Nancy Workman

Professor Workman is clearly very knowledgable and excited about the topics, and you will at least leave each class with a basic understanding of what happened in a section of your reading. She is not very engaging, each class feels less like a discussion and more like a Q&A. You could not do the readings every day and it wouldn't make a difference(until the midterm comes around). She is always willing to provide clarification on an idea or help with writing, which is very nice.

Nancy Workman is my current academic advisor. She is the most condescending woman I've ever spoken to. I've only had three meetings with her because every time I meet with her, I leave feeling completely depleted and dejected. She twists every single one of my questions into something negative, even when that was NEVER my intent. When I ask if x option is possible, she glares at me and says, "um, how would that work?" in the most condescending tone ever. Unfortunately, Professor Workman, I do not know how that would work. Which is why I am sitting here against my will asking *you*, my academic advisor. I genuinely have fear in my soul when I wait in the zoom lobby. Also, I don't think she's ever been on time for a scheduled meeting. I want to change advisors, but I would have to bring up to her that I want to switch my advisor... and I refuse to face the wrath of Professor Workman like that. I've actually heard good things about her courses, but as for my experience with her as an advisor, it has been pretty terrible.

I feel very lucky to have had a Professor who is so knowledgeable about and inspired by these ancient works. I feel like I really understood not only the words of the book but the actual words of the author. Having a professor who understands the Greek and Latin, and even the Hebrew to some extent, has been incredibly valuable in understanding the differences between analyzing the translation of a work and the work itself. I feel that without that aspect of this course that I would have been missing something incredibly important. Professor Workman creates a very engaged space where you really have a great opportunity for meaningful conversation that never fumbles about in summary but always cuts straight to the heart of the matter.

She is a great person and really does try and knows her stuff but at times there is a bit of a communication issue. Her class discussion sessions were more like "guess what i am thinking now" rather than lets talk about this issue from different perspectives. When you guess wrong, trust me you will know. lol. Maybe she was just nervous because around the end she became much more relaxed. She is a hard grader I must admit but she is fair. I just never felt that we got to really talk about the books because there was always an "answer" she was looking for.

Do not take this professor. She degrades anyone who she doesn't agree with and she sets obscene amounts of work. She's a very harsh grader too. There's absolutely no reason to take her unless you hate yourself.

Out of the professors I've had at Columbia so far, Nancy Workman has been by far the best. She's old school, for sure—she expects you to do the readings, assigns (short and ungraded) writing assignments for every class, and will make you work hard for an A. But if you came to Columbia to learn and grow as a person, she's the prof for you. She has been reading and teaching the Lit Hum syllabus for 25+ years, and it shows. Her class made me think about books from the Iliad to Crime and Punishment in entirely new ways, prepared me well for the rest of the classes I've taken here so far, and helped me clarify what I want out of this school. Some small nuggests of advice: - Go to her office hours and talk about the readings, not just about grades! You'll do better on the essays, and she's super funny and warm. - Talk in class, even if feels like you don't have anything super profound to say. - Do as much of the readings as you can. It's a ton, but the more of it you actually read, the better you'll do. Don't listen to the haters, this woman deserves Culpa gold. If you put in the work, you won't regret this class!

I'm a broken man. I dropped my grandfather's ashes in the toilet by accident in high school because I was at a wake and got paranoid that people knew about the gram in the other pocket. My mother is addicted to opioids and my father preaches a religion he doesn't believe in. My younger sister is interested in pursuing a career as an "exotic dancer" (read:stripper). I've lied, cheated, and stole. I've taken sacrament and cursed the lord in the same day. I wrote my own admissions letter because our school didn't have an advisor. Hell, I had to calculate my own damn GPA, and you best believe there was some padding in that mix. But I can tell you one honest thing in a lifetime of regret: Take this woman's class. You will never regret it, especially after realizing that she is literally Edna Mode from The Incredibles. If you were to come to Columbia for a professor, Nancy Workman is that type of professor. She has taught Lit Hum for 18 years, and has an exhaustive knowledge of in-run translation for a significant number of the texts. Incredibly approachable, with office hours open during her advising dean days. Many Lit Hum professors send their students to the writing center - Nancy Workman IS a one-woman writing writing center. She bleeds passion for the course as a professor in the slavic department, and doesn't need to establish a rep as some scandalously low-curve hardo to sho…

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. She is an extremely harsh grader and gives way too much work. It is impossible to do well in class unless you agree with everything she says. She will make you feel bad about your contributions to the class if you do not agree with what she says and frequently tries to embarrass students who don't give the answer you are looking for. Save yourself and don't take this Lithum professor. My whole class switched out the second semester... that should tell you something.

Before starting Lit Hum, I read the reviews about Nancy and saw that she was a silver nugget professor so I definitely had high hopes for a great experience. However, I was thoroughly disappointed with the outcome. This is the type of class where your performance is solely based on if the professor likes you or not. Professor Workman is knowledgeable, but she also only wants to hear what she wants to hear. In class discussions, her expressions and her opinions are written clearly on her face and she will make it explicitly clear by her facial expressions if she likes what you are saying or not. She cuts off students and also puts down students' comments or thoughts. It's pretty discouraging, especially as your first introduction to the Core. She has a set opinion on the texts and only wants to hear what SHE deems is important or interesting. Thus, the environment of the class was usually stifling and tense - students are always trying to one up each other and say something better than the previous person. In terms of class load, if you want to be able to spend time on your major courses or more important courses, than do not take this class as you have to turn in a 1-2 page response for EVERY CLASS. You're allowed 5 skips on the responses but it's not that helpful; you basically can't skip readings so you have to read everything. Her grading on the essays and midterms are also…

I have so many things to say about Nancy that I don't even know where to start, but first off, I'd like to encourage anyone who is put in her class to STAY IN IT. Even though the workload is heavier than most other LitHum classes, it all pays off, and Nancy herself is well worth the effort. Professor Workman not only knows every single text on the syllabus back to front, but actually makes even the most dull of them totally fascinating. She sheds so much light on every text that you have to end up with some kind of appreciation for them. By the end of the year, you'll probably realize that you've even come to develop some kind of fondness for the Iliad. She's also hilarious-- she can make the class laugh, whether with a personal anecdote or a snarky remark, at 9 a.m. Considering the frugal amounts of sleep you get at Columbia, this is a miracle. She is extremely thorough and supportive. Though tough, she DOES read and DOES care about every single daily assignment that you turn in. She'll sometimes write whole paragraphs of her own thoughts or questions on your response. Always take the time to meet with her about your term papers-- the meeting are informative and instructive, and I've often found that I come out with an entirely new topic or idea that I'm actually excited to write about. At the end of each semester, she hosts a review session at her apartment, which is not onl…