HIST W3491

Assignments: Two take-home short essays, one midterm and one final that broke my hand because there was so much writing in the in-class-bluebook exams! There was an option to write a longer paper, but it wasn't required. Reading: SO MUCH READING! Actually insane, but all worth it. Suggestion: make friends in the class and split the readings. Grading: Pretty harsh, but the TA gave constructive feedback. Hours: If you split readings with other students, you only need to spend around 3 hours each week on readings. But reviewing the materials before the exams took A LOT of time and energy.

Probably about 100 pages per week. In Discussion section we tend to focus on a specific primary source, or approach lecture material from a different perspective. Midterm was extremely fair.

Average. Heavy reading every week (do them-- he sometimes has surprise quizzes and it really bothers him if people don't do the reading.) Midterm & Final 25% Paper(s) 25% Class Participation 50% Overall a pretty reasonable/lenient grader. I got an A in the class and I'm sure most of the class got in the A range as well.

I took this class as a freshman, and now two years later, I still think about it all the time. It's definitely one of my favorite classes taken at Columbia. Prof. Stephanson covers a lot of materials in his lectures, so it was sometimes difficult to keep up. But his hot takes and dry humor makes up for it! Plus, his special lecture on the World Fair was so cool. The first half of the course was about US foreign relations from the late 19th century up to WWII, and the second half of the course focused on the Cold War. We read about many of the most classic and famous historiographical debates. Beware, the readings are dense, and the grading is harsh. But I promise, it's worth it!

Professor Chamberlin is a really great lecturer. He moves through material at the perfect rate, and raises provocative questions. His course US Foreign Relations 1890-1990 is the best course I have taken this term. The TAs this term, Micah and Peter, are also THE BEST. Would highly recommend to anyone interested in History, Ethics, Philosophy, International Relations, National Security, etc.

I don't understand why Professor Kittay doesn't have more culpa reviews. From my experience, people in the class and ex-students have a lot of (mostly positive) things to say about him... I owe it to Professor Kittay to encourage future students to take his class. Kittay wants to be your friend. Which is good, because he's a really sweet guy and you're going to want to be his friend too. He is very invested in what every individual person has to bring to the table, and cares more about our personal experiences than the texts themselves (which is a good thing, since CC texts can be dry and overly complicated at times). Rather than get hung up on the details of the texts, Kittay wants us to develop our own voices as thinkers. Instead of two papers, he asked the class to write a 15-20 page paper in which we developed a personal philosophy regarding a topic of our own, much like one of the authors we read would have. And although this seemed formidable, it ended up being interesting and he was very open to different types of writing. That basically sums up Kittay's attitude: flexible. That being said, this isn't a lecture-style class like some other CC sections. If you are looking for a professor that will spoonfeed you all the material in the book and prepare you for technical exams, this is not the right class for you. If you, like me, want to learn about the texts but also a lo…

HARD midterm and final (so much writing! your hand will KILL) 2 take home 2-3 papers (calls them "exams" because you only have a weekend for them) -- 10% each of your grade (I did the worst on these) A SHIT TON OF READING!!!!

My favorite class so far at either Barnard or Columbia. Anders (lol Professor Stephanson) has some *hot* takes about the Cold War and basically everything else. You will learn SO MUCH if you pay attention and do around 30% of the reading (you just won't be able to get to the whole thing because the book list is really crazy). He is so quietly funny and his quips really make the class fly by, and he's SUCH a knowledgable lecturer. I cannot endorse this class enough. The workload is hard, but the TAs are understanding and it really isn't impossible. I would say most people who put in effort got an A-/B+. Tip: make friends that you can talk over the readings with and split them up.

Intense. Two take-home mid-terms (manageable, but not easy), an actual mid-term which is hard, and final that is manageable but super hard in the sense that it is 9 essays in 3 hours, so you have to know your stuff. Reading is massive. MASSIVE.

This class is a good, good call if you're willing to put in the work. It is an absolute ton of reading, all of it rewarding, but none of it easy to get through just due to density. I took this class this semester as a freshman, and I learnt a great amount about really interesting issues, but it took up a lot of my time. Make sure you take good notes in lecture, and go to all of them - they're interesting, so it isn't hard. Also, the readings that you do (you can't do all of them, but try do most), take notes or make a summary of some sort. It'll be REALLY helpful. Stephanson is a genius. He is a very engaging professor, and has a lot of interesting material to present.