Jennifer Rhodes

Not much work. Obviously you should be reading the texts (takes a couple hours a week), but in terms of testing Jenny favors projects a lot more than standard forms of examination, which I think makes the class easier. There is a standard final exam though.

I read a book I hadn't read before. I also learned how to give feedback more effectively.

Jenny doesn't give quizzes. She gives 3 (i think?) essays, a midterm, and a final. Also, one time during the semester you'll be asked to prepare a 2 minute presentation introducing one of the books. Totally manageable.

Jenny is legitimately one of the greatest professors at Columbia. She's incredible. The best.She is so passionate, so engaging, and makes class so much fun. If you get her for Lit Hum, you should rejoice. She teaches the standard Lit Hum curriculum in terms of material, but without the busy work or constant quizzes/testing of other professors. Class is generally composed of a combination of whole class discussions, brief small group discussion/work, and sometimes activities. While it's a two hour class, it has felt so much shorter than many of my 75 minute lectures. Even though this class doesn't have arduous/busy work, I still felt that I learned so much about the texts we covered. Discussions are fun, low stress, but also packed with valuable information.

How to apply theoretical foundations learned at Columbia to my practical skills.

Jenny is THE BEST LitHum teacher. I know that there's already an absurd waiting list to get her class in the spring and it's not a surprise… This past semester Jenny was pregnant and had her baby sometime in October/November, so we had a substitute for a few weeks. However, the class was so pleasantly surprised and astonished with the level of commitment Jenny maintained during the process. She taught class up until a few days before she had her baby, and continued to grade our papers the whole time. She even came back only a week or two after to be there for her favorite book, Lysistrata. She also came back for the review session and final, and was prepared to answer our emails the whole time. Also she NEVER got moody from the whole thing which I think women usually do and was almost on some sort of baby high and was super happy all the time… although I think that is just her personality. Jenny is so NICE and passionate about what she does, and makes the class a lot of fun. She's not too strict, but doesn't slack off at all either, and is overall very fair. You won't have a guaranteed A, as is the case with all Lithum sections, but if you put in the work an A is definitely attainable. JENNY SHOULD BE A GOLD!

In this course, we were given the space to think deeply and independently about a text of our choosing (either from the core curriculum or an adjacent/self-selected text of equivalent level). We were then given a format to break the text down into sections and suggested prompts and questions to use as inspiration to examine the text in comparison with our work outside of the classroom (internships, jobs, volunteer work, etc.). I loved the guided format, which gave me ideas for approaching deeper study of other future texts. Since all the students work with different books, but we're all in conversation with each other on the discussion boards, so it also introduced me to themes and ideas from new and different works that I've yet to read myself.

You will forgert about this class if you're not careful. It is an easy A, but I still find it usesless. I only had to take it because I am an international student who needs it in order to resume internship.

Professor Rhodes is a very patient educator who takes the time to thoughtfully discuss academic questions with her students.

It's a wonderful option for someone looking for a creative and independent way to delve into a text. I love the mix of flexibility and loose structure that helped keep me on track, while never feeling restrictive or overwhelming. I also loved that we were encouraged to be creative and experimental in our weekly responses since they were graded on a completion basis. This gave us space to play and try new things without worrying about the grades, and felt like a great contrast to some of the more stricter requirements of my other classes.