First Year Writing @Barnard · Columbia University
One short close reading assignment, one 3-4 page close reading analysis paper, one 3-4 page paper critiquing an author, one 5-6 age research paper. We watched Frozen as homework. Really chill, doable class. Professor Usher is super available and helpful if you ever find yourself in need of guidance for writing. Her critiques are also very beneficial.
Prof. Usher is really friendly, sweet, and helpful! I didn't go to her office hours a lot, but when I did, I left feeling supported and confident-ish. Highly recommend this class for your arts and humanities requirement. I'll be very honest, the readings at the start of the semester weren't the most riveting, but things picked up after the midterm and the readings + viewings (and one podcast) were very interesting. I know Prof. Usher is teaching another elective Spring 2026 which I wanted to take but can't—if you have the opportunity to take a class with her, you should! I don't consume true crime media/literature regularly but the themes and questions we discussed over the course of the semester will def stay with me.
Reading fairytales every week, in depth class discussions. Three essays, and required to meet with a writing fellow (they're so nice though!) Her grading is very fair, and since FYW is pass/fail, make sure to attend as many classes as you can, since it is based on attendance. Having no grades really took the pressure off of me to make the "perfect paper," and I think I've definitely grown at least a little bit over the course's time.
the readings were short, and we only had about one per week, which was so so nice. The essays all had multiple due dates and drafts which made them a lot less daunting and stressful. Also, professor usher is really understanding about extensions and personal issues.
Content is very interesting, mostly discussing women's portrayal and roles in different fairytales. Some fairytales were pretty gruesome. All the readings are short. Professor Usher is the nicest, most caring professor ever. Really good at encouraging discussion and creating space for every single person to voice their opinions. The class is lowkey therapeutic.
Essay 1: 20% Midterm: 20% Essay 2: 25% Final exam: 25% Preparation and Participation: 10%. We got one extra credit opportunity to increase our lowest letter grade out of the exams, midterm, and final (A- and below). Prof. Usher's exams are open book- you have access to the Oxford English Dictionary + all your notes and the slides (uploaded to Courseworks). On top of this, she shares the essay topics for the exam a week before and spends a portion of the lecture before the exam discussing exactly what she expects from you on the exam.
Great class!! I wasn't sure what I was expecting going into this, as "Feminist Fairytales" sounds like the quintessential "Barnard" class. The course was great though, we spent a lot of time reading different takes on classical fairytales and analyzing them through a feminist, postcolonial lens. Professor Usher is so kind and understanding, she makes sure to get to know everyone personally and asks a check-in question at the start of every class to get people to bond and facilitate better discussion. She also makes plenty of office hours available to work around your schedule, and is always more than happy to grant an extension as long as you communicate with her. Although she can be a bit scattered sometimes, but it isn't severe to the point where it interferes with the course content. I really loved all of the stories that we read in class, if anything.
Loved this class and professor usher. she created such a welcoming environment for everyone and really pushed every single person to participate in the discussion (as long as they're comfortable), which I definitely needed. The readings were so interesting, and the discussions were normally pretty alive. I would totally recommend this course as a barnard first year. She is so chill and facilitates a really amazing class. Highlight was watching the WAP music video.
We'd get readings we had to do before class, but they were relatively short, and then we would spend the majority of class having an open discussion. We had 3 essays. We had a week to submit a rough draft, then we'd have a meeting with her, and then have about a week or two to submit our final draft. I'd say we got like 2-3 other short assignments throughout the semester. Long story short, the workload is fairly light and very manageable! And the readings are super cool and interesting, so it isn't hard to do either :)
2 essays takehome which were super chill, 1 midterm, 1 final, very chill workload