Professor

Catherine Bonesho

AD
4.2
Overall Ratings
Based on 21 Users
Easiness 3.5 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.5 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.2 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.3 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (21)

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AN N EA 14W
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 14, 2021
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: B

I'm currently in the middle of editing my final paper for this class so we shall see what my actual final grade is but this has been a very poor integration of writing II and a history GE. I think this is not too horrible workwise but just has sudden periods of an influx of work which can be pretty annoying. I think the content was somewhat interesting and Bonesho's lectures were very digestable and easy to follow as well as the exams weren't too bad but the worst part about the class was the writing II aspect. I think she was just overambitious about trying to incorporate an essay component into this class, I felt like other than a few times in discussion there wasn't really any direction of how to improve our papers or how to be better writers in general. Not to mention, that in general the TAs graded pretty harshly on both drafts of the papers and even if you spent a decent amount time editing your previous paper your grade only goes up by 2-3 points. Honestly, I wouldn't have even been mad at the janky way this class was implemented if the TAs weren't such harsh graders for no reason. I don't know what happened this quarter with this class whether the last set of TAs were replaced completely but at least I can almost guarantee with this current grading scheme there is no way 50% of the class is going to get As like Winter 2020. If she adjust the class to account for the harsh grading of the TAs I will modify my review slightly but doesn't change the fact that this is a history GE class that had a poor attempt of being a writing II.

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Aug. 22, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: P

Professor Bonesho taught us a way of viewing Judaism with nuance. I think that’s the one thing that I’m proud to have taken from her and undeniably, it was something I was hoping for from the class. I wanted a new way to view religion, and Bonesho delivered.

She prepared incredibly organized and engaging lectures - every single lecture. I do wish the lecture slides held less information and were more engaging sometimes. Once she asked us to send in words through our phones. The words created a word cloud that updated in real-time on the slide. I felt that method’s way of creating vulnerability yet retaining anonymity caught and held everyone’s attention.

Bonesho also knew my name, but I’d never been to her office hours or introduced myself to her personally. She probably glanced at it when I handed her one of my papers, but she really had a way of creating an environment where we felt seen, mostly because I think she let the whole class debate almost every lecture, implying all of our nuanced opinions carried some value.

I’m really glad I took this class before graduating. I don’t remember what I got so I just put “P”/pass in my review. I did turn in some papers late though and remember her late policy being lenient with grade deductions. Also, for the reading...it's pretty long and in depth, but the book's easy to carry. I didn't read it in full, but by skimming between classes and listening closely to her lectures, I did really well on the exams. Tests aren't nit-picky on historical details, just know the main characters in Judaism over time, what they stood for, and how to show the validity and flaws of each person's perspective.

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1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 5, 2024
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A

There are a lot of assigned readings for this class but you don't need to do read them to do well in the class. The exams have MCQ and short answers/essays, but are graded pretty easily. The lectures are a little long and are NOT recorded, but kind of interesting and easy to follow. You have three "projects" (writing assignments) but they aren't too difficult if you start them early.

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June 25, 2023
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: A-

Prof. Bonesho is great professor, and I feel like the class was interesting both as a GE and a Writing II course. I may be biased as I enjoy writing, but all the essays for this class were manageable in the given time frame. The professor and TAs also offer a lot of support to help you throughout the process. One complaint I had was that the lectures were not recorded or live streamed, and the slides acted as support for lecture not a replacement for lectures themselves. So, if you missed a lecture, you would only get bits and pieces of the content covered. Many of the initial readings were long and boring, however I believe that it got better over time! I would recommend this as a GE for any major!

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June 1, 2023
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: A

This class is pretty easy. The midterm was a lot of memorization but easy to do well on. The final was open note and take home. Professor Bonesho is super nice and helpful.

