Nara Milanich

This class was boring tbh and she did not have great time management. We missed out on a few readings because she kept bleeding over into each class with the previous class's content which was a bit annoying because it felt like they did not need to be that long. Grading is done by the TA and she was a little harsh in my opinion.

She is very on top of everything and knows exactly how to lead the class. She'll start off in the beginning of the semester saying that the class will probably undergo twists and turns throughout the semester, but she knows how to navigate all these changes well. Each class itself was about asylum and the historical context to migration from latin america to the U.S. And on the side we'd have our assignments about transcription, which was kind of tedious and difficult but it helped to have other students to work with and then an entire, overall goal. There were some communication problems in my class towards the end and things got slightly messy but we pulled through with professor Milanich's help.

She is wonderful. This is a heavily discussion-based class but she will not force you to participate. I learned a lot from this course. It flies through LATAM history to present day which I really liked.

A great overview of contemporary Latin American history. Special attention to South America (good or bad, depending on your perspective), but Milanich also makes an effort to delve into some more obscure topics that are generally overshadowed by Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Milanich is very intelligent and thorough--though sometimes comically wordy (you get a lot of "errrrm....illustrative of the countervailing vicissitudes..errmm..". That bothered a lot of folks). She emphasizes social history, so you pay a lot of attention to slavery and gender.

I thoroughly enjoyed this seminar. It was one of the best I've taken at Columbia: great material, engaging discussion, no final paper. Professor Milanich was very good at facilitating group discussion and leading us through the excellent reading lists. From talking to other people who have taken her classes, it seems that her strong suit is not a lecture (as reflected in other reviews). It is the seminar setting is where she really shines and I would highly recommend talking any seminar she teaches.

A fantastic class. Professor Milanich is excellent at facilitating discussions in the seminar. The class covers family history from many different angles, including social, anthro, religious, cultural, and legal history in many different time periods and places. Readings consist of lots of articles available in a course packet- which makes the reading more interesting. She is very available outside of class to talk and discuss papers. The class is definitely a breath of fresh air for a history major looking for different and creative approaches to historiography. I have no idea what her lecture style is like, but I would definitely recommend taking a seminar with her.

I'm really surprised Nara doesn't have a gold nugget yet. My experience with her this semester was fantastic - Women and Gender in Latin American History is meant to be an advanced history course with a lot of discussion. She does a great job of making sure that while we are reading a lot of difficult material, we understand what is being written about and are able to interpret it and make connections in our own way. She balances lecturing (to provide broader historical context and explain the readings) and discussion (she provides leading questions and we answer them with our own interpretations of the readings) very well. The readings are manageable as long as you are proactive about them. She reserves the right to quiz us on the material -- once a week, she will write a prompt on the board and we have a few minutes to respond to it. They are generally very easy and even if you don't interpret the prompt exactly as you think she wanted you to, the TAs are pretty lenient with grading these as long as you show original thought and understanding of the reading. She is more than generous with assessments. Though she seems to get mixed reviews on grading, preparing for the exams is not too difficult. As long as you do the readings and attend class, the midterm and final are a breeze. She gives you five possible essay questions a week before the exam and you can prepare your respo…

We did a self-evaluation thing about us and our peers in our group at the end of the semester. The grading is not clear at all -- its one of those classes lol. You just have to put in the work because she def knows and your group def knows how much work you put in. Ended with an A- just doing what I was supposed to but I think if I went above and beyond I prob couldve scored an A.

Personally, I thought the class was fantastic. The reading was interesting, the discussion was an actual discussion, and Prof. Milanich was obviously very knowledgable and passionate about the material. I think I learned a lot from the class, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in Latin America. Though the class is set up to be a lecture, it is mostly a seminar. There were a couple classes where Prof. Milanich lectured (she's a very articulate lecturer), but the vast majority of classes were discussion-based. Grading was pretty fair, I actually thought it was generous despite what the other reviewer said. I also thought that Prof. Milanich was really approachable and helpful during office hours.

I wanted to write a review for this professor given that she does not yet have a silver nugget. Honestly, I wish we had Professor Milanich teaching at Columbia College. She is professional, poised, and pointed in lecture. I am not even a History major, but this class was my favorite course last semester. Prof. Milanich was always prepared to teach and made Latin American history relevant and fascinating for all, even notifying us of pertinent campus lectures throughout the term. I came into her class expecting to just fulfill a Global Core, but I left with a new idea for interdepartmental research. Do yourself a favor, and take this class.