Neguin Yavari

SHE IS THE WORST PROFESSOR I HAVE EVER TAKEN. Even though I liked her in the beginning (and I had her for 2 semesters), she is extremely fickle and disorganized. Plus I feel she plays favorites in class. The latter was very annoying because as soon as you opened your mouth in her class, she would say, "no" before she had even heard what you had said. She would then point out her lackeys who would jusst regurgitate what she said. I strongly believe that atleast 6 students are in therapy because of her (who deserved solid As but ended up getting A minuses after having read every single word on the syllabus and completing all the assignments). She plays mind games with her students as in praising some to the sky while insulting and degrading others. Sensitive students (or ones who have a tiny bit of self respect) should stay away from her and her classes. I think the biggest problem was her personality which affected her teaching style and got in the way of the class discourse (which by the way is completely chaotic). If you do not repeat what she wants you to repeat in the exam and on the paper, you have NO chance of getting an A in her class. At the end I have learnt nothing from this class and am bewildered and frustrated as to why I wasted time and money on this course.

If you think she's scatterbrained you're just not keeping up. The woman takes this lack-directional course and sets clear focus throughout the semester. If you think her digressions into Iran are spurradic and disorienting, it's because you don't quite get the leaps she's making in her head. It took me a while to get it, but when I finally did I realized what she was giving us was the tools to take these texts appart and analyze them in a way which I've never been able to before. She demands very much and won't slow down if you don't deliver. Sometimes she baits questions and seems to be holding you on a 4-inch intelectual leash, but she'll give you a methodology, which is key.

if you're looking for an interesting, engaging major cultures class, DO NOT take yavari's class. although it was her friendly face and approachablity that made me register, my excitement soon turned into frustration as i spent hours each night reading and trying to find my way through poorly written, terribly organized, and often blindingly boring books. everyone in the class was lost in a sea of obscure details and characters with names i still don't know how to pronounce. yavari would say "oh, dont' worry, it's the themes that count"--but i read every damn word on that syllabus and somehow earned a D on the final. when i tried to discuss the grade with her over the summer, she mailed me my blue book. it had a bold D on the cover and a total of 2 vague comments to support it. in another email she suggested i hadn't worked hard enough, although all my friends were shocked at how much effort i was putting into this list a major cultures class. she allows you to rewrite your papers, but when I rewrote an A-/B+ paper, I recieved the EXACT same grade as the first. it was a total waste. her lectures are often irrelevant, always disorganzed, and she constantly whines about her lack of tenure. in the end i wasted $200 on bad books and took a blow to my gpa.

Hands down the cheeziest lectures ever! The lectures are her time under the spotlight. She loves the attention, and uses the high to poke fun at dead horses. Orientalists are the enemy, views of Islam are stereotypical. Cliches, slogans make up for her shallow analysis. Her jokes were funny 20 years ago. Anti-feminist-feminist and all kinds of gender-bending exercises. Probably into leather, loves to chastise students--apologies to all other leather friends. Avoid if you want to learn, avoid if you got nothing else to take.

I HATED this class! Prof. Yavari never seemed to have a clear goal for the class, and consequently her lectures tended to be drift to whatever was on her mind that day. Friends who had her for two classes told me that the lectures were often the same. Is she an intelligent professor? By all means. Did she prepare for class? Doubtful. What did I learn about the Qu'ran from her? I'm still trying to figure that out.

you will either love this woman or you'll hate her, and sometimes that will flip-flop. For reading, she assigns the whole book, then picks a few pages to discuss during class, basically ensuring that no one will be able to participate in the discussion. If you wanted to discuss the literature, you'll be annoyed. However, if you want to hear her talk about how the particular views of this author tie into religion, current events, political theory, and just about everything, you'll be in for a treat. Just listening to her talk will improve your critical thinking skills. Except every now and then she'll remind herself that this is a seminar, and then yell at the class for not talking. She'll also make references to jumping out the window when you don't know historical facts (like 'who was the ambassador to iraq in '92 who told the iraqi government that the US wouldnt bother them?'). It's basically all about Yavari ... by second semester everyone will be discussing her life before class, trying to figure her out (it wont happen). I said earlier that you'll love her or you'll hate her ... actually, you'll love yavari but you'll hate the class, and it's a toss-up as to which is more important and relevant to your education.

I agree with the previous review that you will love the woman, but hate the class. I'll admit there were days when I absolutely loved the class, and then there were days when I felt completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work (much of which comes at late notice and is not listed on the syllabus) and my lack of comprehension.Yavari is truly inspiring. I left class each day feeling energized and excited, having understood maybe one or two of her twenty or so significant points she made about religious authority--eventually becoming capable of relating the concepts to each other and understanding the "bigger picture". For the first month, it appeared that the class had no idea what she was talking about, but we eventually got it. She is very personable and takes an interest in her students, but at the same time I was absolutely terrified of her for most of the semester. She's obviously a brilliant woman and knows how to impart her wisdom. what truly annoyed me about the class, however, seemed to be her insensitivity to the fact that her students were taking other classes as well as hers. For example, she would constantly tell us there was not a single week's reading over 100 pages (very untrue) and that we should really do it all because it was so little in comparison to our other classes (not true, I had more reading for this class than for LitHum and CC). I wold have rat…

She's very intelliegent and doesn't waste time trying to sum up Islam as this or that. It's what makes her class so interesting and almost too intellectually challenging--her resistance to an easy answer. Her knowledge is broad and deep. Her lectures can be unorganized, but you do learn a lot from them. Her TAs were the absolute pits my semester, and made attending recitation a chore, as they didn't know the material even a little. I recommend the class though, for it's tough-minded and rigorous. approach to a subject steeped in cant and misrepresentation.

I LOVED Professor Yavari. Even though her lectures could be a bit confusing to follow, her teaching style (loud) inevitably engages the student in the discussion. That means two things: do the readings (even though there are a lot of readings) and SHOW UP. She takes attendance. The perspective from which the class approaches the scripture and the history really encourages you to read critically and is not at all the "traditional" way of looking at the Qur'an (not really sure what I mean by that, but you get the point). She is a bit of a tough grader, more so as the semester progresses, and the final paper was definitely a challenge. But if you are interested in the subject and want a seminar that will keep you awake for the full 1h50 (a rare feat these days), take this class.

I had her both semesters, and my opinion falls somewhere in the middle of the extremely good and extremely bad opinions previously expressed. I disagree with the last review, I thought she was MUCH MUCH better the second semester. The first semester she always drifted conversation to the topic of Afghanistan or Israel vs. Palestine. This semester much less so. And the sidetracking that did happen was more varied and relevant. First semester return of papers was super-slow, second semester it was very quick and expedient. First semester the class discussions had me sometimes falling asleep, sometimes wishing I was elsewhere, second semester some classes had me actively involved and interested. Some of her questions are VERY detailed, more than we can pick up in the short time we have to do the reading, but if you talk in class as best you can you can prove that you do the readings. First semester I thought that she hated me, because she seemed very harsh and unwelcoming. Second semester she became much more outwardly caring and encouraging with regard to my grade. Her grading was consistent over the terms, very tough, sometimes without good explanation, but you can always go to her office hours. Though it is true that she is easily distracted by the phone. And yes, sometimes if you correct it as she asked for the grade does not improve, but sometimes it does if only half a grad…