Gregory Mann

so....he's fine. Very nice, knows what he's talking about but the class is super dry, incredibly bland, and underwhelming in most aspects. Theres a few papers, midterm and final, recitation once a week and you won't know shit for any of them because you haven't paid attention all semester. Good thing he loves curving. I legit made up bullshit historical facts on my final because i had no idea what to write about. Like just straight up lied about history so that I could put down something for the essay. Had failed the midterm, guaranteed failed the final and did fine on the paper and got like a B- or something just to fill the global core req. If you want to learn don't take this, if you want to get by and fulfill a req this is your go to. Don't be afraid midway through when you don't know shit and feel like you're failing, you'll be fine come post finals.

Avoid. Professor Mann put very little effort or energy into this course. The students were responsible for running every two hour seminar by discussing the readings and leading a class discussion, which was a big portion of your grade.There was very little or no context for the readings, so the discussions often felt painful with half the class tuning out. Overall, this was a missed opportunity as the subject matter is fascinating and I would have welcomed more work if it would have given me a better understanding. Professor Mann could have done a lot more.

Avoid. Interesting subject matter, rest – not as serious. Mann is soft-spoken, confined to his opinion and a pretty mundane lecturer altogether. Discussion never passed name-dropping. It was a very mediocre experience. The lectures were awkward and slow. I wish I could have engaged with the topic more, as African History is truly fascinating and important to know about; especially in Columbia's narrow West-centric universe. I would recommend getting the syllabus and read some of the literature instead.

I heavily disagree with the previous review, because Professor Mann is confusing and disorganized. There is no outline in his lectures, so he wanders and meanders around important points. The lecture is littered with unnecessary details, making it convoluted and hard to decipher. Additionally, Professor Mann never makes his position clear on major topics, like slavery and colonialism, so views are not challenged. Instead, he weasels around those issues and becomes very politically correct at times. He neither condemns, endorses nor truly presents the white man's burden, just takes a safe alternative to discussing it. The discussions, on the other hand, are very informative and interesting if you are assigned a good TA.

Professor Mann is an entertaining and very knowledgeable professor. He is young, hip and has a nice reparte with the class. The structure of the class is kind of loose. We read articles and then have discuss them. He rarely straight out lectures, which is good for people who find that teaching style boring and not so great for people who want to hammer down the issues and the facts. He is not a very easy grader on papers but not unfair either. He takes the class to see a movie and eat Ethiopian food which is cool. He is approachable for the most part. The only thing that is a bummer about the class is the longer paper we have to write. Otherwise I like him and definately take his section over Felicity's.

Please see above. I wish different Columbia historians had been brought in each week to tell us about their work and their own historical fields. this would have been far more useful. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2022 Course: HISTGR8910_001_2022_3-HistoricalMethodandCraft : HISTGR8910_001_2022_3 - Historical Method and Craft Instructor: Charly Coleman

Professor Mann is very knowledgeable about francophone Africa and very knowledgeable of French history. The texts we read in "Africa & France" were intellectually challenging. We read Sartre and Senghor, listened to Sekou Toure's speeches, read Conklin about the French mission civilisatrice etc. Professor Mann was approachable and easy to contact, he was interested in his students' ideas and class discussions were enriching. He is usually a quiet speaker (complete silence is needed to listen to him), but sometimes he also gets carried away in class discussion! I strongly recommend this class to those who are interested in the intersection of French and African history, French colonialism, 20th century Africa and intellectual history of the first half of the 20th century.

This class is essentially an upper level survey course and like all survey courses it is inherently muddled and broad. Prof. Mann only contributes to the confusion with his meandering lectures and inability to effectively touch on (ironically) the “main currents in African history.” That’s not to say the class is completely uninteresting, at many points I found myself feeling like I was learning things that would be valuable outside the class for many years to come. That being said, the nitpicky grading and all over the place lecture style made those moments more difficult to treasure. This is one of those classes where you think you’ve nailed the exams but when you get them back you have a “what the f*#?!” moment as you stare at your blue book. Overall, this class is definitely not terrible but it’s certainly not great. If you were looking to find a class to meet the breadth requirements of the history major I would look elsewhere. If you were looking to learn in depth about African history I would look elsewhere. If you absolutely HAVE to take this class for some reason plan on spending way more time on it than you think you have to and you MAY do all right. This class is a GPA buster of the most annoying kind, one where the prof. asks the students to be perfect but falls far from being perfect himself.

Simple and short...he is amazing and so is the course. Prof Mann is extremely knowledgeable and interesting. The lectures are intense, and he goes off on a tangent sometimes when he really wants to get into it. This course is definitely recommended!

Mann is good. Not great, but good. You'll learn a fair amount about West, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe in this class. Addtionally, you should pick up some of themes in the present debate over the political and economic direction Africa should take. Mann is a sarcastic, occasionally too much so, but overall he's a nice guy and fair teacher. Overall, an fun, informative way to fufill Major Cultures List A