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June 5, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: N/A

This is NOT an easy GE. If you want a guaranteed A, don't take this class. BUT, you do learn a lot, and you will do well but only if you put in the work for it. I asked questions, went to TA office hours, was engaged, kept up, etc, and that's why I got an A. You cannot slack and expect to do well here.

But it's definitely a very interesting class. Bonesho is very nice and approachable-- good professor. Pretty hard class. A LOT of essay writing too. Final exam is 4 take home essays.. a lot a lot of writing.

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Dec. 24, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

This is a great class that I would recommend to anyone. You don't need any prior information about Judaism to succeed and Professor Bonesho is extremely helpful. The class consisted of two papers, one in-class midterm, and a take home final. In addition, she gave 6 quizzes (drops the lowest one) to test if you have done the reading (they are fairly easy). The readings were usually around 20 pages a week and were pretty interesting to me. Overall this was a fulfilling class in which it wasn't too difficult to manage, yet it was also a great learning experience.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 14W
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 28, 2021
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A

As a pre-med, I appreciated having a writing class option that was somewhat relevant to my studies! It definitely was not easy (I don't think any writing 2 class is) and my TA was unnecessarily harsh at times, but I feel like I took some cool medical history knowledge away from this class so I'm definitely not mad. Also, Professor Bonesho is a sweetheart and kind to students who are struggling during COVID-19.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Nov. 5, 2020
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A+

I really liked Professor Bonesho. The material was very interesting and I found the readings to be pretty engaging. There was a decent amount of reading, but I didn't feel like I had to understand or read it all. She went over the most important concepts during lecture and even did little rituals and activities to help us understand what she was talking about. Dr. Bonesho is very passionate about what she teaches and I'd recommend this class highly as a Writing 2 class!

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
JEWISH M10
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 17, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: I

Honestly I'm surprised this class wasn't a writing II credit. There was soooo much writing involved. The midterm was pretty challenging in addition to there being papers/"projects" due nearly every other week. Professor Bonesho is really sweet and I had Julianna as a TA who was awesome but definitely would not recommend taking this if you're looking for an easy and/or light GE.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 14W
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: B
March 14, 2021

I'm currently in the middle of editing my final paper for this class so we shall see what my actual final grade is but this has been a very poor integration of writing II and a history GE. I think this is not too horrible workwise but just has sudden periods of an influx of work which can be pretty annoying. I think the content was somewhat interesting and Bonesho's lectures were very digestable and easy to follow as well as the exams weren't too bad but the worst part about the class was the writing II aspect. I think she was just overambitious about trying to incorporate an essay component into this class, I felt like other than a few times in discussion there wasn't really any direction of how to improve our papers or how to be better writers in general. Not to mention, that in general the TAs graded pretty harshly on both drafts of the papers and even if you spent a decent amount time editing your previous paper your grade only goes up by 2-3 points. Honestly, I wouldn't have even been mad at the janky way this class was implemented if the TAs weren't such harsh graders for no reason. I don't know what happened this quarter with this class whether the last set of TAs were replaced completely but at least I can almost guarantee with this current grading scheme there is no way 50% of the class is going to get As like Winter 2020. If she adjust the class to account for the harsh grading of the TAs I will modify my review slightly but doesn't change the fact that this is a history GE class that had a poor attempt of being a writing II.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
JEWISH M10
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: P
Aug. 22, 2020

Professor Bonesho taught us a way of viewing Judaism with nuance. I think that’s the one thing that I’m proud to have taken from her and undeniably, it was something I was hoping for from the class. I wanted a new way to view religion, and Bonesho delivered.

She prepared incredibly organized and engaging lectures - every single lecture. I do wish the lecture slides held less information and were more engaging sometimes. Once she asked us to send in words through our phones. The words created a word cloud that updated in real-time on the slide. I felt that method’s way of creating vulnerability yet retaining anonymity caught and held everyone’s attention.

Bonesho also knew my name, but I’d never been to her office hours or introduced myself to her personally. She probably glanced at it when I handed her one of my papers, but she really had a way of creating an environment where we felt seen, mostly because I think she let the whole class debate almost every lecture, implying all of our nuanced opinions carried some value.

