Feng Li

If you're not the kind of student to speak at LEAST 7-8 times per seminar, do NOT take this section!!!!!! Maybe it was because of the people who were in this class, but I have never EVER had a seminar where speaking SO many times in once class was the norm. It was honestly so ridiculous because every single time he asks a question, he would point out someone to speak about it. There was NO moderation of discussions at all which made it difficult for me to discern what was truly relevant to our analysis of the literary works and what was just pure fluff. In sum, seminars were a nightmare because we were encouraged to just fight to get our voices heard to secure a good class participation grade (which honestly is so dumb because quality should 100% be prioritized over quantity – which was not how it was during this seminar). There should definitely have been some curtailment of each person's participation – some older students were so competitive with trying to get their voices heard that it honestly felt like no one was even listening to each other. TLDR if you LOVE class participation then this seminar is for you. If you don't want to get a bad class participation grade for *only* speaking 5 times (which I personally find to be a ridiculous amount for a once-a-week seminar section) instead of 10 times per week, do NOT take this section

he honestly cannot teach a lecture and lots of people I know in this class, including myself came out knowing nothing....

Prof. Feng Li is a brilliant writer, but you would never know it if you attended one of his disorganized babble sessions that were supposed to be lectures. I often wondered if he prepared lecture notes or just went up there and winged it every class. I think my unperfect experience with the course also had to do with the fact that I felt the discussion were horrible. He seemed totally uninterested in the course and were all about asserting his dominance over us. We had 1 lectures with 1 discussion session every week. My discussion sessions consisted of him talking and talking and talking.... I'm telling you... this man LOVED to hear himself talk. He also loved to make people feel uncomfortable. All in all I did manage to learn quite a bit about the subject but I think it was a reuslt of the interesting articles we read and the pictures we saw.

Prof. Li Feng is undoubtedly very professional in the field of Early China, so if you love Chinese history this would be a great course to take, and he is friendly in general too, although sometimes he misunderstood students' questions. If you go to his office hours, make sure you state every single question or request clearly. Prof. Li Feng is sometimes forgetful, so if you've asked him orally for an extension, you'd better also send him an email and save a copy of it. Also, he cares less about questions he do not find interesting or meaningful, so you do not always get useful or efficient answers from his office hours. I would say Prof. Li Feng is a weird guy and while some students find him friendly and supportive other students don't think so at all. I don't think he's a harsh grader personally, but I know someone taking the same course (not the same semester though) didn't receive a fair grade. As for the course, for each week he assigned the readings to a few students and let them make short presentations individually in class; it's not hard and you only have to summarize the reading. This was a 2hr seminar but student presentations usually took up more than an hour. Sometimes there was only 10min left after everybody finished presenting, and he gave brief comments for each of them and that's it. To be honest, if your goal is to learn about Early China and know how he th…

Professor Li is the best professor I've had at Columbia. Even if you're not an EALAC major, take his class for Major Cultures. He is caring, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, everything a good professor should be. His lectures were highly engaging; he brought in personal expereince alongside his encyclopedic knowledge of Chinese history (and I didn't find his accent a challenge). He really cares about his students, and knows how to run a class. Sections were engaging and productive, and readings and papers were helpful and not overwhelming. It's amazing that we covered such a huge amount of information in such an efficient, manageable, and enjoyable way. Highly, highly recommended. Even if you only take a class with him for MC, you will appreciate the calibre of his teaching and the organization and focus of the class.

A class that insults your intelligence. I don't know if all EALAC classes are like this, but I will definitely NOT major in EALAC if this class indicates what to expect ahead. I have never seen these tons of English grammar problems from a professor with an extremely strong accent (When a student speaks, he can't even recognize simple English words like "salt; silver; tribal" I am wondering how he passed the test from the Columbia interview). The lecture and recitations from Feng Li felt like an ongoing song of complaints. This is Japan because of this. Pre-modern China is blabla because of that. And that's it. No resolution. If you want to take this for an A, you might want to look elsewhere because you still have to give somewhat of a hoot to the subject material. I'm a physics major, and this class was hard because of what I had to force feed into my skull. B- is my final grade.

Professor Feng Li is a knowledgeable instructor with a deep understanding of East Asian studies. His lectures often showcase his expertise, especially when delving into historical and cultural contexts, which can be quite enriching for students interested in the field. The course structure includes papers, presentations, and regular postings, providing a variety of ways to engage with the material. However, one area of improvement could be the clarity of expectations for assignments, especially regarding presentations. Some students may feel unsure about the specific criteria for success in this component of the course. Additionally, feedback on assignments tends to come later in the semester, which might make it difficult for students to gauge their performance early on. Overall, this is a rigorous course that requires consistent effort, but students who enjoy detailed historical and cultural analyses may find it rewarding. It’s also worth noting that participating actively in discussions and clarifying expectations with Professor Li can enhance the overall experience.

LECTURES: Professor Li is a great lecturer. His lectures are concise yet thorough. In the beginning of class he writes key terms on the board. Learn these terms and you should be set for the exams. One thing to note about the lecture is that his accent can be hard to understand at times thus sitting in the front of the room is helpful. PAPERS: The first paper is a text-analysis type paper. It's roughly ~5 pages and is worth 10% of your grade. The second paper is a short research paper roughly ~9 pages and is worth 15% of your grade. For both papers, you're given ample time and a list of suggestions of topic. However, bewary: the first paper deadline falls very close to the date of the midterm. Do not procrastinate on the paper or studying for the midterm as having to do both in one day is not fun. Overall the grading of the paper was pretty strict. I worked pretty hard and still ended up with a B. EXAMS: 3 sections on each exam: Multiple choice/fill in the blanks, key term ID (usually the terms written in the beginning of each class), and an essay. The essay is usually a hefty 60% of your grade so do well on this. The Key term ID's are also a good way to get points. The best way to say everything they want is to ask yourself: who, what, when, where, why. I think they liked it when I specifically stated out the significance of the term. PARTICIPATION: Each week there is a recit…

The structure of the course is quite clear. We have courseworks postings each week, of a paragraph or so (no longer than a page), that will discuss specific aspects of the object of the week. You will do this after viewing the first section (“Object”) of each week’s module; only after posting should you move on to do the readings in the second section (“Other Readings”) to see other possible views of it or see it placed in contexts new to you. The materials are quite interesting, so it's not that hard.

This is a wonderful class! As many of the previous posts indicated, there is A LOT of information to learn in this course. Although it is advisable to keep up with the reading, there will definitely be weeks when you're like "f**k this ish" (shout out to my pre-med crew). BUT you should make up for this by attending class and reading your classmates posts before you go to class discussion to at least know what is going on that week. Also, take good notes, it'll save you in the long run!! Good luck :D