Professor
Karen Umemoto
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - This is for 131B with Brian - This class is very important as an overall topic, and while sometimes the lectures were a little dry; it's clear both Brian and Karen are passionate about the subject. Brian is a literal expert and works with Densho and it was a privilege to learn from someone so knowledgable. The issue is the grading and communication. One, they don't grade anything really (except for maybe 1 assignment) until the end of the quarter so you have no idea where you stand. Two, they don't put on their syllabus how much of a percentage is worth an A vs A- vs A+ so we were all lost. Three, they just go off of canvas for your grade except the class is out of 100 points and canvas only goes out of 89 points so your points automatically count for more which lowers your grade if you miss things/you get an A- on something. Four, they refuse to tell us what the percentages are and are not swift with emails. My classmates and I have been emailing and it's almost as though they're avoiding emailing us back until after the grade deadline when it's really hard to petition for change. Fifth, the tone in their emails now that the class is over is condescending and there's no room for conversation which isn't fair because we just want to understand what we did wrong and communicate our concerns. It's honestly really upsetting and a lot of my classmates are also upset, it's not necessarily about the A vs A- since they're both A's. The issue is the complete lack of communication and the fact that their grading is based on the incorrect scale. Overall, would I take this class again? Ehh maybe. You have to get 100% on all the assignments and do the extra credit and get an A on your final in order to actually get an A in the class. But I would definitely audit this course, the material is really interesting.
Winter 2022 - This is for 131B with Brian - This class is very important as an overall topic, and while sometimes the lectures were a little dry; it's clear both Brian and Karen are passionate about the subject. Brian is a literal expert and works with Densho and it was a privilege to learn from someone so knowledgable. The issue is the grading and communication. One, they don't grade anything really (except for maybe 1 assignment) until the end of the quarter so you have no idea where you stand. Two, they don't put on their syllabus how much of a percentage is worth an A vs A- vs A+ so we were all lost. Three, they just go off of canvas for your grade except the class is out of 100 points and canvas only goes out of 89 points so your points automatically count for more which lowers your grade if you miss things/you get an A- on something. Four, they refuse to tell us what the percentages are and are not swift with emails. My classmates and I have been emailing and it's almost as though they're avoiding emailing us back until after the grade deadline when it's really hard to petition for change. Fifth, the tone in their emails now that the class is over is condescending and there's no room for conversation which isn't fair because we just want to understand what we did wrong and communicate our concerns. It's honestly really upsetting and a lot of my classmates are also upset, it's not necessarily about the A vs A- since they're both A's. The issue is the complete lack of communication and the fact that their grading is based on the incorrect scale. Overall, would I take this class again? Ehh maybe. You have to get 100% on all the assignments and do the extra credit and get an A on your final in order to actually get an A in the class. But I would definitely audit this course, the material is really interesting.
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