First Year Seminar @Barnard · Columbia University
very low stakes class; he is very chill.
Aside from the (usually short) readings themselves, there were 3 papers (3-7 pages depending on which paper it is) and 2 "presentations" involving you leading a class discussion which is much easier than it sounds on paper. It's a pass/fail class as well which helps. Overall low stress.
In this course, we discussed different 21st century poetry and considered it in conversation with poetic techniques and other works. We talked about poetry as politics, poetry as commentary, and how poetry fits into the modern world.
teaching style / personality can be unbearable at times, especially since i took a 540-655 class when im tired in the evening. tends to do little writing exercises at the beginning of class which frankly i didnt get much out of. that said, the selected literature he had us read was interesting and i enjoyed most of it.
Jones is quite something, and a good something at that. I definitely agree with everyone who said he had awkward theater kid energy. He would often ping pong between having a lot to say and being extremely quiet in an (often failed) attempt to get us to say stuff. He admitted to us at the start that this class is just reading his favorite poems, and for the most part he has pretty great taste. Although he had difficulty with getting the class as a whole to engage (which may not be good if you don't like awkward silences) I still found the material and what he had to say quite engaging. Additionally, he is very open with office hours and is incredibly helpful. Overall, I recommend.
Class was a survey on 21st century poetry.
Very easy and interesting First Year Writing Course. Three papers throughout semester, and "presentations" which are really chill. Professor Jones is very helpful, kind, and easy to talk to.
Reasons for inclusion of materials on syllabus were not clearly explained, student class presentations were not well linked with instructor's planned content.
Exploration of a variety of Speculative Fiction works by women of color. Even if you are a fan of sci-fi and consume media mainly by women of color, this course will introduce you to new content. Professor Jones is so knowledge and passionate, and the true nerd. As a self-proclaimed nerd, having a professor as equally passionate as me is amazing.
The readings would take me less than an hour and we had one every class. However, there was just three papers we had to write which were interesting topics so I didn't mind it as much. We did have an actual book to read but I didn't actually read it cause we never really discussed it. The class was pass fail so it was super chill. Overall, Jones didn't care about whether or not you participated in class which a lot of other professors do. As long as you turned in your papers by the end of the semester and actually showed up to class, Jones would pass you.