Professor

Michael Berry

AD
4.5
Overall Ratings
Based on 27 Users
Easiness 4.6 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 4.6 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.5 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.8 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (27)

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CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 9, 2021
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A-

As a heads-up, this was more of a history of Chinese pop culture than a class about pop culture, with a focus on political movements that are dead and/or dying. Still interesting, but very little of it could be considered modern popular culture, very little of the class dealt with stuff from after 1990.

Not sure if it was me being burnt out from COVID, but quite honestly, the class felt like a slog. Organization wasn't quite there; I was frequently confused about which lectures were and weren't required, and when stuff was due. Furthermore, lectures were quite long. Normally, two 75 minute lectures are scheduled, for a total of 2.5 hours, but this quarter, we usually had 3-4 hours of lectures. Not what I signed up for.

Now in terms of workload and grading, this class is really easy; the curve really is that good. Furthermore, the professor nerfed the class, removing the final essay and final exam.

Therefore, 40% of the grades was writing a forum post about the content for the week. Ostensibly, it's supposed to be about the readings, but you can easily get away with writing about the lectures. Basically 40% free points. Note that the readings can be quite a lot and can be quite dense; the professor thinks it's our only class. Now how does this class have a 4 for workload? You don't actually have to do the readings.

The other 60% of the grade was from 3 short papers. Of course, the grade depends on your TA, but the paper is generally graded generously and the topic is very open.

Helpful?

4 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 18, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: I

Loved this class with Professor Berry! Most people have general knowledge of the contemporary Chinese history from high school world history classes, but I felt the material from this class (films, documentaries, artwork, music, etc.) really added humanity to my understanding of the material.
Guest speakers were a hit or miss (but we were so appreciative and lucky for them to come regardless!). I also loved the TAs: they seemed like they were a squad (a set of four heavenly kings lol). Anyway, definitely recommend this class: I had a blast!

Helpful?

3 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 28, 2021
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A+

I loved Berry, I loved the class, and I loved the course content. I was unsure coming into this class how much I would enjoy it especially because I have no background or experience in Chinese culture, but I was blown out of the park.

Granted, this class (like the other reviewer said) is more history of pop culture, but as a lover of history, this class was everything I wanted it to be and more. The readings were really interesting (you do have to buy a novel~300 pages and read it, but it was really engaging).

All it requires is weekly participation on a discussion thread - just a paragraph of your thoughts about the week's readings/lectures. Participate once a week in your discussion section (just say something!) and three written assignments (2-3 pages) that each make up 20% of your grade. These are super open ended, barely even a prompt given, so they're graded fairly easily depending on your TA. One's on a popular Chinese comic , one is on your choice of music about or from China, and the last is on a piece of Chinese art. Highly recommend this class, if you enjoy learning history, Berry really knows his stuff.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 27, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A+

Professor Berry is extremely knowledgable about Chinese culture, and you can see he is passionate about it through his lectures and throughout this course. We had two (2-3 page) papers, and one final paper (6 pages). We also had a final exam which entailed identifying the key terms we learned in class and some short answer responses. Honestly, going to lecture is somewhat important but not really (I went to maybe one full class, and half the class two times). However, you must attend the discussion section because attendance is taken and you get a good idea of what's going in, especially if you haven't been attending lectures. Overall, I really recommend this class if you're looking to expand your cultural knowledge but also for a pretty easy A!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 5, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+

This class was amazing as the professor accommodated the class structure to fit the trying times of living during a pandemic. This was the most enjoyable A I have ever gotten as the material was interesting and it was fun to write short papers on different aspects of Chinese Pop Culture. I hope all of you guys reading this can get a spot in this class as it is amazing. Best wishes to Professor Berry and my amazing TA, Yiyang Hou!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 12, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A-

Amazing class and professor. Would recommend it for fulfilling GE requirements. I agree with the previous post that this class really depends on your TA. My TA was clearly not as helpful as the other TA and graded much more harshly.

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 5, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A-

The professor is awesome, super understanding (especially now). Although everything was online and all classes pre-recorder, he made everything super interesting. I do believe the TA you take this class with matters, as they correct all your quizzes, and my TA wasn't exactly helpful. Overall, awesome class if you are looking to learn about Chinese history and the contemporary Chinese culture!

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 4, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: N/A

This guy is awesome. Not only a great lecturer and someone who cares about his students, but is also just a great person and a stand-up guy. I would 100% recommend taking a class with him at some point.

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Feb. 17, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A

Weekly posts, three papers, and a final quiz but our final quiz was canceled due to the strike of TAs. Just take him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 9, 2022
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A

Top g for sure. Besides weekly discussion post the only workload is the 3 essays (3-4 pages each) and the final quiz. TAs are super generous with grading papers, and the mean of each paper reaches mid-90s (sadly I wasn't there). Overall speaking easy but boring GE, and if you follow all the instructions, don't miss any assignments and do normally on essays and quizzes that's an easy A for sure.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A-
March 9, 2021

As a heads-up, this was more of a history of Chinese pop culture than a class about pop culture, with a focus on political movements that are dead and/or dying. Still interesting, but very little of it could be considered modern popular culture, very little of the class dealt with stuff from after 1990.

