John Pemberton

Pemberton is a gem. He is so passionate and so kind, a witty and quirky professor. While some of his comments are out of touch, he genuinely always means the best. Text Magic Performance is a difficult class to get into, with waitlists of around 130 people for a 15-person class. He is very selective, will interview you if he does not know you previously, and will try to build a diverse cohort for the class. But it ends up being the best environment. Relating to content, he will go over many examples of magic, especially in Asia and Oceania, and you will watch films and read interesting books. Sometimes hard to follow, but always interesting. He will bring props.

As a required anthropology class, I did not expect much going into it. I had heard some bad reviews of the professor because of his being very "traditional" and technology-free, which translates into the classic old cranky professor. However, this class was nothing of that sort (but he makes the first two lectures kinda scary to scare people away, promise if you stick through you will love him). If you make an effort and get there a few minutes early, he is really interested in getting to know you, and once he recognizes your face and where you sit, you are set for the class. He is a brilliant, interesting person, and his lectures are the best I have ever sat through. He is my favorite professor at Columbia, and I continue to rave about him to anyone who will listen. He changed my whole perspective on anthropology and even academia.

I also took intro to social cultural theory so I am just going to comment on Professor Pemberton generally. He is so kind and easy to talk to. At times it was difficult for me to keep track of what he was talking about but he tends to repeat himself to emphasize the key points he wants you to focus on. He genuinely cares for his students and is great in office hours. Even if you don't care for anthropology or need a rec letter from him, just go to office hours even if you have nothing particular in mind to talk about and he will start chatting away. He's truly a gem! If you're willing to put in the work the class will be very enjoyable:)

Pemberton is great. Subtle, but great. This is one of those seminars where you'll get out of it what you put in. It is a pleasure to write essays for this class, as topics range from mass-mediation, to ghosts in machines, technology and culture, and the internet. You will find a unique mix of discussion on culture, the history of technology, and the implications of technology on one's subjectivity. The most important lesson coming out of this (and other Pemberton seminars) is that you will learn to reassess your tools of representation and interpretation. He is a gem of the anthro department.

A wonderful person; a disaster of a seminar. Pemberton, who clearly knows more about Indonesia (and the "who's who" of its study in the US) than anyone else you'll probably meet here, was not able to distill this into a managable, one- semester seminar for undergraduates, most of whom had no background in either anthro OR Asian studies (this class counted towards Major Cultures). Much, much too ambitious, leading to more confusion and dismay than anything else, although the novels (two) covered led to more productive (and valuable) class sessions. You might want to try one of his other classes.

I went in for help formulating an idea for my final paper and he told me that at this point in my college career, I should already know the answer to the question I am asking. (first semester junior undergrad). I do not care what he thinks I should know, as a professor, he needs to help me where I lack. "Hmm... how can I help you while expending as little energy on my part" was said twice. He then started asking me about the readings (again, I went in there for help with a paper and had a focus on other readings I wanted to use) and when he asked me questions that I couldn't answer, he told me I was lazy, he couldn't feel sorry for me. He then gave me MORE assignments (that no other student had to do) and said that if I was able to complete this I maybe could get a C in the class. Also said in his office while I was asking for help: "Are you like this in all of your classes" "Like what?" "Like this... never mind, I can easily tell you are" The material in the class is very interesting. The readings were great, but that office experience outshone any positive experience I've had in the class. I complained to another student and she reported a similar feeling of disappointment in his office. She asked him to define a word and he told her she probably needed to take some english classes, which especially stung because she was an ESL student.

I found this class to be very interesting. It took me a while to adjust to the lecture as Prof. Pemberton has somewhat of a softer voice and I found myself straining to hear him, even in the front row, at times. His voice also tends to trail off at the end of sentences. By the second half of the semester I was use to this and no longer found it as difficult to follow. I was a bit disenchanted at the beginning because I found it difficult to follow exactly what the broader connection was, between the various readings, until the second half of the class. Once everything began to blur together and the broader concepts emerged, I was completely in love with the lectures and readings. The lectures are somewhat repetitive but in a good way as he does a great job of really cementing in the key points and themes. The reading was altogether challenging. The first half, although less in volume, seemed to me to be a bit more heady and complex and somewhat more technical in ways with excerpts from Saussure's writings on linguistics, Marx's Commodity, Freud's Uncanny, Mauss' The Gift, and readings from Durkheim and Boas. I had a hard time connecting these readings at first and this made it somewhat tedious to get through them at times. The second half we read one book per week. Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, Claude Lévi-Strauss' Tristise Tropiques, Weber's The Protestant Ethic and Spiri…

Some key terms regarding sound as well as some very cool listening/aural projects.

prof. pemberton is THE best professor i have ever had. we started reading freud's the uncanny and now we are talking about the current recording technology. if you want to think - if you love to think - take this class. you will not be dissappointed.

Professor Pemberton is brilliant. I came into this class undeclared, and came out an Anthropology Major. One of the great things about this class was Pemberton's focus on including people from all walks of life; He loved hearing the opinions of the theatre majors, dance majors, music majors, philosophy majors, language majors, etc. Because of this, I felt like my presence was needed in the class, as I was adding a unique perspective that only I could bring. The reading can get a bit heavy at times, but as long as you skim all the readings (reading as many of them as you can closely) and bring in hard copies to class you should be able to participate in class discussions just fine. That being said, the majority of the readings are fascinating and probably unlike anything you've ever read for other classes before. Pemberton can get a bit disorganized, and loves to talk in long, rambling sentences that make it impossible to take notes, but you really don't need many notes. As there is no Midterm and only a final paper, there is no need for regurgitation of information. There are also short, one page, single spaced response papers you also turn in from time to time, that aren't graded but rather discussed in class. This was a great way to see if you actually understood the material and the readings, without the pressure of a letter grade. Pemberton weaves the curriculum with his f…