James Basker

Writing in response to the previous reviews... though I can't speak to their experiences, I found him to be one of the kindest professors I've encountered over 4 years. He cares deeply about the field (archival work on black lives) and makes class engaging but still fun. Most importantly he's just really sweet and understanding

I'm convinced all of Professor Basker's good reviews are the result of his albeit impressive education (which he will not let you forget) and overall leniency in grading and participation. What is supposed to be a junior seminar for English majors is really just a weekly lecture of why certain writers are are interesting and intelligent - a glorified bookclub, really. I cannot name one class period where any critical reading or even historical analysis took place. Class time was spent summarizing the 500+ page novels assigned each week and asking our impressions of the text (which he cut off once we said we enjoyed it). Professor Basker seemed to have little to no time to spend on this class outside of scheduled hours. In order to email him you must go through his very nice assistant, and weekly homework was a waste of time with ridiculously short word counts of 100-150 words max. Despite his research on antebellum and slave writing, he was still quite out of touch and once gave an assignment asking students to describe their impressions of slavery as a white woman in the 17th century IN THE FIRST PERSON. The final asked us to speak of 3 works worth of an entire PHD thesis together in the same 750 words (which again, he would not read more of). Professor Basker is intelligent, but frankly not interested in doing much more than sending you a reading list, which need not be comp…

Absolutely brilliant man. So intelligent and his assignments are designed to test creative boundaries; he does not assign yet more dry, expository essays. He is incredibly enthusiastic, invested in his students, and kindhearted. Should unquestionably have a gold nugget. He facilitates discussion well, is a dynamic lecturer, and gets so excited about everything that has to do with Samuel Johnson and the men and women who surround him. I learned more from this class and remember more than any other simply because of Basker's attention to important, relevant material and engaging class discussion. TAKE HIM, you won't be sorry!!

James Basker obviously loves 18th century literature. His sincere excitement is addictive. He's brilliant, but also very approachable. He was a Rhodes scholar back in the day, and is still working in some capacity for Oxford, I think. Be ready to speak up in class-- discussion isn't always a big part of the lesson, but he'll be disappointed and you'll feel guilty if he does ask for impressions or questions and everyone stares at their desks. This is a teacher you'll want to make happy.

What I really enjoyed about Professor Basker's class was that he was genuinely enthusiastic about everything he taught. Though I must admit, 17th and 18th century literature is not quite my choice area of study (frankly, I find it rather dull), just listening to him lecture about it made me want to enjoy what I'd read, or maybe wish I could've enjoyed reading it more (since usually about 90% of the reading went over my head). Professor Basker really succeeded in exposing why these works are so great and why they should be and have continued to be read -- and I guess I can't ask for much more than that from a compulsory major requirement I really wasn't that keen on taking to begin with.

literally i think he works here just so he can fight students who he thinks arent as smart as him and feel good about himself

This truly is a great course. Upon first look, it may seem that 18th century literature would be a dry subject and perhaps it would be with a different professor, but with Professor Basker, who is impassioned and excited about this subject, the class is anything but dry. He is obviously very well-learned on this subject and it is obvious that he loves what he is teaching. He is very approachable and even requires that you meet with him at least once during the semester. I would definitely recommend this course, and probably any other course taught by him.

For undergrads, one optional paper and ID and essay midterm and final, plus little assignments like finding a poem by a woman author that you enjoy.

This dude is pretentious and didactic, constantly waxing poetic about things he thinks are interesting but that everyone in the class is bored by. He's just kind of frustrating to talk to -- takes words out of your mouth, becomes really combative if you even deign to question the "genius" of the authors. Likes to name drop going to Oxford and Harvard every class. If you like those types of professors, you'll like this guy. But the class made me want to bang my head against the wall. Only good thing is that it is relatively easy.

Professor Basker is one of the nicest professors I have encountered. Like other reviewers have mentioned, his passion for and knowledge of the Age of Johnson are obvious, and he wants every student to share his enthusiasm. In terms of the readings, I thought Basker did a nice job dividing the syllabus between Johnson/Boswell and other writings of the time. But, because they're from the 18th century, the readings could be convoluted and boring--I rarely felt like I understood them much on my own, which is why I was glad that Basker was there to illuminate the important and interesting ideas within. If anything, I wish he had framed the class as more of a lecture rather than trying to get the class to interact. Even if people did the reading, it seemed I was not alone in my troubles with interpretation. All in all, though, a pretty painless way to fulfill the English major pre-1900 requirement.