Not sure if it was me being burnt out from COVID, but quite honestly, the class felt like a slog. Organization wasn't quite there; I was frequently confused about which lectures were and weren't required, and when stuff was due. Furthermore, lectures were quite long. Normally, two 75 minute lectures are scheduled, for a total of 2.5 hours, but this quarter, we usually had 3-4 hours of lectures. Not what I signed up for.

Now in terms of workload and grading, this class is really easy; the curve really is that good. Furthermore, the professor nerfed the class, removing the final essay and final exam.

Therefore, 40% of the grades was writing a forum post about the content for the week. Ostensibly, it's supposed to be about the readings, but you can easily get away with writing about the lectures. Basically 40% free points. Note that the readings can be quite a lot and can be quite dense; the professor thinks it's our only class. Now how does this class have a 4 for workload? You don't actually have to do the readings.

The other 60% of the grade was from 3 short papers. Of course, the grade depends on your TA, but the paper is generally graded generously and the topic is very open.

Helpful?

4 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: I
June 18, 2019

Loved this class with Professor Berry! Most people have general knowledge of the contemporary Chinese history from high school world history classes, but I felt the material from this class (films, documentaries, artwork, music, etc.) really added humanity to my understanding of the material.
Guest speakers were a hit or miss (but we were so appreciative and lucky for them to come regardless!). I also loved the TAs: they seemed like they were a squad (a set of four heavenly kings lol). Anyway, definitely recommend this class: I had a blast!

Helpful?

3 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A+
March 28, 2021

I loved Berry, I loved the class, and I loved the course content. I was unsure coming into this class how much I would enjoy it especially because I have no background or experience in Chinese culture, but I was blown out of the park.

Granted, this class (like the other reviewer said) is more history of pop culture, but as a lover of history, this class was everything I wanted it to be and more. The readings were really interesting (you do have to buy a novel~300 pages and read it, but it was really engaging).

All it requires is weekly participation on a discussion thread - just a paragraph of your thoughts about the week's readings/lectures. Participate once a week in your discussion section (just say something!) and three written assignments (2-3 pages) that each make up 20% of your grade. These are super open ended, barely even a prompt given, so they're graded fairly easily depending on your TA. One's on a popular Chinese comic , one is on your choice of music about or from China, and the last is on a piece of Chinese art. Highly recommend this class, if you enjoy learning history, Berry really knows his stuff.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A+
June 27, 2019

Professor Berry is extremely knowledgable about Chinese culture, and you can see he is passionate about it through his lectures and throughout this course. We had two (2-3 page) papers, and one final paper (6 pages). We also had a final exam which entailed identifying the key terms we learned in class and some short answer responses. Honestly, going to lecture is somewhat important but not really (I went to maybe one full class, and half the class two times). However, you must attend the discussion section because attendance is taken and you get a good idea of what's going in, especially if you haven't been attending lectures. Overall, I really recommend this class if you're looking to expand your cultural knowledge but also for a pretty easy A!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+
June 5, 2020

This class was amazing as the professor accommodated the class structure to fit the trying times of living during a pandemic. This was the most enjoyable A I have ever gotten as the material was interesting and it was fun to write short papers on different aspects of Chinese Pop Culture. I hope all of you guys reading this can get a spot in this class as it is amazing. Best wishes to Professor Berry and my amazing TA, Yiyang Hou!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A-
June 12, 2020

Amazing class and professor. Would recommend it for fulfilling GE requirements. I agree with the previous post that this class really depends on your TA. My TA was clearly not as helpful as the other TA and graded much more harshly.

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A-
June 5, 2020

The professor is awesome, super understanding (especially now). Although everything was online and all classes pre-recorder, he made everything super interesting. I do believe the TA you take this class with matters, as they correct all your quizzes, and my TA wasn't exactly helpful. Overall, awesome class if you are looking to learn about Chinese history and the contemporary Chinese culture!

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: N/A
June 4, 2020

This guy is awesome. Not only a great lecturer and someone who cares about his students, but is also just a great person and a stand-up guy. I would 100% recommend taking a class with him at some point.

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Feb. 17, 2023

Weekly posts, three papers, and a final quiz but our final quiz was canceled due to the strike of TAs. Just take him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHIN 40
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Dec. 9, 2022

Top g for sure. Besides weekly discussion post the only workload is the 3 essays (3-4 pages each) and the final quiz. TAs are super generous with grading papers, and the mean of each paper reaches mid-90s (sadly I wasn't there). Overall speaking easy but boring GE, and if you follow all the instructions, don't miss any assignments and do normally on essays and quizzes that's an easy A for sure.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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