Rachel Mcdermott

Prof. McDermott definitely is the one you don't wanna miss! I took this course simply because I needed credits for the semester, but I ended up with full knowledge about South Asian Art and its Histories when I stepped out of her classroom. She gave out very organized and clear lectures all through the semester with outlines printed out that you could have both on hand and electronically. The lectures are not mandatory but 100 percent worth it, and can be very helpful for your final. This year's workload became even lighter, but that also means you have to pay much more attention to each one of them.

Take this class! Professor McDermott is amazing and has such a big heart. the course basically just goes through how judaism, hinduism, christianity, and islam answer the problem of evil. We talked about a lot of difficult topics but she speaks about everything with so much compassion and is willing to also struggle with us through difficult questions we don't have answers to. She opens up the floor a lot to student POVs and wants to hear what we are thinking. Personally, I learned so much and it really challenged my own theological beliefs. Def take if you can to also give yourself a chance to learn about other religions.

I went into this class knowing nothing about eastern religions, so it was really cool to get to understand at least the basics of Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and the cosmology of Tibet and Japan, all through the lens of Tantra. However, this class was a little more difficult and intense than I would have liked (just because I was only taking it for a global core). To start, Tantra itself is super confusing (which is the point of having a whole class on it), which makes the lectures inherently complex and it also makes it really, really hard to find outside information to supplement the lectures or clarify difficult concepts (other than the assigned readings) if you have to miss a lecture or are just generally confused. Moreover, this class covers Tantra as it's seen in India, China, Japan, Tibet, and the West, and spans more than 3,000 years of time. This is really cool because it gives you a really good overview of important concepts across the globe and time, but it is really hard to see how it all connects, and to remember the important people/places/names, etc. The good thing is that the professors are aware of this, and try to make things as clear as possible in lectures and via handouts, and the TAs also grade things with the knowledge of how hard all this stuff is to remember. That being said, it was kind of frustrating to me that we couldn't get into a to…

This is my third class that I have taken with Professor McDermott. She is absolutely amazing! Regardless of what she teaches, I highly recommend that you take her class. Jews and Christians in Southeast Asia is a class that she teaches every 3 years. So best jump on the opportunity when you have it (I waited over a year for it)! I am a well educated Jew, and she did an incredible job covering the Jewish part of the course. I learned an incredible amount, and was unbelievably excited to come to class every day. It was very interesting. That being said, Professor McDermott begins teaching, by being wholly academically honest, and saying that she is not an expert in the field, and is teaching what little she does know. And honestly, she knows a heck of a lot. The Christian part of the course is also incredibly interesting, but I personally think harder, as it is difficult to keep track of all of the different sects and communities (compared to two or three "groups" in each of three cities for the Jewish portion of the course). Anyone who is majoring in this area, or interested in India, or with a free course to spare would do well to take a course with Professor McDermott. She is one of the warmest, sweetest Professors I have had here, and honestly cares that her students learn, as opposed to just getting good grades. She also shows a number of wonderful films, and brings in spea…

I must write a review for Prof. McDermott, as she was honestly one of the nicest, most helpful, and engaging professors I've had in my years here. Along with Prof. Cachia, the other professor for this course, she led the class through many interesting discussions over some great texts from Indian and Middle Eastern cultures. The discussions were very engaging, and her feedback was always enlightening. She was very approachable when it came to papers and class discussions and gave us very clear and detailed guidelines for every part of the course. She made the final a breeze and the class was something I looked forward to every week. I would definitely recommend this class and definitely with Prof. McDermott!

I have taken Hindu Goddesses with Professor McDermott, and she is also my adviser and thesis adviser. I just have to write a glowing review for her before I graduate, even though she already has an excellent reputation. She is an excellent lecturer and seminar leader. The readings she assigns are relevant and thought-provoking, and she makes sure there is enough structure in the seminar to stimulate interesting discussion, rather than allowing aimless student commentary to dominate. The course itself was excellent, and I would recommend taking anything she teaches. She is a respected scholar but extremely humble. In addition to being brilliant, she cares a great deal for her students. She is the most devoted and thoughtful professor I have had at Barnard. I just can't say enough good things about her! If you are at all interested in South Asia, don't leave without taking a class with her.

The best course I've taken so far at college with the best teacher I've had so far at college. Do NOT miss McDermott. Not only is she a great lecturer (organized, straight to the point, engaging, versatile with teaching media, open to questions, conversation, and criticism) but she makes sure all the material is relevant. You will learn a lot, and you don't even have to do all the reading. Just get the gist of whatever, or even read it after she's lectured (she covers everything in there anyway). But you'll want to do the reading, maybe not in the beginning when its ancient and obscure, but as the course progresses so does its momentum. McDermott is interesting, knows her stuff (and if she doesn't she'll ask the TA's, the students, or look it up and admit she doesn't know). It's a moderate amount of work, and the final is hard but not impossible, and when you finish you feel like you really know some stuff and have real, applicable opinions about things. Take it, do half or more of the reading. Don't miss McDermott if this is a subject that interests you. And if you're good, you'll find a mentor.

I came into this class with relatively little knowledge of South Asian religion, aside from personal experience. I learned an incredible amount in this class from the texts, the professors, and the other students. This applies to content, framing ideas, and types of questions worth asking.

Ugh where do I even start. I love this woman so much. She is so fierce, so kind, and so incredibly intelligent. She is so knowedgable about the material, her lectures are very clear, and she makes plenty of room for questions and gives many students an opportunity to share personal experience if relevant. I was super lost most of the time since I knew nothing about Indian history/culture but I went to her office hours and she was down to always answer a slew of questions.

Professor McDermott is a gem and I would recommend this class, or any class with her for that matter, to anyone interested in the subjects she teaches (Religion, SE Asian Studies). She knows so much, yet is never pretentious or unwilling to distill any tricky religious theory / social concepts down to whatever is necessary for her students to understand. The course deals with a lot of intricate texts, but the lectures were incredibly helpful in providing the background necessary to understand them. I came into this class 50% set on being a religion major, and left 100% sure of that choice. She also is incredibly receptive to student feedback; when students expressed unhappiness/stress with the amount of coursework (extensions at the beginning of the semester pushed the second and third papers a bit too close to each other) she immediately removed the third paper from the syllabus. It really feels like she wants her students to succeed, something that is often rare at this school. The TA's in this class were also wonderful, super knowledgeable and ready to answer any question.