HIST BC3980

Your grade is split between the midterm (30%), final (40%), and final paper (30%). There are weekly readings but he never mentions them and nobody really reads them.

Midterm and an exam - both IMPOSSIBLE and probably should have been curved, but were not. 1 paper that I think is graded fairly, but does not balance out the horrors of the 2 exams. TA-led discussion sections that are a complete waste of time.

I honesty don't understand the hype at all about Professor Moya. His lectures were okay, but it seemed like he was trying to put as little effort into teaching the course as possible. The exams were take-home, open-note, entirely multiple choice and graded automatically on Courseworks. There was a research paper at the end of the year, and I'm pretty sure he grades them without reading them - I got my returned 11 hours after I turned it in, with a 95 and no comments. It was frustrating and I worked really hard on my paper, so I wanted some actual proof that he'd read it. He also doesn't take attendance at his lectures, and because it's so easy to look up the answers to the take-home exams, almost nobody actually went to lectures. He's clearly knowledgeable about the topic, but the topic of "World Migration" was way too huge to cover in a single class, so I found that the class lacked any clear aim. Also, his exams are ridiculously hard, even being open-note.

There is one positive aspect of World Migration, and one alone: Professor Moya, who is knowledgeable, engaging, and clear in his presentation of the material. The negatives: McKeown's incomprehensible lectures, the unhelpful TAs, and the horrific and impossible exams. Take anything you can with Prof Moya, but NOT this class. Even his superior teaching does not balance out the stress caused by the negatives. Previous reviews say that this course is an easy 'A,' which is completely beyond me. Most people I talked to took this class P/D/F, and STRUGGLED to pass! Studying for exams is difficult because McKeown's notes and lectures (which comprise about 1/2 of the material and therefore 1/2 of the exam questions) are pretty much useless. I remember sitting in his lectures, pen in hand, attempting to take some worthwhile notes down, and leaving class with a blank sheet. Bottom line: this class is completely overrated.

1 midterm, 1 final, 1 essay. The midterm and final are VERY HARD! Do not underestimate them! The essay is open to any topic, and I would recommend talking to him in office hours/via email first to get his thoughts before you write it.

2 HORRIBLE mult. choice midterms and finals that are not curved, 1 essay

I LOVED this class. Professor Moya is so, so nice and incredibly funny! Some of his jokes didn't land or were a little strange, but you can tell that part of that was a language barrier issue (English is not his first language) and not meant to be offensive. He was also always very open to criticism, which I appreciated. He is very knowledgeable and super responsive via email and office hours. I reached out regarding the topic for my final essay, and he gave me three long paragraphs in response on ideas and his comments on the subject! Professor Moya is easily one of the smartest professors I have taken at this university. However, his exams are HARD. The midterm and final were very long (I believe around 100 questions each, multiple choice but on very obscure subjects within our broader lecture topics -- not the type of things you could study). Although they were open-book, open-internet, and open-notes (including his lecture slides), the class average was still a C on both tests, which made up a big chunk of your final grade. I barely passed the final; Professor Moya allowed me to retake the midterm with no points taken off when I failed it, which I really appreciated. His final essay is super open-topic so you can pick basically anything, which I really loved writing and I received a near 100% on. If you're willing to focus a lot of time to doing all of the long readings an…

It's obvious everyone takes this class because Moya teaches it. McKeown--his other half--is abosuletly by far THE worst lecturer i have ever had. he talks about extremely broad themes but never stays on point and is a complete bore. He doesn't seem very knowledgeable either. The TAs for this class are INCOMPETENT and the grading is HORRIFIC. Everyone Pass Fails the class after realizing what a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE mistake they made by taking it. The class average on a midterm should not a 70, especially when everyone is actually trying to do well and is studying. STAY AWAY STAY FAR FAR AWAY

A lot of reading that I didn't always do and ended up been fine. One paper, one midterm (100 multiple choices), and a final (100 multiple choice + short answers)

Professor Moya is the best! As previously mentioned, his powerpoint are super easy to follow and he also puts them on Courseworks. His exams are not easy, and you will need to work and go to the lecture (during which he gives many additional details). The extra credits I received from going to the Forum of Migration helped my grade a lot, which is useful since he doesn't curve the exams grades.. I definitely recommend taking his class, you will learn a lot and Prof. Moya is really funny!!