I’m really glad I took this class before graduating. I don’t remember what I got so I just put “P”/pass in my review. I did turn in some papers late though and remember her late policy being lenient with grade deductions. Also, for the reading...it's pretty long and in depth, but the book's easy to carry. I didn't read it in full, but by skimming between classes and listening closely to her lectures, I did really well on the exams. Tests aren't nit-picky on historical details, just know the main characters in Judaism over time, what they stood for, and how to show the validity and flaws of each person's perspective.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
JEWISH M10
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A
Dec. 5, 2024

There are a lot of assigned readings for this class but you don't need to do read them to do well in the class. The exams have MCQ and short answers/essays, but are graded pretty easily. The lectures are a little long and are NOT recorded, but kind of interesting and easy to follow. You have three "projects" (writing assignments) but they aren't too difficult if you start them early.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 14W
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: A-
June 25, 2023

Prof. Bonesho is great professor, and I feel like the class was interesting both as a GE and a Writing II course. I may be biased as I enjoy writing, but all the essays for this class were manageable in the given time frame. The professor and TAs also offer a lot of support to help you throughout the process. One complaint I had was that the lectures were not recorded or live streamed, and the slides acted as support for lecture not a replacement for lectures themselves. So, if you missed a lecture, you would only get bits and pieces of the content covered. Many of the initial readings were long and boring, however I believe that it got better over time! I would recommend this as a GE for any major!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
JEWISH M10
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: A
June 1, 2023

This class is pretty easy. The midterm was a lot of memorization but easy to do well on. The final was open note and take home. Professor Bonesho is super nice and helpful.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
RELIGN M10
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: N/A
June 5, 2019

This is NOT an easy GE. If you want a guaranteed A, don't take this class. BUT, you do learn a lot, and you will do well but only if you put in the work for it. I asked questions, went to TA office hours, was engaged, kept up, etc, and that's why I got an A. You cannot slack and expect to do well here.

But it's definitely a very interesting class. Bonesho is very nice and approachable-- good professor. Pretty hard class. A LOT of essay writing too. Final exam is 4 take home essays.. a lot a lot of writing.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
JEWISH M10
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 24, 2019

This is a great class that I would recommend to anyone. You don't need any prior information about Judaism to succeed and Professor Bonesho is extremely helpful. The class consisted of two papers, one in-class midterm, and a take home final. In addition, she gave 6 quizzes (drops the lowest one) to test if you have done the reading (they are fairly easy). The readings were usually around 20 pages a week and were pretty interesting to me. Overall this was a fulfilling class in which it wasn't too difficult to manage, yet it was also a great learning experience.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 14W
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A
March 28, 2021

As a pre-med, I appreciated having a writing class option that was somewhat relevant to my studies! It definitely was not easy (I don't think any writing 2 class is) and my TA was unnecessarily harsh at times, but I feel like I took some cool medical history knowledge away from this class so I'm definitely not mad. Also, Professor Bonesho is a sweetheart and kind to students who are struggling during COVID-19.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 14W
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A+
Nov. 5, 2020

I really liked Professor Bonesho. The material was very interesting and I found the readings to be pretty engaging. There was a decent amount of reading, but I didn't feel like I had to understand or read it all. She went over the most important concepts during lecture and even did little rituals and activities to help us understand what she was talking about. Dr. Bonesho is very passionate about what she teaches and I'd recommend this class highly as a Writing 2 class!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
JEWISH M10
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: I
Dec. 17, 2020

Honestly I'm surprised this class wasn't a writing II credit. There was soooo much writing involved. The midterm was pretty challenging in addition to there being papers/"projects" due nearly every other week. Professor Bonesho is really sweet and I had Julianna as a TA who was awesome but definitely would not recommend taking this if you're looking for an easy and/or light GE.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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