Beau Shaw

See above. Weekly response papers of 2/3 pages. Two 8/12 page papers. Midterm and final are straightforward.

This man changed my life. He is everything you can want in a professor: he cares about the subject matter more than anything else. Sure, Beau's class has a little more work than other CC classes, but this is because he actually wants you to get something out of CC and philosophy in general. He actually wants you to engage with these texts. And, in my opinion, he 100% succeeds. There will not be a dull moment in his class. This man actually gets you to philosophize and WANT to continue philosophizing both inside and outside of class. Now that is something special, especially considering how much work we all have and the fact that most of us would probably rather sleep through CC. A lot of people (like the reviewer below) will probably complain about the workload, but honestly its not much because the work is NOT busy work. It is Beau's attempt to get you to philosophize. The weekly response papers are 2/3 pages of whatever the hell you want to talk as long as you relate it back to philosophy and the text. And, for this reason, he is a generous grader and it is not hard to do well. All you need to do is engage with the ideas at hand and—more importantly—CARE about the ideas at hand. And, trust me, that will not be a problem because 4hrs of Beau's magic a week will make you care. Beau Shaw is a freaking legend. This man absolutely deserves his gold star. Columbia needs to wake up…

Biweekly two hour class. Participation is important. But don't fear! Beau is easy to talk to! 10% Two 8-12 page papers. They're more long than difficult. 17.5% each Two non-cumulative exams (colloquially called midterm and final). 17.5% each Weekly 2-3 page response papers. Really help you digest the text. Shouldn't take more than an hour to write, but sometimes, you'll want to write more, because this is one of the ways that you can have a private dialogue with Beau. 20%

This class validated my decision to come to Columbia. In order to give you an idea of who I am, and the background from which I am approaching this course, let me tell you about my Lit Hum experience. As someone who is not keen on the humanities, the Core has not been my greatest ally. Lit Hum was a harrowing experience for me, characterized by a terrible professor who refused to teach and somehow found a way to make the greatest works that the West has ever seen more tedious than the most annoying problem set one could fathom. As a result, I read approximately 30% of the Lit Hum syllabus. However, Beau reversed all that. He somehow inspired me to want to read every word that was assigned. I would find myself compelled to finish each text, just so that I can fully engage with everything that he says and is said. He has a way of inspiring people to speak. Discussion becomes interesting. He does not shy away from confrontation but invites it. If you have something to say, it will be fully considered. Some days which I would make sure not to miss: Plato, Maimonides, Bible, Rousseau, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Pay special attention to Kierkegaard. My world view was very shaken by this discussion. A typical day proceeded like this: We would arrive at class and put our response papers (if you chose to do yours that day) on the stack in the front of the room. Then, once the cl…

Weekly response papers (they are supposed to be about 3 pages but I did 500 words and he was generally fine with this, these are mostly busy work). Two long papers, 8-12 pages. Midterm and final are about 8 text questions and an essay- no passage IDs. Shaw also likes to see class participation.

For anyone considering taking Beau Shaw, a few words of warning. His class is 'intellectually engaging' in that he attempts to make philosophy interesting. Though you probably won't fall asleep in class and he keeps conversation interesting, the work you do for his is very time-consuming as compared to other CC sections. The papers especially are a struggle because of their much greater length. The midterm and final are straightforward. His grading is very inconsistent and unclear, and he is absolutely unflinching on changing your grade after he decides it. His method of calculating the final grade is also not clear. Overall, Shaw is completely undeserving of the gold nugget he has- I'm almost certain there are professors who can both facilitate good discussion and not give busy work.

Work really doesn't matter that much. It requires time, sure, but within the first weeks you'll be so engaged in the class that you'll actually look forward to reading the texts and writing those response papers. Plus by the middle of the first semester you'll be good enough at writing them that you'll be able to do so with very little time. Don't be demotivated because of the workload, it's nothing compared to what you'll gain from this class.

Beau is the man. I lack words to describe him as a professor. If you take him, it's a guaranteed 4h of intellectual orgasm a week, plus the countless other hours you'll spend thinking about the stuff he said and was discussed in class. He has inspired me to take more classes in philosophy, to become a better person by thinking about my actions, and perhaps most importantly, to become a better thinker. Want a class that helps you develop power of thought? Take CC with the Beau. This class has probably made the entire Columbia experience worthwhile--he's that great.

It's more work than some CC classes because we have to write a 2-3 page response paper every week. And then two 8-12 page papers. But his midterm and final don't have IDs which is AWESOME!!! Just short answer and an essay. So yeah like i told you before he is AWESOMEEEEEE.

This is the best teacher EVER. CC is the best class ever. He makes every class SO interesting and I understand everything so much better after I go to class. CC flies by because he engages everyone in our class so much. I love him I would date him if I could because he is so stimulating. LITERALLY THE BEST CLASS EVER. He's a pretty easy grader too.