Karen Barkey

Professor Barkey (or Karen as she liked to be called) is absolutely outstanding—in fact, she’s the best professor I had at Columbia. I took her Historical Sociology course a while ago, in 2010. Karen has several unique and remarkable qualities. First, she is brilliant. She is able to explain and analyze ideas and readings in a wonderfully clear way. She talked about her own research in the class, which was highly impressive. And she is able dissect and improve students' writing by providing invaluable feedback. Second, she takes a high personal interest in all of her students, something that is unusual among most Columbia faculty but especially for someone of her status. She sought for all students to be active participants in our course. She even had our class over to her apartment for dinner one night. She is an incredibly supportive and committed professor. Third, her classes appeal to students from a large array of disciplines and are invariably fascinating. This is partly because she assigns excellent readings on interesting topics like religion and fundamentalism, classic works by Foucault, Weber and other great thinkers, and combines theory and history with current events. But it's also because she really works with students so that they select research paper topics most interesting to them. She is really flexible and clearly wants students to learn and enjoy what they'…

I am shocked that Professor Barkey does not have a gold nugget. Her classed "religion and politics" and "political sociology" were huge influences on my decision to concentrate in sociology. Bravo Columbia sociology department for finally hiring an accomplished teacher who is not self-obsessed and arrogant, or dull (as is typical of the Political Science department). If you are someone interested in both theory and current events you should take this class because Karen has a great balance between the two, in both the readings and lectures. Her classes are also small lectures, not seminars, but everyone seemed to participate. She new everyones name and by the end of the semester the whole class was engaged in the discussions. Definitely not a lecture class that you think is empty until the final comes around.

What so I see here? I see a silver nugget. Prof. Barkey does deserve a golden nugget. She is by far the most engaging and compassionate teacher I had last semester. She is an astute intellectual, but doesn’t care to wear it on her sleeve by detaching from her students and casting them to the TA’s. If you would like a professor who prides herself in making one eye contact and who possesses pleasant demeanor and way of speaking, then take a Prof. Barkey class. She is sharp and knows her materials. Though appears to be lecturing off the cuff at times, she has a class outline and presents the material in “fresh-mode with such finesse in her cool and collected manner that she makes it extremely comfortable for a student to sit back, listen and take notes. If you use a laptop, don’t be rude and surf then net or check your FB and Gmail. It’s distracting to others and she will call you out on it. She is very open to discussion and sometimes allows students to run on tangents, but that’s part of the deal with a professor who nurtures limitless borders of inquiry. She admires and respects all of her students and their positions. I will tell you if you are in the minority or way off base, it is not the professor who may recognize your unpopular position, but your fellow classmates who may debate you with intellectual prowess. Her classes do attract the vivacious types of thinkers who do…

Karen Barkey is one of the few truly great teachers in the sociology department. Both her Political and Historical Sociology courses are excellent. She does not deliver brilliant, pre-planned lectures, and often she will pursue tangents related to current events, politics and world affairs, but these are almost always interesting and insightful. More importantly, behind the Turkish accent she is a very serious scholar who really truly cares about her students. Writing papers and doing research in her classes is a great way to explore your interests as she will be supportive of almost any project or interest, but she will always add in her own perspective as a historical sociologist. If you are a sociology, political science, or history major Barkey's courses are must-takes. She is a wonderful professor and teacher, and one of the few professors at Columbia who is always willing to take time for her students and really take the seriously.

I am not a sociology major, but took the class as a filler because KB got such good CULPA reviews. The class itself was kind of a snore, the readings so-so, and the discussions full of the requisite pretentious yakking. That said, I would reccommend taking the class just for the experience of being taught by someone who knows how to teach. So many times you get a brilliant, well-respected person in the front of the room who can impart precious little because they don't know/care how to reach their audience. Prof. Barkey certainly does, and has plenty to teach. She is friendly, down-to-earth, and flexible. I didn't love the class but I am fully ready to join her well-deserved fan club.

