department
english + comp lit

Worst professor. Extremely weird grading and doesn't communicate with her students. Heck, she doesn't care about her students. Don't let her crush your dreams.

Kimuli Kasara

Introduction to Comparative Politics

May 2021

I absolutely loved Professor Kasara's Introduction to Comparative Politics Class. I have absolutely no idea why all of the other reviews were so negative toward her teaching of this class. She is extremely informed about the topic, her lectures are engaging and interesting, and I left the class with a much stronger understanding of the subject. She has very informative slides and posts them after every class, so you never have to worry about missing any core information. The workload was very manageable and exactly what I would expect for an Intro Poli-Sci class. The tests were not any more challenging than the class would merit. The TAs gave very informative feedback on tests and were more than happy to talk through any questions you had about the class. The tests all cover material that was extensively covered in the lecture. There is only one paper and it is over a very basic, core principle of the class. Professor Kasara was very generous with grades and even changed her entire grading scale when my class was doing worse than her previous classes had done in order to help improve our grades. I would highly highly recommend this class for everyone who is interested in the field of Political Science. I cannot wait to take more classes with Professor Kasara in the future.

Edward Mendelson

Virginia Woolf

May 2021

I'd recommend Mendelson for anyone who wants the eccentric literature professor experience, even if he is a bit full of himself. He has a real passion for the literature. Woolf's novels are worth the read and the course is super chill. He doesn't care much about deadlines and just wants original essays. Grading-wise, he's a complete mystery. There's zero rubric or anything for the essays or the course, and I didn't get grades back for the final two assignments. I have no idea where my final grade came from. Judging by mine and friends' grades, it seems you're at the whim of TA's. I enjoyed it overall, but I think this is definitely a course to take in person. On Zoom it was 75 minutes of him talking, with our chat and mics disabled.

Edward Mendelson

Virginia Woolf

May 2021

Patricia Grieve

East/West Frametale Narratives

May 2021

Professor Grieve is a super kind woman. However, much like the reviewer below me, I also do not believe that she deserves a golden or even silver nugget. The reading for this class is unbelievably long (for one class, we had to read a 400 page book, an article on said book, and watch a 130 minute movie). I am the type of person who does not usually care about reading length and will do it all, but this was simply too much. That being said, you don't absolutely need to do it all. Doing half of the reading and reading summaries is more than enough to get by. Classes are painful, and that is the brutal truth. She rarely has plans or structure for the seminar and relies heavily on students asking questions or suggesting discussions. It makes two hours feel like four. The material is interesting, but it is too much and professor grieve does not seem to know how to use it. Much of it is left undiscussed even though we often have extra time left at the end of the class. Overall, I do not recommend this global core class. I'm sure there are much more productive ways to use the requirement in a more enjoyable manner. I tried to drop the class but you have to reach out to the professor directly to drop it and I was too scared of offending her.

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department
english + comp lit