Columbia College Core · Columbia University
If you asked my class to describe prof Franke in one word, we would all say the same thing: KING. I literally love this man and his frickin German accent. He is so understanding. My internet drops 24/7 and he's so nice about it. I've forgotten to do discussion posts a couple times, and both occasions he let me do them after they were supposed to be due. I'm also really impressed with how engaging he makes a two-hour class. The structure is kind of complicated, but I just go where I'm told and everything works out great. It's a mix of small group work and bigger group discussions, with a break in the middle. It's kind of amazing that I when I press that "join meeting" button I'm not overcome with dread at the imminence of having to sit on Zoom for two straight hours. I went from not doing the readings at the start of the semester (oops) to doing all of them by the end because I wanted to get more out of class. If you get him for lithum, you're lucky!
There were definitely a lot of long discussion posts that took quite a bit of time in the first semester, but there weren't as many in the second. Our midterm in the second semester was take-home, and the midterm for the first wasn't too bad! The workload is very doable.
Super doable. Some coursework posts. Always easygoing with any extensions you need. He really cares about his students and wants to work with them to make sure that they are able to accomplish the work and actually learn something along the way.
Professor Franke genuinely cares about his students and will relate the concepts in Lithum to contemporary issues. He is very understanding and engages the class as much as possible. He's a very chill guy, and he teaches the course extremely well. He is always excited to teach, and this enthusiasm rubs off on all his students.
Alwin is straight up THE SH*T. I had him before Corona and after corona. In class he was great (as other reviewers have previously mentioned so I won't get to into it). When we switched onto online, he was still great. I think that shows the true talent of the professor. It appeared that he transitioned seamlessly onto the online format (although, I know that isn't true. He just never gave any indication that he was struggling with it). Great, GREAT! If you have him, you got a great get.
Doable. Have to post a discussion post before every class (but these have NEVER taken more than 30 minutes to accomplish). HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM, HE IS THE BEST! He also constantly checks in with the class to see if the workload is "overwhelming." Whenever it is clear that it is, he scales it back for a bit so we can have a breath.
He is such a nice guy. He is genuinely very patient. Always has been very accommodating with any extensions or requests needed. Also, he makes class discussions very interesting. Alot of my friends complain that they feel that Lit Hum is inapplicable to contemporary issues and themes; this has never been a question or thought walking out of his class. He makes the class engaging, brings outside sources (like interviews, artwork, documentaries etc.) to show how these texts are still relevant. He also does a good balance of lecture and class discussions: for class discussion he only really monitors it to make sure contributions are equal. I'm not sure how his grading compares to other Lit Hum professors but I have always found his grading fair.
some cheesy assignments, like drawing stuff, and you normally have to write like 300 words on canva before each class in addition to traditional LitHum work (readings, essays).
Overall great class (for lithum). He puts a lot of effort into hearing multiple perspectives (both literally among the students and globally) and is willing to openly critique the core and its western focus. he's very open to feedback too, and generally a casual dude, which is good. A relaxed grader, for the most part, esp. on the midterm. haven't got my final grade tho yet, so.