Columbia College Core · Columbia University
Midterm, opera concert + project, 3 page essay, final, weekly readings
She's not bad but she's not that good either. Nothing special... If you can find another professor, I recommend you change sections. If you stay in this class just try to talk a lot....
One Musical SIte Esay One Opera Script Adaptation NO Midterm Short Final
TAKE LUCIE VAGNEROVA. You will not regret it. Really sweet professor who is very understanding of her students. VERY fair grader.
Light to Moderate readings every week One Essay One Project One Final
STEM major here: I don't usually take the time to write a review, but seeing how this professor only received raving reviews (and I most certainly did not have an "only pleasant" experience with this professor), I will take it upon myself to present the negatives of her class. (My verdict is you should only take this class if you are somewhat well versed in music, feminism, and/or social problems -- if you are not well-versed in any of these, you will either be (1) a student who talks less in her class (and consequently has a poor participation grade), or (2) a student she regularly ridicules in class -- read on.) THE GOOD: She definitely leads you to look at music and how it is interwoven with culture differently. She asks great questions and pushes you to think differently about the material. I agree with the below reviews on the good part of her class, so read them for a review that shows Lucie under a good light. THE UGLY: Imagine a teacher who gets after the class for not participating more, but then meets students' questions and comments (*PARTICIPATION*) with snark and attitude when they DO participate: this is the enigma that is Lucie Vagnerova. She praises students who offer questions and comments she agrees with, yet humiliates students who offer questions and comments she disagrees with (or thinks are a waste of time), leading to a much quieter class. Even those who…
2 mini-essays, 1 concert essay, 1 (take-home) midterm, 1 final. Readings and listenings before each lecture which shouldn't take more than 30 minutes
Lucie's class was solid. We were given very clear and easily-digestible summaries of every genre and music era that we had to know. Every lecture focused on samples of particular genres, and we were given some short readings and listenings before each class. Because of this, the class was straightforward. There's a pretty level playing field for all students to get good grades in the class, regardless of how much musical experience they had in the past. It might take some outside practice to understand the music terminology at the beginning of the semester, but later on all the same music theory terms are circulated around during discussions. Overall, we learned a lot about motivations behind music characteristics, and discussions that surrounded a particular music genre. We also tied in these music genres to current interpretations (i.e. live performances with Q&As, seminars) that all helped in understanding the material better. The workload was not heavy.
Standard "hum" workload - quizzes and short research projects.