Bruce Robbins

Bruce Robbins is opinionated, witty, and headstrong, with an intense passion for a deep understanding of literature and how it reflects society beyond content but within character and the very philosophy of creating a novel with certain perspectives. This seminar may be titled "The Political Novel," but I don't know that the politics behind the reading list (featuring Dostoevsky, Woolf, Melville, and other world classics) are the determining factor in many of the discussions we had in this course. Rather, a focus on the characters and their embodiments of social movements or perspectives of the time from a political standpoint (or perhaps not) really factored in heavily.

Do you like to read? I know that prior to the first day of this course, I hated reading whether it was for fun, or analytical purposes. However, the selection of novel's that construct the syllabus, combined with the often hilarious lectures opened up a whole new outlook on the act of reading and analyzing. With a heavy load of reading (13 Novels), the Professor and TA's managed to select novels that will keep you entertained the whole semester. In short, awesome course, awesome Professor, and awesome TA's.

I've never taken a lecture with Professor Robbins, but given previous reviews, perhaps he's best in that setting. In a seminar setting, he takes far too laid back an approach, offering no structure to the discussion or even attempting to stimulate it with a introductory question or topic. Instead of leading the discussion or presenting his thoughts on the text, Professor Robbins would make some very broad comments and then turn it over to the students. The students, in turn, could either attempt to respond to something that he had obliquely alluded to or go off on their own tangent. Sometimes these tangents were interesting and even relevant, sometimes not. But the way Professor Robbins responded, or rather failed to respond, to what students said was the most frustrating aspect of the class. To have a seminar in which the professor opts not to lead the discussion ostensibly in favor of the input of students and then have the professor not engage with much of what the students say leads to a very disjoint, unsatisfying and ultimately unproductive discussion. I mean that all said, Professor Robbins is a very charismatic professor and of course has a million insightful things to say about the books he assigns - all of which are stellar. As has been said, the seminar setting doesn't seem to be the ideal platform for him. Also it was frustrating that he'd refer to lit theory witho…

It's a shame that Professor Robbins isn't taking the time to read and learn from the reviews posted here, which I think are generally on target in their criticism: Robbins is obviously intelligent and has so much potential to be a mind-blowing Professor, but his obvious laziness made each seminar devolve into disconnected and shallow bantering amongst students. He failed to lead our discussions at all, and the most he would try to provoke or steer them would be to ask something along the lines of, "Can someone say something about this scene! I mean, look at this scene!" and then look around with incredulity that no one would reply. He also seemed obsessed with one particular idea (which he mentioned he's writing a book on) and would bring it up during EVERY. SINGLE. CLASS, even if connections were at best tenuous. To make things worse, he never assigned or explained this idea in depth, so the class ended up being split between those who would roll their eyes at its mention, or sycophantly try to latch on to it without knowing what they're talking about. Professor Robbins is actually a really nice, warm and funny man with a great personality, but unfortunately no amount of personality is enough to make up for not actually caring.

I had Professor Robbins for a lecture in the fall, and I was a little disappointed in his class. Don't get me wrong; the syllabus was fantastic (he always chooses such wonderful books), but it seemed like he was sometimes straining to fill the alotted hour and 15 minutes. That said, his analyses were often very thought-provoking and articulate, and he has a great personality complemented by an offbeat sense of humor (even when he misfired). So I decided to take an American novel seminar with him, and I'm really glad I did. It turns out he is fantastic with a smaller group of students: he leads discussions very well, raises good questions that cut to the heart of the text, and does a good job of encouraging everyone to participate. He introduced me to several books that have since become my favorites, and he was very easy to get in touch with outside of class, whether via e-mail or during office hours, to discuss various assignments. He directed the class very well, and he was good at quickly evaluating which topics were producing quality discussion and which were not. I learned so much from him in seminar, and I recommend that you take one with him if you get the chance. (And if you get the chance to take a lecture with him, you should also do that, keeping in mind that he's somewhat weaker in that format.)

This class should be entitled ‘Welcome to Robbinsworld’ or ‘Being Bruce Robbins.’ The reading list is top notch, but the texts aren’t really considered for their own value so much as they are shown to be the building blocks for Robbins’ Meta-narrative/Master-Plan. As has been noted before, this plays right into the hands of the Robbins groupies who eat it up like candy. To the rest of us tourists, the class is a great introduction to the mind of one of America’s top wannabe public intellectuals. You will, without at doubt, be swept up in Robbins charisma. At that point it’s up to you whether you want to leave the fun house or become a Mouse-keteer. Who knows which is better. You’ll just have to take the class to find out.

I just want to echo the previous positive reviews. Robbins has an amazing command of the material and his ability to explicate is wonderful. Some of the writers we read are nearly incomprehensible, but Robbins made them lucid and interesting. He does really interesting intellectual history and goes off on a lot of tangents, which are interesting, especially if you have a general interest in theory. Friendly and inviting in office hours and seems to genuinely care about students and the material. Some of the theories we do in class are incredible and may just change the way you think and live. The only negative side were the papers, which were somewhat boring topics. Otherwise, highly recommended

This was his first semester at Columbia from Rutgers, where he taught small discussion classes, and spent a great deal of time in this class apologizing incessantly for not having a clue how to teach large lectures. He seemed to have mixed feelings about his students, and couldn't understand why discussions didnt flow in a room of 150 students. His lectures were never centered on the books as a whole, but often detailed descriptions of obscure post-modern critics' interpretations of the books. The class was dull, the books were great. I would NOT recommend taking a lecture with him for his insight.

This was my second class with Professor Robbins and I was so glad to be taking it again. He is brilliant, hilarious, and extremely understanding. He and Orhan Pamuk also have a hilarious dynamic because they have such different readings of so many of the novels on the syllabus, which makes it incredibly entertaining (and also generates greater discussion as it allows us to disagree with them and each other more easily). His passion for literature is infectious and he is so good at generating thoughtful discussion.

Class was easy as balls, books were chill, papers were extremely hard to do 5 hours before they were due (but manageable), final was chill sauce. I was expecting a lot of hot chicks to be in this class, didn't work out that way, only complaint. Other than that this class is chill and the classroom chairs are soft.