Christopher Harwood

Great class, great professor. I came into the class not knowing any Czech, and left with a remarkable understanding of grammar, culture, and composition. I recommend this class to anyone remotely interested in learning the language. Harwood describes the material with engaging class exercises and assigns challenging assignments. Very demanding workload, not to be taken lightly, but pays off big time. Harwood knows all there is to know about grammar and can answer any question that comes up in and out of class. In addition, he encourages attending Czech conversation hour, where discussion is practiced in live situations.

Harwood is BRILLIANT. He really knows his stuff and makes a rather boring topic quite interesting! YOU'LL BE A BETTER PERSON AFTER TAKING A CLASS WITH HIM. He is an absolute genius when it comes to Czech literature. He can be somewhat boring at times, but is quirky and interesting for the most part.

He's an excellent language professor and his literature classes are very engaging. You can tell he knows what he's talking about. In fact, you get the feeling he knows way more than you ever will. A real Renaissance man. Harwood's very approachable though formal, so don't try any monkey business haha. But, you know, I respect professionalism; makes me think for a second that this here fine establishment is actually an Ivy League school. I mean, it is, but well, I think you get what I'm saying. Lectures/ discussions are really enjoyable and he makes plenty of references to outside works, philosophy, history, art, film etc so you'll come away knowing some interesting bonus facts. Which isn't to say he digresses. He's really organized and speaks clearly. Anyway, take his classes!

Even though he usually teaches Czech, he is a superb Russian teacher. He really knows what he's talking about, and can be really funny and engaging. He's very accommodating if you need to meet with him outside of class. That being said, he's a pretty harsh grader, and I never did find out what his policy on grading homework was...

Professor Harwood was a fantastic professor and always provided valuable feedback. By encouraging error and effort, he made a fostering environment. Even though I knew I sounded like a babbling toddler at times, now I am happy to have maybe even made it to an elementary school level. Through pattern recognition and comparisons with other languages, I not only increased my understanding of the evolution of the colloquial and formal Czech language, but I also gained insight into how other germanic and slavic languages operate and intersect. When deciding on my language requirement, I thought I might stick to Spanish, a language I was relatively familiar with, or another language I knew would be easier. However, I have absolutely appreciated the challenges of learning Czech and totally shifting my relationship and understanding of language as a whole. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2024 Course: CZCHUN1102_001_2024_1-ELEMENTARYCZECHII : CZCHUN1102_001_2024_1 - ELEMENTARY CZECH II Instructor: Christopher Harwood

I learned about a vast array of elements of Slavic Cultures from folklore of statist Russia to fragments of Kosovo songs to socialist realism poetry to Russian cinema to Yugoslav pop art culture to Turbo-folk and hip-hop songs, and more.

Basic information about Czeck writers and film makers, cultural significance of the time period in Czechoslovakia at the time

I would recommend this course to anyone who is willing to put a lot of time/effort into learning the language. It's a bit harder to do language courses without putting a lot of time into it. This is especially true for Czech because of its many conjugations/declensions. The energy and the atmosphere of the class is wonderful, though, and a part of it is how the instructor sets the tone and makes it collegial and productive for all. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2021 Course: CZCHUN1101_001_2021_3-ELEMENTARYCZECHI : CZCHUN1101_001_2021_3 - ELEMENTARY CZECH I Instructor: Christopher Harwood

lots of reading, but you don't actually have to do all of it. in class midterm and 15 minute presentation on a topic of your choice. and then you can choose between an in-class final or writing a 15 page paper... i'd opt for the in-class final. the midterm and in-class final weren't challenging at all. the questions had all been discussed previously in class. oh, and you REALLY should attend his lectures. they are totally worth it!

Really reasonable, just read the books and come to class to discuss their amazingness! (I liked all the works on the syllabus). A mid-term and a final exam(which is replaceable by a paper, at least in the class I've taken).