Mason Gentzler

Professor Gentzler is great. Loved his class. I don't know why he doesn't have a gold nugget. He is so sweet. his TA Chirs is very helpful too. There's a lot of readings but as long as you do enough to produce a response paper every week, you'll be fine. Go to the discussion section, it's really helpful.

Gentzler is one of the more fantastic professors I have had. He is one of the cutest old men you could ask for, likely in his early eighties right now. Yet he is as sharp as a very sharp stick. You will wish he were your grandfather. During class, Gentzler lectures for much of the time, but some students asked questions and he responds to them in a very poignant manner, that I really don't know how to describe. He says things in a very serious manner that turn out to be 'jokes' (things that just seem funny to him) and then all of the sudden he will shriek out a loud "HAH!" and slap the table with his hand. The first time he did this, it took the class completely by shock, because he seems so harmless yet can make such a piercing laugh, almost a clarion call to arise from zoning out. By the end of the semester, we had all gotten pretty used to it, and I still treasure that laugh. It was the greatest. It was the type of thing where I can imagine someone saying something egregiously politically incorrect, pausing for a bit, with everyone around very uncomfortable, and then just cracking out a "HAH!" that would make everything all better. This all was the most unique part of the class along with his crazy stories and quotes. I started writing them all down because they were so wild, so I share some of the gems here: ------------ Gentzler told a story about how he was talking with…

I'm sorry, but this class was just kind of a bust. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Professor Gentzler- he's good-natured, loves to engage with students both in and out of class, and really does know everything about the subject matter. So if you're interested in the subject matter, then take the class. It is possible to get a lot out of it. But to give you an idea of my class, I think the main problem is that most of the students were, like me, just taking the class for global core credit. There were 30 people registered for my section, and about 13 wold show up regularly for class. Of the 13, 4 genuinely engaged, and the other 9 would be on their laptops, sleeping, or doing homework for another class. There's a lot of reading, but after the second week, I only did the little reading that was necessary to complete the papers. But this meant that by the time the final rolled around, the whole class shared an "I'm screwed" chuckle. It really wasn't bad though. I would highly recommend meeting with Professor Gentzler about the papers outside of class- if you listen to his suggestions and do what he says, you'll do well.

He was a very good professor, and I agree with a lot of the positive things written below about him. I'm really writing this review because of the reviewer who claimed that he's semi -senile. He's most definitely not senile in any way, shape or form. I'm not sure why he/she wrote that - he is old, but very very smart. Excellent memory too. Gentzler is not the most organized lecturer, but that makes sense, because he's not teaching some engineering class. His lectures are based on what he finds interesting, and he makes the things he find interesting interesting and accessible to the class, as long as you're smart and pay attention

This was a so-so class where people clearly weren't interested in the material, but Gentzler could only do so much about that. I liked Gentzler in the way that I like old, not-quite-senile men who aren't completely out of touch, but definitely in their own generation. He tried to make ours a discussion class, but it was a lecture. He commanded the material well, and drew comparisons between ancient philosophy and modern encounters. I'd only take the class if you want to get a survey of things like Confucianism and Legalism (and he has an adorable laugh), or for Core credit.

This professor is amazing. He is engaging, dynamic and smart, and there is nothing he does not know. His lectures are filled with wonderful anecdotes and you learn so much. He grades all the responses and papers himself, and always has really helpful comments. TAKE THIS CLASS.

Very, very nice man. The lectures themselves made me sleepy, but it's the material itself that was boring, not his teaching style. You have to keep up with the massive amount of reading, though, because come final time, you will regret having slacked off. Other than that and the standard weekly responses, not a hard class. The final was not that hard, and I did not even study that much. If you have done most of the reading, you should do fine.

Prof. Gentzler is a great professor and an extremely nice person. He made us fudge and brought a multitude of other treats on the day of the final! He obviously knows his stuff and, as the first reviewer said, is full of annecdotes. He goes off on a tangent sometimes, but usually about something quite interesting or comical. He is very approachable and gets every assignment back in a very timely manner and with lots of feedback.

Gentzler is a comical, funny, full of anecdotes, and a very understanding prof. His classes tend to turn more into lectures, but rather dynamic lectures. His knowledge of Asia is impressive, and he always has a great story to tell about something he has seen or someone he has met in asia. I am not a EALAC major, and chose this class for major cultures requirement, but i really enjoyed it! Bring a drink, snack to class, and you will easily enjoy attending. An easy/painless/enjoyable way to fulfill your requirement. He is very understanding about scheduling, and is very approachable outside of class. Bonus: Talk to him about Maseratis, he loves them for some odd reason.

weekly response paper, two 6-8 page essay, 1 blue book final (with 20 IDs and 4 essays).