Michael Paulson

1 short discussion post every class (~100-300 words) 2 assignments per semester 1 midterm 1 final (but when classes went online he replaced it with a 2nd assignment. so still 2 assignments total)

Paulson was probably the best decision I made in freshman year. I personally thought he was a great lit hum professor—he's light on the lectures, and as previous reviews have correctly pointed out, he's more of a discussion leader. However, while other reviews make this seem to be sort of a negative thing, I can definitively say he's fantastic at questioning and encouraging his students to think more deeply and develop their own thoughts about the texts. Saying this, he's extremely open to different ideas and somehow finds a way to bridge contrasting opinions, which broadened my understanding of the texts. Other than that, he's a very fair grader, quite often brings snacks to class, and our assignments are pretty open, giving way for writing something you actually want to write. Some of our assignments included imitations of different authors, interpreting art pieces in relation to texts, and the typical passage analysis. One thing I really want to emphasize is that he is super understanding and obviously cares about his students. When classes went online he was very lenient with us, especially the international students who were in extremely different time zones. He kept in constant communication with us to check up on our wellbeing, made a point to find ways to make online classes more fun/interactive, and overall made the experience so much easier. Basically, I would 100% r…

1 pretty short discussion post before each class. Standard midterm/final with some small tweaks (for the better) 2 "assignments" which could be essays or creative projects I promise, it's not bad at all.

Michael is AMAZING. 10/10 recommend. If you have the option, take his class. Probably the most understanding professor I've had so far at Columbia. He does a really good job taking the texts we read and finding a way to make them interesting and applicable in today's world. I was rarely ever bored in this class, and the discussions were always eye-opening and entertaining. He understands that not everyone is in love with older texts, so he has discussion posts that he uses really as a framework for class and this really allows the students to have a say in what they do or do not discuss in class. He even omitted a few texts from the first semester so that we'd be able to discuss the ones we kept more in depth. Cannot imagine having anyone more chill than he was. Midterm was not bad at all if you prepared, and final was the same. For essays you'll typically have the option of doing 1 creative project that can be really exciting if you give it your all, and he's there with you every step of the process. Over the semester, our class grew super close and I think Prof. Paulson had a really big role in making that happen. Overall an amazing class and would recommend to anyone and everyone.

Discussion posts for each class (~250 words), two writing assignments per semester (1000-1500 words each), midterm, final

Professor Paulson is SUCH a good professor! I would highly recommend taking his class if you can. He cares a lot about his students and is very accommodating. His classes are sometimes a little boring, but it is definitely worth it. He realizes how tough the syllabus is and took some texts out to be able to really focus on the important ones (he makes his own midterm). The two writing assignments are also flexible--you're able to choose from different options of what you want to do. Having switched into his class for the second semester, I really wish I'd been in it for the whole year.

Short discussion post for each class, 2 essays/projects, standard midterm + final

A very nice and standard LitHum prof—classes sometimes had quite a bit of lecturing + writing on the board (which is good if you like that style of teaching, like I do), and his grading was very fair. Office hours were also really helpful in terms of essay planning + writing. I took him for both semesters of LitHum and thought the midterm (passage IDs + short in-context explanations) for both semesters were very easy if you attended class, because they were almost all quotes that we discussed in depth. Second semester assignments were also fun because we got to do "artistic interpretations" of texts (like a painting or a song) instead of writing essays.

Paulson took out Herodotus and Ovid, and his only requirement was a discussion post before each class (plus the readings of course). Overall a good 6-8 hours a week if you average out the essay time across all the weeks.

Paulson is a solid Lithum teacher, he's easygoing and seems to actually enjoy speaking with students. His section is very light on him actually talking though, he seems to prefer just letting the class talk among itself, which is a plus if you're one of those people who likes the sound of their own voice, and a minus if you want a teacher instead of a discussion leader. He brought food to class and generally has interesting and useful things to say when he actually speaks. He writes very useful class breakdowns/agendas on the board before every class if you like taking notes. Pretty average grader talking to my classmates, not overly easy but also not likely to hit you with a C on your first essay. Would recommend.