Peter De Menocal

This class has definitely changed for the better since the reviews about the class being a heavy anchor, etc., were posted. There are no longer iClickers, and as far as I can tell he doesn't even take attendance. He did say in the beginning of the year that he gave extra points for participation, but considering he didn't seem to be taking attendance or attempting to get to know our names, I'm assuming that was only happening if he actually knew who you were and registered your attempts to participate by answering questions, throwing out comments/questions, etc. I did make an effort to introduce myself to him and I participated in class regularly, so I may have received some participation points, but the people in back who spoke rarely and whose names he didn't know probably never did. There is also no longer a final project. At first he said there would be a short, modified version of the project, but then he tacitly nixed it altogether. Our grades were based entirely on our five highest graded homework assignments (out of six, but we only actually did five because we ran out of time at the end of the semester and he gave us all 100% for the last one), the two tests during the semester, and the final. But despite the improvements, be warned that this class is indeed not something to blow off. It's not that the workload is heavy, but that it has to be taken very seriously. He…

I took this course hoping to fulfill the science requirement with as little pain as possible. I wasn't dissapointed. As another reviewer noted, Peter is very organized and lays out his grading expectations clearly. Sure, he grades on a curve, but it's nothing unreasonable. Because you know exactly how he grades, you can pull off an A without doing any of the readings as long as you make you sure have the basic concepts down and attend his lectures. Also, if you are confused about the "sciency" part of his lectures go to Louisa's office hours instead of trying to figure out the equations/concepts on your own. She is an amazing TA and actually does a better job explaining the science than Peter. As for the class itself, the topics (Global Warming, Ozone Damage, El Nino) are really interesting, even for a humanities type like me. I wasn't going to do the reading but I ended up doing them anyway because I wanted to learn the material for myself. HIghly recommended.

This class is awesome and I would recommend it to anybody. The material isn't hard as long as you go to class and Professor De Menocal is one of the best professors I have had at Columbia in the science department. If you have any trouble whatsoever with the material he has office hours after class for at least a couple of hours and his TA is also available on other days of the week.

I am writing this after just taking the final so I still haven't gotten my final grade but what I have to say is irrelevant of the grade I get which will be somewhere between an A and a B. What makes a professor good? Does grading you in accordance with his very specific requirements count? I think it should. deMenocal tells you exactly what he wants for every assignment and and he grades you on fulfilling those requirements. This class is good for those, like me who do not have a mind for math although deMenocal does throw a couple of equations in. I took this class thinking that it was more of a policy class that got away with an approval to fulfill the science requirement however by the third week that perception was quashed -- at one point I felt that there was way too much science but it is doable and he gives you two parts of the equations on the tests so all you have to do is remember how it works and plug in the right numbers. Overall you do not have to do a lot of scientific concept application. It is more memory based and he tests you on EXACTLY what he teaches you. For several reasons, this class is NOT an easy A if easy A for you means a class where you barely have to come to class or put effort into your work and score an A: 1. The glass is graded on a scale: deMenocal likes a perfect curve where there are a certain number of As, Bs and Cs 2. He takes off 5-10% pe…

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. If you are looking for a manageable class that satisfies a science requirement for the core then don’t take this pointless and horrible class. Take Oceanography instead, which is much more interesting and manageable. I got a decent grade from this class but that still wasn’t worth the mental agony that I was put through by taking it. My advisor said that Climate and Society used to be more manageable in the past but deMenecol has now made it a very heavy anchor for anyone’s student schedule. Let me explain the horror I went through. The key points why you should avoid this very far from enjoyable class: -There is homework every single week that usually has nothing to do with anything we learned in class. You will find yourself figuring it out on your own and when you get downgraded on your homework there will be no explanation why. -Professor deMenocal may seem very nice and affable on the exterior until you ask him questions after class. There were instances where he flat out told my friends (in not so many words) that he is too busy to work with the student and to figure it out for themselves. The teaching assistants never answered emails and their office hours were only held on Friday so making your way to school on an off day only to learn that for the most part the TAs don’t really have any clue can only give a student the abyssal feeling of hopele…

Prof DeMenocal is a good guy and he teaches a solid course. If you actually go to class, you will pass. If you study, you will get an A. It is not hard. It is informative though, and even though it is a Weather for Windbags course, you learn some genuinely interesting stuff. DeMenocal is really, really interested in teaching the material, and he wants you to get it, so feel free to ask him questions during class The course website is http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/edu/ dees/V1003/ I mean, honestly, the material itself is not exactly the most rivetting stuff possible, but it's a science requirement, so who cares. This probably your best option. And you'll learn something.

