Columbia College Core · Columbia University
Two map quizes (you memorize a couple maps and she chooses one and quizzes you on it) including both filling in the map and writing a paragraph analysis of 3 key terms. Midterm and final with questions provided beforehand. Not too hard a course but definitely required a lot of time, commitment. and effort. The readings were very heavy.
how to write a history paper in depth, how to handle criticism
midterm (20%) 2 essays (40% each) final(20%) participation (20%)
Prof was very nice and intelligent woman. She knew a lot about Soviet Russia and European communism but once we got to Latin America and the US, she didn't seem to know what she was talking about. She gave pretty good lectures and had great powerpoints. I learned SO MUCH and am very glad I took this course. She is also decently understanding - one time I got an F on a quiz and she let me completely retake it. Mazurek might not be the best professor at Columbia but she definitely isnt bad. Overall, the content was so interesting and important.
I would not recommend this course to people who are not very serious about writing a history thesis--it's an intense, work-heavy process (as is to be expected) and can introduce critique that is difficult to handle. But for those who are intent upon writing about a specific topic, I think it would be a great fit!
Malgy is quite a character. We only had her for half a semester, as our first teacher (Michelle Chun love you miss you), ran out of teaching credits and had to leave. Malgorzata is a very Polish, very communist hard ass with a heart of 50% goal, 50% coal. She started our time with her pretending to be a hard ass, but ended up being super chill. Her final and midterm were purely quotes that we talked about in class, no essay. She's a fairly chill grader on the tests and 2 essays. Her syllabus makes her seem much meaner than she actually is.
Insane amount of reading 1 Midterm 2 Papers 1 Final (same format and length as midterm)
Professor Malgorzata Mazurek's class is structured around passages she pre-selects, that students have to present to the rest of the class. Don't let that fool you! She does give you the option at the beginning of the course to add/change material to the syllabus. However, the professor assumes that you already know what she’s talking about and can be very condescending.