Benjamin Vanwagoner

Professor VanWagoner is one of the best teachers I have ever had. He is very knowledgeable about the material, and makes the class super enjoyable. Overall he is a fair grader, and most importantly makes his lessons and assignments interesting. He is great about taking into account how the class is reacting to the content, whether they find it engaging or not, and is quick to adjust his teaching style to make the best class possible, while ensuring we still cover the necessary material. You can really tell that he enjoys teaching and wants every student to succeed.

Not an easy grader, but best Professor I have had at Columbia. You will learn a LOT, about both literature and writing. Truly cares about his students and their personal and academic development.

There were essays, but he would give an automatic A on them, and would have very helpful, kinda jarring criticism --but I did not mind this-- There is a final but he let us vote on what kind of final we wanted. Lots of reading, which is expected in a lithum class

This guy is awesome. One of the best professors I've had so far. I did not get to have him as a prof for the whole semester, as we were saved by him second semester (our first sem prof could not finish the semester for personal reasons), but I am so glad we got this professor! He is engaging, passionate, and very understanding. He is also pretty funny and has his own opinions that he expresses in jokes or things like that, which makes the class more entertaining. idk, if you have the option I would very, very much recommend. He knows a lot about literature, is super lenient with deadlines, and it really felt like he cared about his students. Super awesome! Plus, he kinda sounds like Phillip Defranco if you know who that is, and that was always funny to me.

discussion posts due at the beginning of the first class of the week, two to three 4-page papers per semester, midterm, final project, final exam The midterm was either take-home or an unconventional "project," which I appreciated. The spring semester final exam was also not the traditional Lit Hum exam and was his own, with a reflection portion at the end--a nice surprise! Grading was pretty fair imo, but if you're not used to writing papers (like I was) then it's definitely very tough to get even an A- paper grade at first. Office hours would probably help with that :)

Prof. VanWagoner is easily the best professor I've had so far and I wish I had involved myself in the class more than I did. He is very knowledgeable about the texts we read and makes valuable and meaningful additions/removals from the lit hum syllabus throughout the year. I found class discussions to be really great as well: a good mix of large group and small group discussions, Prof. VanWagoner would pose good questions but wouldn't dominate the conversation, and it didn't feel at all like the empty, winding commentary that English classes are usually made fun of for (he would make sure of that and if anyone had spoken too long he would intentionally redirect questions to others). I will say, though, that participation is heavily weighted in this class so you're at a disadvantage if you don't speak very often. The few times I was able to go to office hours he was very helpful, too. tl;dr, if you actively participate in this class and go to office hours i think you'll have a great time.

1) grading is kinda biased, be on his good side (I heard he rounds down if he doesn't like you lol) 2) a lot for reading. the majority read sparksnotes tho im p sure so youll be fine. 3) we had discussion posts every week, and they took maybe an hour or two max. 4) essays or midterms of course were longer, but it was fine. (a plus is that some of his midterms were take home)

Ok. He is super knowledgeable. And he does know what he is talking about. However, if you don't participate he will hate you. He had clear favorites, and they were the ones that talked forever every time they were called on. If you're gonna do well in this class, please be an absolute windbag. He can be a bit condescending at times, and it's pretty obvious. I don't think he takes into account that some people are more introverted than others. However, if you are super interested in some historical and literary analysis, this is the place for you. He tries to change the midterm and final from the conventional ones the core makes you take, so that is a plus. I know some people really loved this professor, but others absolutely got destroyed by him. Luckily I did pretty well in this class. So pick your poison.