Do not take Climate and Society unless you are SURE that you are EXTREMELY interested in the materials covered on the syllabus. I signed up with a vague interest in the material, and ended up hating lectures and not learning much at all. Though deMenocal is clearly a very brilliant and knowledgeable guy who is enthusiastic himself about the topics, his lectures are actually pretty dull and not particularly engaging. In addition, he basically forces you to spend money to buy an iClicker so he can take attendence, which is a huge annoyance since few took it seriously to answer the multiple choice presentation questions. In addition, this is simply not an easy way to fulfill the science requirement if that is what you are looking for.

This is why you come to an institution like Columbia--the depth of information and caliber of guest lecturers in this course were truly amazing. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the scope of the course is ambitious, however I felt that it met the goals quite well. By the end of the semester, you not only understand environmental issues from various perspectives, but have gained the facilities to act (part of the course involves learning to build informative websites). The class is taught in three modules: Ozone Depletion, El Nino, and Global Warming. Each module follows the same pattern: understanding the science of the issue, examining the history of the issue and related research, and analyzing the policy aspect of the issue. Each module features one or two guest lecturers who are experts in the respective field. While the guests are a nice bonus, Professor deMenocal alone makes the class worthwhile. He is passionate about the subject and has an enjoyable, often entertaining, style that makes dense material easy to digest. He is very approachable, answers all questions without making anyone feel foolish, and will gladly stay on a topic until everyone feels confident. He is also extremely organized (I urge you to check out the course website) which makes lectures (all of which are listed in Power Point in advance) easy to follow. Do understand, there is a lot of information…

I say with complete confidence that this was among the worst classes I've taken at Columbia. To say that the material is not 'riveting' is a gross understatement. Many people did not attend lecture, and most who did came only to get a few clicks on their iClicker to make their attendance count - a lot of people couldn't even bear to bother with notes and didn't even bring notebooks to class, instead just playing games on cellphones. But all this would be okay, especially if you're taking it to fulfill the science requirement like I was. However, BE AWARE that this is NOT AN EASILY GRADED CLASS, nor is the workload a total joke. That pointless final webposter project was beyond tedious and a complete waste of time and effort - not to go overboard with the superlatives, but once again, worst project I've ever been assigned so far at Columbia, and I'm a senior. Basically - I highly recommend NOT TAKING THIS CLASS. It has been a huge pain in the ass; it seems deceptively easy, but every other science class I've taken has been less difficult in terms of workload and especially grading. Just don't do it.

This is a strange course. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it was vauge, sometimes it was overdetailed, sometimes (especially during the policy sessions) it was kind of obvious. This class tries to teach non science people how to look at the three modern problems scientifically, global warming, el nino, ozone depletion, and show how policy responded. its an innovative idea. does it work? kind of? prof demenocal is a really well-intentioned person, and not hard t understand on the surface, but he teaches in a way that it is difficult to udnerstand the science he is describing. i could not say exactly why. probably because he is not slow enough in his explanations. he say it once, and if you miss it, oh hell. also, his tests are ridiculously hard, even for people who studied. the are very quantity oriented, mutiple choice questions would be wrong if you were a decimal point off. on the other hand, it teaches you how hard it is to get anything good accomplished for the planet because of corporate interests. its no philosophy course mind you, but if you are of that disposition, you see the complexities of discussing global warming in a globalized world. i certainly left with a lot of questions. as in, you learn more about the science of global warming than how can we cut down industrial emissions, where are these industrial emissions coming from, how national laws effect emissions…