Deborah Valenze

I took this class first semester of college, and it's a basic introduction history course. I thought it was pretty manageable and not too difficult (comparable to an AP history class). The lectures were dull and lacked structure/chronological flow, and Valenze would introduce a new topic/period with minimal context. She has a no-laptop policy, but it's not strictly enforced. Discussions/grading are very TA-dependent. Jenna (my TA) was a fair grader and big help when it came time for exams. Overall, the content is easy, but the lectures are incredibly boring.

This was genuinely the worst class I have taken during my time at Columbia. I am a graduating senior and this was the worst way to close out my time here. I took this class because I finally had some space in my schedule to learn something outside of my more quantitative and theoretical majors, and both history and food sounded like fun things to learn about. I could not have been more wrong. Professor Valenze has a great personality in the lecture hall, but that is about all the good I can say. As soon as class ends and you send her an email, her tone completely shifts to passive-aggression and being completely merciless if you do not understand something. Beyond that, the lecture slides were so random and looked very dated, but this messy presentation matched the lecture delivery quite well. I never felt as though I was being given facts about food or history. It all sounded like her opinion or like she was unsure about certain things. And some of her "facts" directly contradicted the facts of another history class I took at the same time. By the way, my negative experience in this course was not because I am bad with history. The other class I took also focused broadly on European history and it was so fun and interesting. I learned a lot because the class had great TAs, a great professor (hint: she's Turkish), and all of the lecture and reading material could be found on c…

An interesting seminar that goes a little too in depth on some topics that are just simply boring. Professor Valenze is a really nice lady who genuinely cares about the history of food and globalization of food etc. However, some of the topics are a bit over kill. Nevertheless, it is an easy way to fulfill a history seminar and a rather painless class. Meets once a week and you get snacks in every class. Make sure to speak up and she will really appreciate it.

This was, without question, the finest academic experience I’ve ever had at Columbia—if by “finest” you mean the class that single-handedly destroyed my passion for studying history. If you enjoy no-laptop policies, no uploaded slides, hundreds of pages of reading every week, the harshest TA and grading—all for an introductory course—then this is absolutely the class for you. My grade wasn’t low, but the learning experience was bad

There was actually not that much work in this class. No recitation or frequent assignments. But the few assignments she does give are genuinely the most poorly crafted, vague, and complicated assignments I have ever written. She will throw out dozens of things you have to know and write about from your handwritten notes or memory, and she expects you to craft your essay as mysteriously and poorly as she delivers her lectures. The style of writing she is looking for is nothing like anything you have experienced in the past so feel free to disregard any techniques you once relied on. All you can do is try to distill the information she has spewed in her lectures into a somewhat understandable recollection of historical trends and events, making sure you focus on both "details and the big-picture." You will be asked to write 8-page papers on things like bread or canning. As an experiment, try to think of 10 things you know about bread right now. Hard right? Well, she does not teach you much more than anything you can think about right now, but she still expects you to provide some in-depth coverage of the power of wheat germ with the same fervor that she gives in class. I've ranted enough. You get the idea. If you want to sit through an hour-long discussion about milk without any rhyme or reason to it, feel free to take this class. Your funeral. Here is a breakdown of the syllabu…

This class is ridiculous. Easy, yes. But a really awful lecture. Professor Valenze is very kind. But the way in which she delivers content is sporadic, confusing, and incomplete. I learned more from John Green's Crash Course for Euro History than I have in any of her lectures. Although if you are looking for a crazy easy class to satisfy the intro requirement for the History major, this might be a good call. I just found the lectures frustrating. I echo the comments that find it funny how hard all these freshmen worked for a class so unbelievably easy...they all freaked out about the midterm.

Professor Valenze is very sweet, however I found her class to be quite boring. The first lecture of the semester half the class was asleep. That was just a sign of things to come. The readings were extremely difficult to get through. I put in minimal effort and received a B+. Don't exactly recommend.

An excellent, easy survey class. I would highly recommend it as an easy, interesting A for anyone looking to fulfill their history requirement. The only stipulation is do not take it with Ivano del Prete; he is an adjunct professor who is pretty much impossible to understand due to his thick Italian accent. If you take it with Valenze, you're in good hands; just show up to class and write everything she says (as in don't do the reading except the books for discussion section); then study it the night before and you'll get an A. You have to do the book reading for discussion section though. If you have the misfortune of taking it with Ivano, just do the readings and you should be fine.

There are some classes that are really easy, and then there is this class. If you ever took a European History class on the HS level, you will fly through this course. I'd say this was an easy version of AP Euro. It is pretty entertaining how serious some people took this class considering all the knowledge is so basic. Class is very optional, assuming you have a computer to help you fill in the study guide for the midterm. There were 5, 1 page reviews of readings--which are easy, 1 midterm with a comprehensive study guide so you knew exactly what was on the Essay midterm. And then an in-class essay final that she gave to the whole class before hand. So if you want to get a B+ and put in minimal work, this is a great class.

For a survey class that had to cover hundreds of years of history in one semester, this course did a pretty good job. If you already know a lot about European history, get ready for some repetition—a lot of the information is very basic, as you would expect from a survey course—but there are plenty of interesting anecdotes to keep you entertained. I'd especially recommend this course for anyone looking for an enjoyable, relatively easy way to fulfill the premodern or Euro requirements of the history major—this class definitely will not stress you out. Professor Valenze is very approachable and enthusiastic about the subject matter, and she goes above and beyond to spice up her lectures and keep the workload manageable.