HIST W3412

A bit on the heavy side of standard reading for a history class. 3 papers (8 page, 5-7 page, and a take home final) Participation in section and weekly Courseworks responses

Reading: No more than ~70 pages a week and often substantially less. Nearly all secondary sources, with the two primary exceptions of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia". Pretty interesting material overall. No discussion section. Grading: 20% Reading quizzes- I can't imagine this actually counts for 20%, because we only did around 3 quizzes. But they were a good way of incentivizing reading when they did take place, and not difficult if you did the readings, which were short. 30% Midterm- standard to easy. Most of the IDs given in advance, essay question, both with choice, fairly graded. 30% Final- Actually more like a second midterm- it was 75 minutes long, same structure as the midterm, not cumulative, not difficult. 20% Essay- The only writing in the course is a 5-7 paper. Yup. Critical reading of one of three books we read in class based on other readings and lectures, no outside research necessary.

This class is amazing. Aside from a bizarre tendency to spend several minutes at the beginning of lecture writing a vague and difficult-to-follow outline on the blackboard only to speed through the rest of the material, Professor Haefeli is a great professor. The material is clearly presented and I found his numerous asides to be funny and entertaining. Each lecture is organized around an argument that is presented along with other possible explanations so that I left the class with a far more universal picture of the American Revolution than I had ever imagined could have existed. You also get to spend part of one class watching 1776--a definite bonus. The reading is always interesting and related to the lectures. Definitely necessary for the papers.

A good, light, enjoyable introduction to the American Revolution. Prof. Haselby is nice, approachable and knowledgable. The class isn't tightly organized, but that's mostly intentional- Prof. Haselby always tried to keep students involved in discussions about the Revolution and its impact today. This often means 30 minute long Q&A sessions, so this isn't a class bursting at the seams with information, but that's just as well. The title is a bit misleading- the class spends a lot of time on the pre-colonial and early colonial period and ends with the Constitution ratification of 1787-1788. I also wouldn't be surprised if Prof. Haselby meant to cover more than he did. The history is well taught, with a lot of quotes and anecdotes sprinkled in. The strongest point of the class is a kind of "myth busting"- Prof. Haselby loves to deconstruct some common misconceptions of the Revolution and to talk about its contemporary perception as a mythological event. This may be a little hard to follow for anyone who doesn't really know American political discourse, e.g. how the Founding Fathers are perceived and how the Constitution is treated. I should note that this class talks mostly about the "bottom-up" part of the Revolution, so this is not a great class to learn about the great figures of the period, with the possible exception of Washington and some Jefferson (through anecdotes and Je…

Pretty standard history class. A book or two per week of reading and weekly postings. When you are reading, focus on the main thesis of the lengthier books (but I do recommend actually reading some since they are enjoyable) and read and understand the primary documents thorougly. 3 papers (paper, midterm, and final) and 20% section grade. TAs grade your papers so they will determine your grade. I got an A overall but I had to work hard for it.

I loved this class. If you are interested, just take it and you won't regret! You will get to learn what America was like before and after the revolution, and you get to explore how American identity is formed or transformed during these critical years in the American history. The class approaches the subject in many different perspectives: intellectual, economic, political, military, etc. I personally found the military history part really boring and skipped the entire Fisher book, but I read everything else since they were all very interesting and well-written. Another great thing about this class is the lectures. You can see that professor Haefeli comes to every lecture well-prepared, and lectures were all very interesting and well-organized. In retrospect, I wish I took my notes on my laptop, but he prohibited laptops in the beginning of the class (However, half-way through the class, I think handful of people were typing in their laptops anyway). All the TAs were awesome, too. It was one of the few classes in which so many TAs had their presentations, and each had something interesting to say. I think this class was the best history lecture class so far at Columbia.

*Weekly readings (approx. 200 pages per week) *Weekly Courseworks responses to readings (about 2 paragraphs) *Three papers including take home final with a week to complete. *Heavy emphasis on class participation in determining grade.

I enjoyed Revolutionary America with Professor Haefeli. The lectures were for the most part interesting and he provides you with an understanding of early American history far beyond what you previously had. His lectures could be a bit slow at times, but they were always well organized and each class had a clear goal. The weekly readings could be a bit heavy, but it is not necessary to do them all, just enough to make weekly Courseworks postings and discuss the material in section. That being said, you may want to do all the readings simply because they are interesting and truly enhance the class experience. Section was generally pretty interesting, with a heavy emphasis on participation and discussion. The TA grades the papers and pretty much determines your grade. All in all, a worthwhile course which leaves you with an in depth knowledge of early American history (1750-1815) and professor Haefeli does a good job structuring the readings, his lectures, and the course overall.

* Weekly sections with your TA. This person will grade your exams. *Readings: About a book-worth a week, sometimes less. You will need to know these well when completing the graded work. * Three papers ("Take-Home Exams"). The first two are 6-8 pages, and the last is about 10 pages.

Loved it. Attend class on a regular basis. His lectures rest on clear arguments, and provide a useful context for your papers. The final allows you to use information he provided, so organize and date your notes. Also, he has a dry wit. Very entertaining. (His favorite punching-bags are Canadians and George Washington's questionable military leadership.) On the first lecture, he will make you aware of the Revolution's historiography: Whig, Progressive, Imperial, etc. He does this to make you aware of the various interpretations of the subject. You don't need to be an expert to understand it, however. The readings--especially some by Gordon Wood--provide useful outlines of the time period. The workload is pretty comfortable. Three take-home exams, and participation at weekly discussion sections comprise your graded work.