HIST W3535

Workload is one final, one midterm, a weekly writing assignment, a weekly tour reflection sheet, and one paper (page number depends on the option chosen on his list of possible topics)

1 midterm 1 final 8 required field trips (you can select out of approximately 20, including movies) 1 neighborhood project (15-20 pages incl. pictures, done in groups of 3-4) Extra credit: groups that do tours of their neighborhood project can get extra points. Not sure how many, though.

LOTS of reading, but she let us know which important themes to look out for. 3 short-to-medium length papers and a comprehensive Final Exam. She's a stickler for deadlines, however.

PLEASE pay attention to the review that said he teaches the class as if it were aimed at ninth-grade high school students. He is also a harsh grader, deducting points for even the smallest mistakes (including something as minor as a missing letter in a handwritten essay). I initially enrolled because I was excited about learning more about New York City, but the class turned out to be disappointing. Professor Sullivan shows little concern for his students—especially those registered with ODS—and often diverts lectures by talking extensively about celebrities he claims to know, his family (which was endearing at first but quickly became excessive), and his former high school teachers. These tangents come at the expense of covering core material. His syllabus is a confusing 15-page document filled with outdated information, conflicting instructions, and unclear due dates. On top of that, he frequently talks over students during discussions, making the class experience even more frustrating.

I very much disagree with the previous reviewers. Professor Jackson's class is the sort of experience where you will get exactly what you put into it. Unfortunately, for many students in a 300+ lecture class, this meant skipping lectures, coasting through discussion sections, and half-assing it on assignments. To be fair, it's unsurprising that there's some disappointment with Jackson's class: his lectures can (at times) be vague or repetitive; some of the books fail to be compelling; and the field trip requirement can be tedious (especially when not planned out properly--many of my friends didn't go to any the first half of the semester and got screwed around finals season). That being said, Jackson is a living legend at Columbia (and unfortunately at age 72 he may not be living too much longer). For those that actually do the readings, you will learn more about New York City than you thought there was to know. If you keep your ears open in lecture and your eyes open on the field trips, you'll leave the semester with a factoid about every other block in the city--something I love to share whenever I have relatives in town. Jackson's class gave me the single largest bulk of information of any class I've taken in 3 years at Columbia. That not to mention the fact that his Tennessee frankness makes lectures delightfully entertaining. Jackson rambles, yes, but his anecdotes are ge…

Professor Lobel is totally cool. She permits students to call her Cindy and prohibits them from calling her Dr. Lobel (despite being a PhD.) One day she didn't have her notes with her, yet she lectured for nearly 3 hours (with a only 15 minute break) and it was one of the best lectures of the semester. She helps students understand the fundamental reasons for change with emphasis on major events or turning points. Although Kenneth Jackson is the New York Guru, I don't feel that I missed anything by not taking his class, but then again, I don't know what I missed. I do know what I gained, however. I enjoyed watching her dismiss brown-nosing and long-winded students too! Cindy has a great sense of humor (like the rest of us native New Yorkers) and knows the city "like the back of her hand." This was a great class to take during the summer because we went on neighborhood tours and were blessed with nice weather. She's also professional NYC tour guide. Take her classes if they are available! One of the best instructors I've had here at Columbia, and I'm a senior history major.

Midterm, final, 5-paper paper (he gives a choice of interesting formats), and a 1-page walking tour reaction paper. Moderate amount of reading, but, again, if you're really into the history of New York, you'll enjoy the books.

Depends on the TA, but 1 neighborhood report, weekly Courseworks postings. Midterm and final (each contains IDs, plus two essays). IDs are given in advance. Final exam essay questions aren't known in advance, but midterm essay questions are chosen from four possible questions.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS CLASS. I thoroughly enjoyed the History of the City of New York with Professor Sullivan. The man is a walking fount of historical knowledge of NYC. I thought the curriculum was planned out well for a twice weekly class, meeting one day for lecture and one day for a walking tour to various sites such as Central Park, the Lower East Side, lower Manhattan, and Brooklyn Heights. Professor Sullivan often added his own personal anecdotes to both lectures and walking tours which made the class more interesting. It's also a perfect class to take during the summer session since we had beautiful weather for all of our walking tours and it sure beat sitting inside a classroom. Stephen does go off on tangents (as he admits) but I find his lecturing style refreshing. But he really shines as a tour guide because of his vast knowledge of the city. As a native New Yorker who thought knew everything about the city, I was amazed of how much I actually didn't know about the city. The bottom line: If you love both history and New York City, then I wholeheartedly recommend this class. It was the fastest (and most enjoyable) 6 weeks I have ever spent in a class at Columbia.

This class was a huge disappointment. Jackson is a decent lecturer, but not necessarily enough to make it work waking up for a 10:35 class. Add that to the fact that some of his 'lectures' are just him playing documentaries that happen to feature him commenting about the subject on hand. Do yourself a favor and buy the PBS special miniseries of the history of New York on DVD. Congratulations - you just bought 3 of the 22 lectures in this class, and you didn't even have to pay any tuition! The neighborhood report is a joke - it's a high-school level assignment (a glorified book report), but it's a huge pain to visit the neighborhoods, as none are in New York. You're lucky if your neighborhood is only an hour away by subway. The walking tours/field trips could hardly be scheduled more inconveniently. A few were even scheduled during the lecture time - I kid you not. It adds insult to injury when you find out that most of the tours are run by a tour company that was founded by one of Jackson's old students (and which employs many Columbia graduate students/alumni as tour guides). I stopped going to the class a week before the midterm (except for the two exams, I didn't even set foot inside the lecture room afterwards, though I did go to recitation). Didn't miss a thing, apparently, since I did very well in the course anyway. I'm a bit sad, because I was really excited to take thi…