Michael Schoch

Not too bad - not crucial to do the readings for class and homework assignments are usually geared towards the big assignments in class like major essays so it's in your best interest to do them (i.e. finding sources or writing drafts). Not a lot of busy work and definitely less work compared to other UW sections from what I've heard.

Best, most kind professor ever. Sign up for his class like your life depends on it. He assigns pretty interesting readings (lowkey optional but if you do them, you'll get something out of them). He gives you useful feedback for the most part and is very kind + encouraging + helps you build off of your ideas during conferences. I hated the UW curriculum but Prof. Schoch made it infinitely better. He is also very relaxed and nice compared to what I've heard about other UW professors, so I would entirely recommend.

I don't count my hours bruh, but definitely a bit - it's not heavy in that the homework isn't a must-do but you definitely should if you can -- helpful for the class overall. He's a great, very reasonable grader - the boundaries are a bit harsh but you'll walk away happy, because it's very justified and kind.

When God created this world, first he did not say, "Let there be light." Indeed, verily, he said "Let there be Mike," For Professor Mike is light. He is light to us all. Light, in the sense, that he illuminates our knowledge and makes us think better, but also light because he is really just a ball of sunshine. The greatest of all time. An absolute GOAT. Like, if you search up a legend on Google you should see a photo of him standing in class. Super understanding, but very well explained with a good range of readings. He really promotes class discussion and dialogue, his structure is really methodic - you get a week-by-week rundown of homework. You don't really need to take notes because you all work on a shared document. Feedback, office hours, everything was near-perfect honestly. The content was interesting, and I think highly relevant given the challenges of climate change today. Some select quotes from my friends: "I think he's like Jesus" - Unnamed Turkish friend "If you put a stone his class, it would walk out writing essays" - Me (everyone thought this was funny" "Not only an average essay, one that you wouldn't even dream of in your wildest imaginations" - Unnamed Catalan-German friend Shoutout to the UW Class '23 Fall Prof Mike Schoch from 1:10 PM. You guys were the Gs.

The workload was overall the same as any other UW course. 4 essays; 1 was a close reading of an article, one was an analysis of a larger conversation between two or more articles, one was a formal research paper, and the final paper was a short op-ed. UW generally is very little work, until there is a draft due. Then, it becomes a shit ton of work. I pulled multiple all nighters for this course (partly my procrastination, partly Columbia being a shit ton of work.) but that is just the nature of a class with lots of papers. In terms of hourly commitment, it was about 2 hrs/week MAX for general homework, and then during weeks with major drafts due it could become as much as 10-20 hrs/week.

I had Professor Mike for Climate Humanities UW, and he is hands down one of the best professors I have EVER had. Seriously, this man deserves to be a full time professor or something. He is one of the most understanding professors I have ever had, yet he stills runs such a well organized class, and motivates us to get things done. His edits for papers are some of the best I have ever received from a professor/teacher; they not only helped with small scale line edit things, like structuring sentences and word choices etc, but they also addressed larger issues withy writing in really insightful ways. Meeting with him always gave me so much clarity on my assignments, and his way of helping me develop my own ideas without just telling me what to write like other teachers was a game changer for this course. Not only did I find success in UW in terms of grades, but I genuinely feel like I got something out of this class. As someone who has always been a decent writer since high school, to be honest I didn't expect to get something out of a mandatory intro writing course meant to catch everyone up to an acceptable writing level for Columbia... I am very happy to say, because of Mike's ability to meet the needs of varying skill levels in this class, I was able to still get something out of my writing at the same time as my peers who had different goals and different strengths/weakness…

Professor Schoch assigned short writing or reading exercises to be completed for each class. Though helpful in the development of my writing skills, they were graded for completion. The grading distribution for the four landmark essays followed the rules of the Core Curriculum. His grading was completely reasonable, and his comments on drafts were incredibly helpful in developing my final draft. I spent only a few hours each week on assignment in a regular week but a bit more for Essays 1-4.

Professor Michael Schoch was a fantastic instructor. In the fall semester, fellow students and friends warned me of the terror that is University Writing. They warned me that it would be full of pointless assignments, unhelpful writing exercises, and unnecessary stress. In Professor Schoch's class, the opposite was true. I never felt that he assigned assignments that were not directly related to the progression of my essays and my growth as a writer. His comments on drafts of essays and our discussions in one-on-one conferences was immensely helpful in developing a clear and effective piece of writing that I could be proud of. My wish is that everyone who takes University Writing as a required course in the Core Curriculum has the opportunity of taking it with Professor Schoch.