David Sidorsky

One weekend afternoon, Professor Sidorsky sits two feet away from me at Tom's counter. He has to know that I'm a student of his, right? No one else is at the counter. People say he's afflicted with terrible eyesight but I did raise my hand once or twice in class. Even if he doesn't remember anything else about me, I'm still wearing the same stupid jacket that I always wear in the third row. He orders the exact same thing I'm eating. What the hell is he getting at? Is he getting at something? We sit together in silence. I keep glancing over, hoping to make eye contact. He smiles at the waiter but never looks in my direction. Can I tap him on the shoulder? I'm afraid he'll break. Sidorsky takes 30 minutes to hobble across College Walk. They say he used to be a famously liberal scholar but I worry that he doesn't want to talk to a lowly non-philosophy undergrad on his time off. And don't old people want to wait before being spoken to? I don't know. I don't know. One time I told him that he was miscategorizing anarchism and he didn't end the conversation but didn't really respond to me either. I take out my cellphone and pretend to look busy. I don't want to go through that again. He wrote a funny comment on my midterm and called one response "interesting." It was my favorite course of the semester so far and it could only go down from there.

Even though the class goes by pretty slowly since he talks pretty slowly, his lectures are surprisingly very organized and, with the exception of a three-session-long rambling digression into US foreign policy in the 70s, every lecture was very interesting. However, Sidorsky is pretty old; he couldn't see people's hands raised for questions, so after a month or two most of us gave up trying to ask questions entirely. Also, there is pretty much no interaction with him at all aside from his lecture. Though he kept repeating to himself almost every week that he should involve us in a discussion more often, he never did anything but lecture the whole time. To me, this was a virtue of the class. Instead of hearing my peers who have been in three philosophy classes, I got to just sit and listen to someone who has been studying philosophy for 60 years. Grades were based only on the midterm and final, which, contrary to his claims of them "probably being easier than than they should be", were actually disproportionately difficult, though not unreasonably so.

He sure is a sweet old guy, and it is clear that he knows a lot, but this class is almost painful at times, depending on the day and depending on your mood. Sure, it's easy, and, sure, the readings are interesting, but it's almost impossible to not go to sleep some days; he goes off on tangents constantly and covers very little in each class (which can be a nice change from classes with thousands of pages of reading). Sometimes, I like this class, when what we're discussing is especially interesting or when students contribute their comments; other times, I find it to be a waste of time.

Taking a class with David Sidorsky is absolutely worthwhile. He is one of my favorite professors at Columbia and definitely one of the most interesting and knowledgeable. Yes, I admit, he may be very old, loves going on tangents, and sometimes strays from the syllabus. Some students might be bothered by this lack of structure in his teaching style, I think it is one of the best things about him! He has so many stories and experiences, and does not hesitate to spend large amounts of class time enlightening us with some real world philosophical anecdotes. I seriously looked forward to his classes and just sitting back and relaxing. In addition, he reviews material a pretty slow pace, and usually covers important points multiple points...it is nearly impossible not to get the main points if you just go to lecture alone and do not read anything at all. There are required readings, but they are hardly necessary for earning an A. Seriously...if you are interested in philosophy at all, take his classes!

First and last impression of Sidorsky: the man is exceptionally brilliant and very well read. It is not often that your professor has the ability to lecture and provide the insight that can only be provided given that they were present during the time frame of what they were teaching. His lectures got repetitive as he took a long time to get through material bc he was constantly reviewing and rehashing. His eyesight is less than stellar as he will ask for questions and miss the raised hand that is in the front row. He definately knows his material well and delivers it well. as the last reviewer stated, show up to class, some part of the grade is attendance and exams are entirely lecture note based.

Famous quote to a student: "Do you realize how stupid you sound?" You must go to class, and you will want to because you will love the way he teaches. He may seem disorganized to some but he is actually extraordinarily eloquent and knowledgeable. He will drill certain points about the books into your brain. You will leave the class remembering these points. He gives a lecture class more than a discussion. Who wants a class discussion anyway? I'd rather listen to his sage insight than that of the obnoxious girl down the hall. How many CC professors can say they've read Plato's Republic 60-70 times? Remember, little sophomore student, always choose a professor over a graduate students - the older the better - the more knowledgeable.

It wasn't until I began studying for the midterm exam that I realized how much I liked this class. That sounds like a really strange backwards compliment, but hear me out. Yes, Sidorsky is very old, yes, he can barely see, and yes he tends to move through the material rather slowly. As a result, some people gchat throughout class, some fall asleep, and some just don't bother showing up. But despite his slow pace, or perhaps because of it, Sidorsky presents concepts clearly and extremely organized. It's clear that he has been teaching this forever, and it pays off. Reviewing my notes, I realized how much I had learned, and I loved how organized and clear my notes were- a direct result of Sidorsky's lecturing style. If you are interested in political philosophy, I would recommend this class to you. But if you prefer fast-paced, discussion-based classes, you probably won't love this prof.

VERY short, dense weekly readings (2-20 pages) Challenging Midterm Long, difficult Final

David Sidorsky is a very nice man, and an extremely educated. He also teaches class at the absolutely slowest pace imagineable. You think I'm joking. We had reading assignments of ONE PARAGRAPH sometimes. I'm not joking. A typical reading assignment would be two pages out of the only textbook required for the class. In a way I applaud him for not overreaching the scope of a semester long college course (although that would be a bit of an understatement), because I do feel like most teachers try to cram in way too much reading and no one absorbs anything. However, it was simple too slow. We covered the major moral philosophies, but I feel like I could've learned about as much from 2-3 hours of reading on Wikipedia. Sidorsky was nice and sometimes told some great stories, but I only heard them when I could stay away. Students' heads were dropping like flies. I'd be whipsering to my friend for a minute trying to pass the time and then I'd realize that he'd nodded off. The class is pretty easy. He doesn't like to give below a B, and he gives plenty of A's and A-'s. But, you aren't going to learn that much, and it's really, really slow. If you think it's worth it to sacrifice your education to make a good grade and hear the occasionally interesting ramblings of a very very knowledgeable man, then take it. However, if I could time travel back to myself and advice myself on course se…

Sidorsky is the cutest old man ever! :) Just take your laptop and write down everything he says and memorize it. There is no need whatsoever to do the readings in order to have an A in the class. (In fact, the readings might confuse you and you'll do worse.) Also, on the first day he says that you have to have taken a philosophy class in the past or else this will be too hard. I almost switched out because he seemed really serious about it. Rubbish! No need to worry!