First Year Seminar @Barnard · Columbia University
There was a writing assignment or reading due before each class. Three essays, with drafting exercises leading up to the final drafts. No discussion posts, and she provides lots of feedback on work.
Sometimes the readings were dense and unusually long but it really was not bad. We didn't have many essays and the final project was fun because we got to write about what we would do if we could curate a museum exhibit about something.
I didn't really know what to expect going into this course, since I didn't know much about the topic of speculative fiction, but I ended up really liking it! Professor Schwartz is absolutely amazing. She is very passionate and excited by her work, and she balanced our discussions with her own input very well. She is also super understanding with assignments and deadlines (easy to talk to!) and we always had very entertaining conversations about the readings. I highly recommend taking a class with this professor.
This course was full of very interesting readings and I learned a lot! Professor Schwartz is very smart, understanding, and encourages collaboration. I definitely got bored in class but that's bound to happen when we're discussing old, dense readings for 75 minutes. She let us use our computers in class so we could just secretly work on other things if we got bored.
There are 3 essays (they are standardized with the FYW curriculum). There's a writing exercise and some reading due every class. If the reading is long, the writing exercise will be less lengthy, and vise versa. The class is pass/fail, and if you do the assignments, you will pass. She provides lots of feedback on every exercise and essay, but will give you full points if you did it.
Readings are given before every class with a reading journal accompanying it and in-class discussions are held every week. A discussion post with two responses was due at the end of every week. Only one essay was assigned (with a 48-hour built-in extension) and a final project of a 3 piece exhibition on concepts we have learned about in class with a curator's statement for each piece. Overall light work and she allows a certain number of each type of assignment to be missed.
Sarah Schwartz is one of the best writing professors at Barnard!!! She is amazing at assigning tasks that are curated to make you better. I could practically feel myself becoming a better analyst, speaker, and writer during the class period. She does assign a writing exercise for almost every class, but always makes sure to let you know the purpose of the exercise so it doesn't feel like busy work, and she is very flexible with homework and assignment timings. Once, I couldn't finish an assignment that we needed for the next class' lesson, but I emailed her and she created a new task for me that didn't involve the material from the assignment so that I could still participate in class!! She does allow one homework skip per essay progression (3 in total), so I was never expected to do the assignment late. She is always available for feedback and is very helpful. Literally anything you need she will be there for you!!
Professor Schwartz is a great professor and mentor to have in class. She facilitates discussion and encourages students to develop their line of reasoning free of pressure. The class deals with a lot of realistic and relevant happenings regarding gender, empowering us to understand what being a gender outlaw truly is.
I would spend 6 hours a week at the beginning of the semester completing the readings. By the end, it would be only an hour or two.
The content of this course is great and one of the best parts of this class. The workload can be heavy, especially with a lot of dense readings in the beginning, but it gets better as the semester goes on. Schwartz's teaching style is great, while intimidating at first. She has everyone go around and give a response each class, and it can be stressful but the readings are so interesting you could pick a moment off of any page. She is so smart and asks the right questions to really make everyone think and get the best answer out of everyone.