the earlier reviews, you will inevitably become engrossed in the reading, discussion, and writing his classes demand. The level of engagement with the texts and your classmates will prove to be beneficial if you are interested in expanding your thinking or improving your writing. Regardless of the course topic, you will learn more than you signed up for -- his methods focus on in-depth analysis of one or two texts rather than a superficial skimming of various works. Even if taking Lit Hum, the practice of quality over quantity remains paramount, a feat difficult to achieve in the Core. Bottom line: if you want to take a course at Columbia that will stay with you years after graduation, then go outside your preferred discipline and register for any class Mark Lilla is teaching. If you do, you will find a professor who will test your ability to think and write, as well someone who is genuinely interested in who you are as a student and a person. If you want a challenge, and ultimately…

Lilla assigns a manageable reading load. This is helpful, because it allows for ample time to re-read the essays. Coupled this with an alternation between 1000-word responses to the text and 300-word rebuttals to the responses. A final paper that can be any length above 20 pages.

Lilla broke me, but it was for the best. I became a better writer. You will also become a better writer, since he's not afraid to tell you if you're doing a terrible job. His criticism isn't spiteful; it's constructive. You should take a class with Lilla if you actually care about what you study, and you want to test your ideas against someone who doesn't suffer big egos lightly. Do not take this course if you believe in your own genius and know you would crumble if certain fault lines are exposed and prodded. You may not like the feeling of being humbled, or having to actually think about what you say and write. Again, this isn't aimed to humiliate (although it can feel that way), but to make you a better thinker. Lilla will occasionally impress with what seems to be a boundless knowledge of European intellectual history. These moments are stand out because they seem to extend beyond philosophy, into poetry and other arts. These moments reinforce the sense that the ideas being discussed mattered then and now. If you're interested in an easy A, I can't tell you about the grade distribution. While my GPA is better after having taken his class, that wasn't the point at all. Lilla will challenge you as a human being. All in all, Lilla pulls no punches, and neither should you. Take a class with him if you're intellectually flexible and confident that you can string together compre…

~1500 word discussion post every other week ~750 word response on alternating weeks (Post/Response/Post/Response) ~5000 word final paper due three weeks after the semester ends ~10,000 word conversations with your classmates about the self—not required but it will probably happen.

If you happen to be browsing Culpa for history professors and randomly find Mark Lilla, or are remotely interested in his provocative class titles, or already have experience with his thought via the New York Review of Books, you’re in luck. You’ve found Columbia’s secret sauce. Prof. Lilla’s teaching convinced me that studying history was the right way to go, but more importantly defined my academic existence as junior unsure of his next academic steps. It is admittedly hard to provide anything more than a gestalt review of Lilla’s classes; taking a course with him (and the cohort of undergraduates and graduates who religiously enroll in his seminars) is really an experience in itself. I’ll try my best. Professor Lilla structures his classes in the following way: He identifies an important theme or author in intellectual history (Pascal, Rousseau, Montaigne, the self, education, etc.), and provides a hyper-focused syllabus aimed at investigating this topic. The key is depth, not breadth, and the assigned readings every week are usually short yet demanding. In his Pascal class, we read the entirety of Pascal’s Pensées and some of Montaigne’s Essais for context. While the assigned readings may only have been 50 pages or so per week, the material required a lot of time and contemplation (the Rousseau readings, it should be said, were considerably longer). If you are not interest…