Kathleen Knight

This was one of the best seminars I've taken at Columbia. The first class I think turned some people off since it was very general material, but the rest of the classes actually had really interesting readings. She normally would have a student do a short presentation on one reading and lead for the rest of class and offer interesting insights in both areas. The class, which focused on the intersection between the media and politics dealt with a lot of current issues such as how social media effects campaigns. I highly recommend it!

Professor Knight's class is extremely interesting. She really cares about every student and presents the information in a very clear manner. At the beginning, she makes it clear that the if you are doing the required reading (very manageable, about 40 pages a night for the first half and then almost none the second half) and listening in lectures, you will know what is required for the course. The only complaints people had in this course were generally from those who did not attend lectures and were not able to do well purely off their last-minute studying. Yes, sometimes the lectures could be more engaging, but she actually definitely made an effort to make it more interesting. She had a great TA and both would often include examples, videos, and other multimedia to try and make it less dry. Overall, definitely a good course. People who came to most lectures did pretty well at the end.

If you can stay awake in this class, wow. The class is a joke, and she's an easy grader, but be warned, it is boring as ever. Knight is very nice, though, if that counts for anything...

While there were many in the class who probably walked away wondering what the hell they just did this semester, I thoroughly enjoyed the class. I also did the reading when it seemed unrequired. There were some very different opinions amongst the students in the class about topics which sometimes dominated the discussion. Professor Knight was bothered, obviously, by this. Each student was required to make one formal presentation on a topic relating to women which took up practically the entire months of October and November - but were interesting, but I would have rather talked more about the reading.

Very light, the reading isn't bad and normally she'll suggest what to focus on. You need to teach one class and then write a 20-25 page paper.

This was one of the least intellectually stimulating classes I’ve taken at Columbia. Class consists of Professor Knight reading off of PowerPoint slides containing definitions and “theories taken directly from the texts. (Her propensity for mispronouncing names and vocabulary from her own notes and the news is shocking.) Toward the end of the semester, she frequently played commercials and news clips, which helped keep the attention of the small percentage of people who were still attending class. The midterm and final were very easy (think high school multiple choice/true false/short answer style tests) and basically required you to regurgitate definitions and models from the PowerPoints/readings. I was able to pull off A’s on the papers and exams with little to no effort, but the “easy A doesn’t make up for the boredom and frustration inspired by this class. The media should be an interesting and engaging topic, but Professor Knight manages to reduce it to a list of key terms and a few chapters from a textbook. (I should point out though that some of the books are good reads on their own terms.)

paper proposal. 20 pg paper. random certification thing (takes 2 seconds and you'll pass). participation.

Overall not a bad class. I learned something about women in politics and didn't have to kill myself to get a good grade. Class discussions could be very interesting but also in need of a balancing voice to counter the "women-are-all-powerful-and-better-than- men" vibe that reared its head at times. As far as workload, readings could be skimmed or skipped. I read only what I found interesting and did fine. No need to buy any of the books for the class; all are on reserve and used once or twice. That said, I learned a lot from my own research topic and two presentations. Knight is very loose with assignment topics, so anything with a woman in it is fair game.

THIS IS THE WORST CLASS YOU COULD EVER TAKE AT COLUMBIA. -She is boring. -The classes are based on a set of PowerPoints, lifted from the course texts, from which she basically reads verbatim. -She spews buzz words and makes assumptions with 0 backup for what she (a.k.a. the authors of the text she shamelessly paraphrases) think. -The coursework is founded in memorizing the (not even famous or notable) texts' theories cover to cover and then regurgitating them for them midterm and final that will screw over your grade big time if you aren't good at differentiating minutae in multiple choice and T/F. The ONLY redeeming quality is the freedom she gives you in the essays. This class is a total waste of your time and your credits. Don't even bother, even if it's your favorite subject in the world.

She definitely knows a lot about the topic and is up to date with all the latest materials written about women and politics. she has interesting readings assigned for discussion each week and most of them are very current. However, you hardly have to do any of the reading for the class to be able to participate in the discussion and get a good grade. Everyone has 2 5-10 minute presentations summarizing a chapter from 2 different readings throughout the semester so you learn a lot regardless. The class is mainly discussion and most barnard students are lively and smart participants so the class is very engaging and the period goes by fast. Knight does a good job directing discussion but most of the class will depend on the other students and not her teaching ability.