Professor Barkey is really wonderful. She is probably one of the most caring, approachable, and animated teachers I've encountered at Columbia. She encourages students to come see her during office hours despite the fact that she's commuting to Amherst for weekends and a very active academic. The class was very interesting, albeit a tad disjointed with the beginning covering classical sociological theory about religion and the second half covering fundamentalism in the Abrahamic religions. The class got pretty heated over some issues (re: Israel-Palestine; relativism), and the professor - for better or for worse - came down strongly and stated her opinion rather emphatically on said points. The class dynamic was a bit strange (sometimes lecture took the entire class, other times one student would dominate and/or derail the entire conversation), but more often than not, dialogue was fruitful and challenging. Tolga, the TA, was also very willing to help and eager to interject in class.

Karen Barkey is hands down the best professor I have ever had. She has the unique qualities of being both extremely intelligent and still humble. She is caring, thoughtful, passionate and will push you to do your best work. The curriculum she designs could not be better. The work load is just the right amount to help you learn a lot without burning you out. Professor Barkey has taught me more in one semester than any other professor at Columbia. She is OUTSTANDING and it would be a waste of your tuition not to take a class from her, whether you are a sociology major or not.

All I have to say is, "What?!?!" Can a professor really be this amazing? KB gets two sociological thumbs up. Maybe I'm just a soc major, but her class is insanely good, even for those interested in history. Fuck that. Even for those interested in living life. She is amazing. I can't stress this enough. Although there is a 10 and a 20 page paper, if you go to class, it's not really difficult. The first class may scare you away, but stay. After about 4 classes she opens up and BAM! She gets ya. Her lectures are captivating, her syllabus is very well structures, the readings are very well-chosen and informative, and hell she even gets her husband (Poli Sci prof. Richard Marx) to teach the class on his book (which is unbelievably good, by the way). All I can say is take this class. And if you go to her office hours...wait. I hate those kids who go to every professor's office hours. I am not one of them. But if you ever visit one professor, VISIT KB. She loves talking to you and it will increase your participation grade like whoa.

The Good: Professor Barkey is perhaps one of the most endearing professors I have ever met. She has the most adorable accent and a great sense of humor. When I would go to her office hours to meet with her she was so matronly and sweet. She is truly a very warm woman and I would love to have coffee with her. In addition, she knows everyone's name by the end of the semester. She is SO GOOD with names and creates such a warm environment in a class with 60 people. She really goes out of her way to know your name and know more about you besides the fact that you're her student. Furthermore, she is a great lecturer who really gets her point across in each lecture about the assigned readings. She knows her stuff and has a lot to say about it. The Bad: Despite how warm Professor Barkey is, she is surprisingly very closed to anyone else's opinion. If anyone says anything that contradicts what she was saying, she will harp on them to an unnecessary degree that left one girl crying at the end of her class. Nevertheless, she hides it behind a smile and a sweet accent that I think a lot of people do not catch how antagonistic she can truly be. I took this class solely because Professor Barkey was a gold nugget and it turned out to be a bust. However, if you like sociology, I'm sure you'll find her course interesting. I just found her lectures too one-sided and I really feel like I just le…

Topics in Religion and Politics is a new class that Karen Berkey introduced to the department this year. Barkey is a fantastic teacher. She is passionate about her lessons, and she wants to hear what the students have to say. Most classes begin as lectures and then evolve into class discussions, with a clear demonstration of whether or not you have done the reading, however she does highlight the important parts of the readings at the beginning of each class. She expects a lot from her students- definitely a lot of reading, but because the material is interesting, almost everyone does it for the sake of the conversations. She is willing to talk to you at office her office hours, as well as via email correspondence. She is genuinely interested in what the students have to say, and this class definitely fosters a positive student-teacher relationship, which is great for sociology majors because she is the head of the undergrad sociology department. I would recommend this class to anyone who is interested in political theory, religion, or an engaging class with a fantastic teacher.