Pier Tommasino

Obviously, there is a lot of reading, but Prof. Tommasino doesn't have a lengthy teacher's choice book though so the reading is a bit more spaced out. He had us read a few parts of the Bagavad Gita for one class, but it wasn't long at all and was used as a more comparative thing. Grading wasn't super strict, especially on tests — if it looks like you understand the book and you read and thought about it, you won't get a bad grade. There were two take-home essays, both with a lot of leeway to write about what actually interests you. Participation is a big part of the grade, but you do not at all need to dominate the conversation to get a good grade – if you just reliably come to class, listen, and share thoughts, you will do well. He genuinely just wants people to learn.

This class was so fun and I genuinely don't think there's a better person to teach it than Prof. Tommasino. He is very good at creating a positive environment where people feel comfortable sharing and debating, and makes an effort to make sure it's not just the same people talking the whole time. He loves when people genuinely have different ideas and lenses through which they are analyzing the literature. He is also just SO excited to be teaching these books and you will learn so much interesting historical and linguistic stuff from being in his class, even though he doesn't lecture. And he also makes an effort to bring in things from other perspectives — we read a small part of the Bagavad Gita as the instructor's choice book, and in class we analyzed a Daoist parable and a variety of translations from the epics and other texts.

Professor Tommasino is, dare I say, the best professor I have taken. If you are assigned to his class, you are incredibly lucky. I cannot express how much I enjoyed his class. I will definitely take another class with him in the future.

There was a midterm, presentation, a final paper, and the final exam, as well as class participation. The class is fairly light in terms of workload, and is not a huge time commitment at all, but yet I still feel as if I learned a ton.

2 essays or 1 essay and 1 group presentation depending on the semester, 1 midterm, and 1 final. Really easy and manageable.

He is genuinely one of my favorite professors I have had at Columbia so far. From genuine dedication to students to a lively classroom environment, professor tommasino does it all and more. We covered all the traditional lit hum texts, as well as additional material that he brought it in to supplement the class. Could not recommend him enough.

IF YOU GET ASSIGNED TO PROFESSOR TOMMASINO, YOU ARE THE LUCKIEST PERSON ALIVE. He is the absolutely best lit hum teacher ever. Super super kind and caring, is a very lenient grader, and creates the warmest classroom environment for everyone to feel comfortable. He is always happy and gives dad energy. As an Italian man, he LOVES Inferno (make sure to read that one well). Overall, he is a great professor, highly recommend.