Madeleine Dobie

She's so nice! And very engaging. Class is 50% lecture 50% class discussion, she dumbs down all the readings which is very helpful, never cold calls or anything. The nicest.

CLFRGU4000 Wanted to learn more about theory, so I took this class. It is probably best to take this if you can commit a lot of time to the reading so you can get the most out of it. We went over so many different authors (usually there were three per class), so taking the time to read it helps a lot. Unfortunately I was not always able to do this, so I think it made me get less out of the course. Slides help guide the discussion. Prof Dobie is quite good at elucidating the different ideas and encourages you to make connections between different thinkers. She will support you and encourage you to come to office hours. I wish that we had gone over a bit less material just so we could have gone more in-depth or simply more slowly. But this is a great sampler.

While I think Professor Dobie is a very intelligent professor, this was by far the most boring class I've ever taken at Columbia. The readings were entirely too long (think 100-200 pages of reading a week), and most of the time while I was reading them I was wondering how they would ever possibly be relevant to my studies. It only focuses on the Mediterranean, fyi. Besides the reading, the workload is light, three responses, one big (12-15 page) paper. No exams. Take it if you care passionately about the Mediterranean for some reason. Skip it otherwise.

Professor Dobie was the first French teacher I had at Columbia and from what I have come to understand since then, she is very reflective of the entire department. She is very French and if you don’t quite know what that means, it might be later than sooner that you find out. She’s nice, but more like polite than warmhearted. She’s knowledgeable, but will not exhibit any visible passion for the subject material. She’s easy going, as in she tolerates blatantly bad accents and she’s flexible about dates and assignments. Overall, she’s blasé (...does one add an E in English?) about the class and life in general. She was often late to class yet had that easiness about her attitude and even wardrobe that is just. so. French. The class on the other hand, at least for me, was fascinating. Professor Dobie mainly lectures, so if you’re looking to brush up your speaking and grammar, go elsewhere. It’s basically a history class. Simple as that. You must be able to understand French perfectly and write fast, because she talks for 74 of the 75 minutes. She’s not particularly engaging, but the texts are still worthwhile. Another word of advice: this class deals primarily with France and political, historical and social developments therein. The follow-up course (Francophone Studies Part II) is ENTIRELY about French colonies (read: AFRICA). They do not have to be taken subsequently but it’s…

This is a rewarding course to take if you're looking to satisfy half the Major Cultures requirement or to get some credits for Comparative Literature and Society. That it falls under List A (meaning it works for Major Cultures but has no pre-requisites and can be taken in addition to ANY other List A course) is another definite plus. Professor Dobie is an excellent, rather hard-core professor. Her TA this year was very nice and graded quite fairly. (Professor Dobie grades your exams and one of your essays, and the TA grades your other essay. At least that's how it was this year.) The material is interesting, the syllabus is meticulously assembled (or so it appeared), and the lectures are informative (although sometimes scattered and rarely linear). My only complaint is that the material was not always presented chronologically, since the course dealt with so many regions and histories. You'll probably find "Islam and Europe" interesting if you like postcolonial studies. Other topics covered in depth are Spanish history (Andalusia/Al-Andalus), Islam (although Professor Dobie doesn't go in depth into doctrine), the Crusades, and immigration issues in modern Europe. You read very interesting material. I recommend this class especially to people interested in literature, since you'll learn a wealth of surprising information about Arabic and Islamic influences on canonical "Western…

Mme. Dobie is an incredibly knowledgeable person with regard to this topic. She has strong opinions and lets you know when she doesn't agree with your interpretations. She is very soft spoken and although she tries to stimulate class discussion, it can get a bit like a monologue sometimes. Still, everything she has to say is interesting and fascinating. She grades fairly. Your French must be good in order to take this class because of all the higher level reading and paper writing.

Prof. Dobie is an incredibly intelligent and resourceful professor. However she lacks personal charme which is reflected in her lecture style..The class is interesting and taught entirely in French. I took it as a preparation for Reid Hall in Paris and it was a great combination of subject and language study. If you have any interest in cultures this is definitely a good course to take as it looks at many interesting theories and all in French. But i wouldnt say it was THE CLASS to take..an A is possible but only if your French is up to it..

The course is taught mostly in French with some English. A midterm paper (4pp or something like that) and a final paper (7-14pp), both written in French. Participation. 2 in-class presentations. A small glossary of 20 terms, handed in with the final. Tons of reading if you are taking many other courses (not the case if you are a grad student, probably). I did as much reading as I could and usually spent about 4h a week on that. The grading is fair; nobody got 100% on any assignment, but at the same time, Prof Dobie is not harsh and is forgiving. She will encourage you to meet with her to discuss before and after your midterm, for example, so you will feel supported.

Pros: Madeleine Dobie will look after you: she takes OH seriously, and schedules appointments without any humming and hawing. She gives solid advice to those who enquire before writing a paper, and follows up afterwards with every student, by default She is extremely well-read in all aspects this particular course, does not limit herself to literature (and includes history, political science, social philosophy, etc. etc.), and shows none of the wishy-washy naiveté of the typical CCLS scholar. You will learn the subject inside out, from two centuries of immigration, to post-colonialism, to youth culture, to the riots of 2005. Madeleine will let your research just about anything you want, within or without her areas of expertise: she grades on the argument, use of material from class in testing assumptions, and, it seems, thoroughness and originality. Her opinions are strong, but her prejudice is not. You will be taking this class in French. This is not a negative, in that Madeleine will not mark you off on your papers for misemployment of the language, as long as your argument is intelligible. This is a plus in that she will mark every error she can find and explain to you how you can improve your writing. Madeleine Dobie is the director of undergraduate studies in the French and Romance Philology department (on leave now, but generally this is so) and has some significant ties…

Madame Dobie is a reserved lecturer, but has an enormous amount of knowledge. She is a no nonsense type, but her witty British side does shine through at times. She refuses to bullshit and she refuses to listen to bullshit, which is a welcome change from many French professors. You will learn a lot in this class, and you will find that you know it cold. It's refreshing, really.