Dan Miron

Underwhelming considering all the positive reviews he has gotten - Quite a dry lecturer, and sort of gets stuck making one point for about 35 minutes. He also would sometimes move away from cultural aspects and try to relate history, but his facts were not tight (which is not surprising, as he is not a historian). Class is worth it just for the readings you are provided - If you are interested in the underpinnings of historical zionism, they are quite interesting. His lectures, however, leave something to be desired.

I'd highly recommend taking this class if you have an interest in Israel or Israeli literature. Half literature class, half history class about Israel in the 20th century, you will learn *so much* from this man--he is close friends with most of the authors we read, and translates many of the works we read himself. I was often star-struck by him and how much he's read/translated/done in his life. Miron speaks for the entirety of every lecture. You leave class every day with approximately seven pages of notes. It's a strange teaching style, kind of like he's trying to bestow upon us some of the knowledge he's accumulated over the years. Do not take this class if you want a discussion-based class--there is zero discussion involved. However, he is receptive to questions, and will often pause his lecture to ask if there are any questions. He doesn't really like when you critique his ideas, but rarely did anyone in my class feel that we knew enough in comparison to him to do so. It's a good class. He's spent many years thinking about this class and how to best structure it in order to give students an understanding of the context of the works you read, and it shows--I could not have understood the works we read in the same way had I not read them with him.

Dan Miron is one-of-a-kind. To not disregard the ravingly positive comments on him, there are some downsides of this class. On the positive end, Miron is a master of Hebrew Literature and knows the subject better then anyone in the world. He conveys hi knowledge through lectures that take up the full class period every lesson. While sometimes very interesting and almost always enthusiastic, Miron's lectures are also very dull and tedious. He allows little room for questions and there is rarely any sort of discussion among students in the class. Miron is under the impression that his interpretation of a text is the only correct interpretation. Therefore, any other way of viewing the text, even if well-substantiated, may not be sufficient to impress him. Nevertheless, if you are truly interested in Hebrew Literature, there isn't a more knowledgeable professor in the world.

This professor is truly a gem. He enjoys teaching, is happy to answer questions, and always wants students to come to his OH, which I think that few do. His lectures are entertaining and thoughtful. The course largely consists of a survey of the cultural underpinnings of Zionism, while side-stepping the current political aspects of it. A further bonus is that many of the kids who show up don't seem to take the class seriously, and so the bar for doing well is really not that high. If you want to take a fun course that will boost your GPA, this is it.

Professor Miron is a GOD. This is the second course I've taken with him and I just had to write a CULPA review. He is the most intelligent professor I have met at Columbia. The man knows everything and anything about the subject of Israel and Literature. You can tell Professor Miron has been doing this for years. His lectures are perfectly times and JAM-PACKED with information. I would leave every class with SEVEN pages of notes. Professor Miron is so passionate about the texts, too. When he talks about Haim Bialik you can see the admiration Miron has for his work just in the way he speaks. In addition, Miron knows many of the writers personally and has information on them and their writings, which you will find NOWHERE else. The reviews about the difficulty in meeting with him and his gradings on papers is completely unfounded. I was not available during his office hours and he was EXTREMELY flexible in meeting with me. In fact, many times I would stop by his office unannounced to ask a really quick question about my paper and he was totally responsive. His grading is not hard at all if you take advantage of the LOADS of time he gives you to write your final paper. I turned in a rough draft, he gave it back to me by the next class with a good grade, he offerred some suggestions, and I got a really good grade on my second essay. He's totally a fair grader. I recommend Miron's…

There is a midterm paper worth 50% and a take home final also worth 50%. There is weekly reading which isn't really necessary to do because he explains everything in class. Miron didn't tell us until after the midterm papers were graded that he would have reviewed them prior to being submitted. The T.A. for my class, Suzanne Schneider, was very helpful and grades in conjunction with Miron. The grading was not completely fair because of Miron's narrow minded interpretations of the text.

Do not leave Columbia University without taking a class with the almighty Dan Miron. Not only is he brilliant, but he's a powerful lecturer who truly wants to make his students understand the (extremely interesting) material. For the big 10-page paper that you'll have to write, he was extremely helpful in going over drafts, meeting with students, etc, which help to sharpen my understanding of Zionism and its roots. Also, his graduate fellow Andrea is probably one of the greatest TAs you'll ever have (no joke, this woman went above and beyond for us, and when she did lecture rarely, her teaching style rivaled that of many tenured profs you'll probably have). Seriously, I cannot praise this prof highly enough. Take anything he teaches, you won't regret it.

Both Prof. Miron's class are gems. While he can talk for the entire class period, he is always open to any questions. Furthermore, he knows much of the subject matter like few professors -- he actually knew many of the Israeli writers. He will often share insights not found in any anthology or other literary review. On top of this, Prof. Miron is a gentleman. These classes are great introductions to a vibrant literary culture.

I can't help but think something has gone horribly awry between the posting of the previous reviews and this one, because the Professor Miron described by others cannot, CANNOT, be the same professor I currently have a class with. Signing up for a Zionism class was an attempt to broaden my knowledge of the Zionist movement, its implementation, and its implcations. After two months of class, almost no material had been covered, and it felt like a literature class. Perhaps the esteemed Professor decided to take a mental sabbatical, or is coasting on the sycophantic reviews previously posted. Or perhaps I just lack the mental agility to translate the random Hebrew thrown in and rambling and unstructured lecture style. Either or. The TA is great, though. Very organized and very smart. Almost makes the class worth it.

While I had a lot of gripes about this class, I enjoyed it overall. The material gives a great intro to the topic, and miron's brilliant insight into Israeli culture brings the pieces to life, contextualizing them in a manner that only a few scholars are capable of doing. Sometimes the lectures are a bit dry, but that is to be expected. My main frustration with his class was based on his personality. As another review said, he is an old gruff Israeli man with a dry sense of humor. His attitude is hilarious, except when you have to meet with him about a paper that is worth half your grade. He's rarely in his office during his office hours, and it took me three times of running over to Kent when we had scheduled meetings to actually speak with him. Because he is so knowledgeable on the subject, I got the impression that he does not really understand (or care to) how we as students work. He wanted me to address a plethora of questions in my paper, but I could not even formulate these questions because I did not know enough to ask them in the first place. Therefore I chose to write all of his comments in essay form and got an A- on the paper. Go figure.