English And Comparative Literature · Columbia University
The workload was heavy, but consistent with other UW sections. You have to do regular small assignments, especially leading up to the big essays. She can be lenient and understanding regarding some late assignments as long as you talk to her about it and also gave us the opportunity to earn extra credit or extensions (like by attending a department talk). Really compassionate and understanding about the pressures of life/school and will work with you to find a happy medium when needed. My session was a bit disrupted due the protests and everything that happened at the end of Spring 2024, and she was extremely understanding and caring throughout always checking in to make sure we were doing OK.
Professor Therese Cox is an incredible professor and person. If you have the opportunity to take UW with her definitely do it! (She also works in the Writing Center so you can meet with her there if you need a really helpful person to help you with your essays.) She's very organized, funny, relaxed, understanding of students and the pressures they are under, and just generally amazing at making UW fun and informative within the strict constraints of the core class. I'm so thrilled to have taken this class with her and it truly made my semester better. Our section was Urban Studies based, but she gave us a lot of flexibility to choose topics that were interesting to us even if only tangentially related to Urban Studies. It is a lot of work, but that's the nature of UW. And she'll help you pace it out. Just keep that in mind when making your schedule, but know that if you need extra time or a cushion because you're overwhelmed by other work, Therese will listen and work with you. Therese is a truly wonderful Columbia professor. If you're on the fence choosing a section and Therese is available, just go for it. You won't regret it.
Prof's grading was fair and based. Weekly readings which help you in your own writing + 4 essays. The course does kind of move fast so be organized and prepared and you'll fo ok. Did spend a good amount of time each week doing readings and be prepared during essay writing weeks to devote more time to this course.
G.O.A.T. She will really help you understand what she is looking for. Lectures were always engaging and I learned a lot about what works for me with writing. Content was engaging and interesting.
P1: 20% P2: 25% P3: 40% P4: 15% Didn't spend much time on the HW.
She does a great job of taking an otherwise dry subject (Urban Studies), and making it engaging for a wide range of students. Although she's a harsh grader at the beginning, she's a very kind person, and is generally helpful. This is assuming you put in the effort to do the work, and do it well. Not an easy-A by any means though. Workload is minimal; she doesn't expect you to submit every single HW assignment, which is a relief.
Readings and writing exercises due at the beginning of each class (lenient, was accepted within a day of the class and graded for completion). Then of course the standard four UW essays: critical inquiry - 20%, scholarly conversation - 25%, researched argument - 35%, op-ed - 20%. An extension was granted for one of the first three essays of your choice. Therese was very understanding about deadlines and word counts (for example, I was around 400 words short of her word count suggestion for the research essay but still got an A), and we would write a reflection at the beginning of each essay talking through our process. We also get extra credit opportunities at the end of the semester. Others in my class told me they found Therese's grading to be tough, but I thought it was very fair and in some cases even too kind (like the A I got for the research paper).
Such a phenomenal professor!! I took her contemporary essays section, and was initially not enthusiastic because I had wanted a different "theme" for my class, but I was pleasantly surprised. Therese made excellent selections for us to read and themes to write about, and our class discussions were very fruitful. In office hours she was very helpful and gave really great feedback on essays and suggestions on what to add/improve etc.
Super lenient on deadlines!!! She will always listen to you and the entire class on how you are feeling about a certain assignment and adjust accordingly. She is incredibly organized and just one of the most kind professors at Columbia. The workload is totally manageable and you just have to stay on top of certain assignments (such as the formal draft that comes up quite soon). As long as you do your readings and put effort into the class, you will be fine.
Super organized teaching style and amazing prof to listen to. Urban studies with her is great and class always goes by quite fast which you can't really expect from many professors here. Class is semi-discussion based but it's honestly super chill and there's no pressure on speaking or not speaking. If you want a solid UWriting experience and an easygoing, understanding professor, take Prof Cox!!! She is so underrated.