John Hawley

I was super excited about this class. I had purchased all the books and started the reading (based on an old syllabus) over the winter break. Professor Hawley has written and edited some wonderful books on Hinduism. He is a very enthusiastic teacher with a broad knowledge of the subject and an impressively deep knowledge of those areas he specializes in. My guess is he is a wonderful teacher for graduate students and smaller seminar courses where students can ask questions that help keep him on track, however I would NOT RECOMMEND his Hinduism 2000-level lecture where he plays the stereotypical absent minded professor. This can seem endearing and amusing until you realize that every lecture will be a struggle to understand what it is he is trying to get across. Each class starts somewhat on topic however quickly descends into a labyrinth of anecdotes, side stories and tangents that make it difficult to understand what parts are important – even with the aid of the outline he provides for every class it is a challenge. If you take this class use the TAs – the ones we had were knowledgeable and very eager to help students understand. I would have been in trouble without them. I recommend using a laptop for notes and transcribing each lecture – this will be indispensable come exam time for searching for terms. Prior to mid-term and final exams you will be provided with a list of…

I think you have to assume that many of the people who write these reviews are discouraged students airing their discontent about a bad grade or a bad relationship with the professor. This is particularly true in regards to Prof. Hawley, whose knowledge of Hindu lore and many of the relevant languages is never anything but amazing. Hawley is engaging , funny, and a little eccentric, making his lectures always interesting. His honest devotion (in a scholarly way, not necessarily religious) to the concepts he is teaching makes every lecture exciting. Don't listen to those other jackasses -- Hawley could probably give an entire lecture on his experiences in India, his knowledge of Sanskrit, etc, and it would be great.

Overall it's an interesting class. At times there's more of a focus on Indian cultural rather than the religion itself. There is a lot of assigned reading - 100-200 pages a week and you should probably do them because the lecture will not prepare you for the exams or papers. Grading really depends on the TA's, they weren't very lenient this year. Keep in mind that a lot of students taking the class come from Hindu backgrounds and this can discourage you at times but if you do the readings you'll be fine for papers. For the Midterm you're given a list of 60 terms and you're told you'll have to talk about 5 of them on the exam for the first part. The second part will be a random essay topic. Final is similar. If you're just trying to fulfill global core don't take this class.

It is a testament to Hawley's ability to teach that he managed to make thoroughly enjoyable and interesting a lecture class frequently interupted by the most idiotic questions I've ever heard from a class consisting mostly of people who were unable to pick out the blue man with the flute and aura around him as Krishna. A testament to his patience as well. Hawley is clearly excited by the material, even the stuff he is not so familiar with, enough to make each lecture worth attending. These characteristics, even more than his considerable knowledge of all things Hindu, would make it worthwhile to take virtually any class from him.

Be sure you REALLY want to take this class before assuming you're going to like it. I have to be honest, I cannot believe the reviews I'm seeing of this professor. I understand that he's a nice guy, and I got a feeling in lectures that for some bizarre reason people liked him because of his "delightful" attitude, but this is easily one of the worst professors I had at Columbia. I do not understand why he is on the Columbia faculty or why people actually appreciate his teaching methods -- the content of the course may be fine, but his delivery is so poor that I was able to learn it all better on my own with the readings (which were enormous, numerous, and NECESSARY to pass the course). To easily describe what a mess this course is, I can just say that the questions he invents for discussion sections were so vague and had so little material to support their discussion that frequently the TA wouldn't even know how to approach them, let alone stimulate any real dialog on the topic. Hawley talks, and it's a coin toss whether what he's saying will actually make sense as he constantly interrupts himself and fails to clarify what his point is. If you are a Religious Studies major, the class would be worth taking strictly for the readings. If someone told me that Hawley contributed strongly to their knowledge of the subject through his lectures, I would think they were deluded. He hand…

Okay - for all the hype, I don't feel Hawley measured up. The reading was FANTASTIC, albeit very very very time consuming. However, I do feel I learned a lot from the reading. Hawley's lectures were rambling and not very structured. He'd hand you an outline for the day, but he wouldn't really follow it. The trips to the Met and the temples were okay - but the same. He didn't allot enough time to see everything. Okay class - lots of reading - but you'll get something out of it if you do the reading. Warning: Be warned that the type of people that take Hinduism are a bit odd sometimes. People will bring in their feelings and treat this class like a conversion information session, and it can bog down the lectures at times.

Hawley is a very enthusiastic professor who is emotionally invested in his material, which makes him a truly engaging and inspiring teacher. Sometimes he was very vague when describing things and especially when answering questions, but I can't imagine anyone who understands as much as he does about Hinduism and not get tongue-tied as he attempts to explain the countless facets all at once! As for improvements in the course, I would recommend that Hawley try to organize his lectures a bit more. They weren't disorganized, per se, but often he attempted to cover much too much material for one class, meaning that we had the tempting allure of information listed at the end of the handout that sometimes never got covered! This said, this only ever occurred because Hawley refused to cut anything short or do anything injustice. All things considered, I would much rather have a professor cover fewer things in depth than more things in passing. Despite Hawley's prolixity, though, the class always ends on time. I took this course because at first I was looking for a Global Core requirement, but when I saw this course I knew that my choice to take it had nothing to with the fact that it was on any list. At first I was trying to choose between this and another religion class I signed up for, but both were so great that I couldn't drop either! I ended up taking way too many classes, but si…

Professor Hawley is one of my favorite professors. Taking this class would be neither a mistake, nor a waste of your time. Though some of the readings are dense, they are all extremely interesting and and give unique perspectives on the religion. Professor Hawley is also a very humble teacher. He makes you read some of his work, but not because he is full of himself like some other professors. The readings are also not really necessary, but they definitely help to understand the subject more and are often referenced in class and sections. The topic of Hinduism is also inherently interesting, albeit very complex. Not everything about Hinduism is understandable from an outsider's point of view, but Professor Hawley at least attempts to make it understandable. Two thumbs up. My favorite class this year.

This man truly deserves a golden nugget. If you love to learn and experience the supernatural feeling that knowledge can impose on one, then you must take this class. Hawley's love and passion for his field transcends and makes his class one of the best experiences of my life at Columbia. I knew virtually nothing about Hinduism when I first enrolled into the class, and I now come out of it with a grand understanding of this beautiful way of life. Yes, I am an atheist and I will probably never believe that there is a God (or Gods in the case of Hinduism); however, Hawley's class is much more than a religion class: through the understanding that you gain of Hinduism in his class, you gain an immense appreciation for knowledge and the classics. I mind went to a different dimension when, as he compared the beginning to the Hebrew Bible to text of Hinduism, he recited the lines in Hebrew, the original language. This man is a genius, and no one can deny this. His class goes by extremely quickly and Hawley makes you want to attend; you'll never want to miss it and dread the day that you're forced to do so (yes, because force of another kind if the only thing that will keep you away from what this man has to say). These studies in Hinduism complement the core curriculum greatly as they are founded in the studies of ancient texts. Take this course so that you may become the Renaissance…

I loved Prof Hawley's Hinduism class. Hawley himself was a vibrant and exciting lecturer who very clearly knew very well what he was talking about and could answer just about any question. Yes, he goes off on tangents, but they're always relevant, interesting, and fun. The course material was well-structured and well-taught; there were no surprises in terms of essay topics or anything on the exams. This class secured my choice of a religion major.