Christopher Brown

No one has written a review for Professor Brown in a while, but The Seven Years' War is the best class I've taken at Columbia, so I hope my review will be helpful for anyone considering it! I seriously can't recommend this class enough, especially to history majors (but honestly, anyone who has even the slightest interest in 18th-century history should take this class). Professor Brown is upfront from day one that The Seven Years' War is a lot of work, and it is challenging. If you're looking for an "easy" history class, this is not the class for you. However, I'm so glad I went outside of my comfort zone and took it. I learned so much, and not only about the Seven Years' War. This class also made me a stronger writer and strengthened my historical research skills. Professor Brown is so approachable and kind, and it's clear that he really wants all of his students to do well. He is always available to meet and help students with their papers, and I felt like he was genuinely interested in and excited about every single one of our chosen topics. This is a small seminar, and Professor Brown encourages the students to carry the discussions, so definitely be prepared to share your thoughts in every class. I was always excited for class because of how interesting the discussions were. This is also a really collaborative class: as well as working on your own paper, you'll read every…

While he can come off as pretentious at times, Prof. Brown does know his stuff. Lectures manage to stay interesting throughout the majority of the course. Except when he was making up for a class he missed, Prof. Brown does use much of the class time for discussion. He knew those of us who participated frequently by name after about a week, and the rest of the class he learned within a month. The readings involved both primary and secondary sources, covering three source books, a text book, and about six secondary sources. One major problem that Prof. Brown has is his tendency to not put readings up on courseworks in a timely manner. Beyond that, he is quite good overall.

Professor Brown is one of the rising stars of the history department. His course on the history of slavery, although being a broad survey, was tied together with very intelligent and compelling themes. His lectures were well prepared and elegantly delivered. Coming from Rutgers, I thought he could have offered a slightly more aggressive and challenging approach in the class, and he admitted this himself mid-way through the course. It was always a pleasure to attend, and the readings were relatively light but always interesting and valuable.

Professor Brown, a visiting professor from Rutgers, was a welcome switch from a previous big shot historian. He has a great ability to stimulate interested discussion amongst the students (which the former professor was never able to do) by asking the class a question. The question was often something that had puzzled Professor Brown himself and was often a key to unlocking and understanding the entire work. What I admired even more was the importance he placed on impartiality, his evident kindness, and willingness to help the student outside of class. He's a very nice guy and it's a shame he's only here for a bit.

Dr. Brown is not only an excellent professor, but takes the time to help students not only understand concepts better, but also assists them with their research interests within the subject matter at hand. It was a highly interesting class because of the broadness of topics and how they all relate to each other within the geographical realm. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2022 Course: HISTGR8176_001_2022_3-COLLOQINATLANTICHISTORY : HISTGR8176_001_2022_3 - COLLOQ IN ATLANTIC HISTORY Instructor: Christopher Brown

Professor Brown is awesome! He really cares about his students, and always is available to meet. He does a great job of walking that fine line between not holding a student's hand when the work gets challenging, but still providing assistance when needed. The class is interesting, and he does a great job of steering the conversation and engaging all thoughts. He clearly is a smart guy, and since classes are only about 10 students, he knows everyone and makes sure everyone participates. If you're interested in military history, or a history major, HIGHLY RECOMMEND this course and this professor.

Relatively light reading compared to other history courses; two pretty short papers, but Brown has high expectations and doesn't except BS

8 responses (13 chances throughout the year), 2 papers (3 chances throughout the year). If you do more than 8 responses, he'll take the highest 8 scores. Same deal with the papers. Like any CC class - class participation counts for about 20%. Very fair midterm/final.

About 200 pages of reading a week for the first six weeks Only one big (roughly 6,000 words) essay