Eduardo Vergara Torres

standard midterm and final (mostly covers passages discussed in class), essays, and some group projects Eduardo is a very understanding person, so he is flexible with deadlines and responsive to student feedback.

We had unit exams for every chapter, but only a couple of them were traditional tests; many of the exams were group presentations and we weren't penalized for reading off slides or a script. I think he was a fair grader and gave okay feedback. I skimmed the textbook pages and would do summaries of the chapter info and was fine.

Eduardo's class was one of my favorites at Columbia. His unique outlook of the texts made centuries old books seem fresh and relevant to our everyday lives. More importantly, he provided space for me and my classmates to bond by encouraging us to share our background, perspectives, and ideas with each other. I strongly recommend taking this course if you want to actually engage with the most pressing questions of every man like "what's a life worth living?".

Profesor Eduardo is a great Spanish teacher. He is very supportive and understanding, and has a sense of humor, which I think is important in a language teacher. He's from Chile, but is intentional about speaking slower for the class lol. I felt he had a good balance of focus between speaking and writing skills, and didn't rely on the textbook too much which was sad for my wallet but definitely made for a more flexible, responsive experience in class.

Normal LitHum workload (midterm, final, essays) and he is very understanding! I got an A+ by bringing myself fully to the table every discussion and nothing more.

Definitely take Eduardo if you want to change your Columbia experience. He is an amazing teacher! He is an incredibly kind, intelligent soul and talks about books that in a way fundamentally altered the way I think about and view the world. Take his class if you want a space and dialogue in which you can engage with the texts most worth studying—the ones that ultimately ask about the purpose and meaning of our lives!

Workload is very light, just the books, a midterm, and a final. There may be some essays scattered through your semester depending on how he's feeling about your class. Grades are a bit unpredictable in my experience, but if you can decipher and stick to the analysis he wants from you, it's not hard at all to get an A.

Professor Torres is a lovely and interesting person, but not really who you want for a 6-8 lit hum. He usually comes to class with a set of talking points and nothing else, and the two hours consists of his explanation of those points in volume; you are as a student encouraged to speak up, although he has a tendency to sporadically consider your views invalid for no apparent reason. His discussions are interesting, but the cadence of his speech and his penchant to ramble make it extremely difficult to stay awake in his class. All things said, take him if you want a light Lit Hum, share his arbitrary views on literary analysis and don't mind being bored out of your skull sometimes.