Only take if you really like history because it's a lot of reading and essays. Selling course reader for this class for $12 (originally $35) text **********

You probably notice this class is usually very empty. Coz He is the WORST professor I have taken so far. His lecture is not well organized and he needed a lot of awkward pause during lecture to rethink what he was gonna talk about. His knowledge is not accurate either and made many false statement and wrong information on the slides.

Worst is on his second paper topics and syllabus with links. The paper should be due the Wed of week 10 but he sent out an email on the Friday saying that the paper should be due on Monday. I was all the fault with the syllabus.

Oh I forgot to mention that only 95+ is consider a A in this class. Papers and exams are graded very harshly as well.

I took this as a GE course. It is nice that Von Glahn has his required readings online (you can also buy the coursereader, which I didn't) and some of his powerpoints, and his lecture outlines. You're free to utilize those if you want. They were on his course webpage.

His lectures are pretty boring, but interesting to listen to if you have an inkling of care for the subject (Chinese History... expect some pieces of artwork to be discussed, philosophy, religion). What makes his lectures unappealing to me, however, is its lack of organization and it is a little confusing for me, especially since I did not have any prior knowledge of Chinese History. For example, while a powerpoint slide might have an artwork on it, he might go on and on about something entirely different from it.

The discussion: Depends on your T.A. I had a really good T.A., though - she interpreted the readings for us, basically, and it was like attending another lecture, but at the same time, it wasn't a class of many students and the professor (all the while, on a time crunch). The discussions were more personal and direct.

As of Fall 2012, the grading breaks down into:
1. Two short essays are each worth 10%
2. Midterm exam is worth 15%
3. Long essay is worth 20%
4. Final exam is worth 30%
5. Section grade is worth 15% (Your TA will tell you how the section grade will be determined)

The short essays are 3 pages, the long essay, 5-7 pages. I feel that the midterm was very nit-picky; small points here and there docked off for not being detailed enough. The essays were fair; the section grade, I don't even know. While it's not necessary to do the required readings each week, I definitely recommend it. I felt as if I would do okay (A), but got an A- instead. Overall: Not really an easy class due to midterm and final grading. Essays are subjective, but office hours are there to help improve your essays (what's most important is to interpret the primary sources correctly).

He is an ok professor, but he covers most philosophical aspect of Chinese History. If you like Confucius, Mozi, and other philosophere, then this is a class that you want to take. He goes very in depth with these people.

But I don't really like this course because I like battles and politics in the Chinese history. ESPECIALLY THE THREE KINGDOMS ERA WHICH HE TOTALLY SKIMMED OVER >.<
He only mentions Cao Cao and moves on....

so yeah!

His class is OK, if you like history. Most of the time, he is off topic to some chinese philosophical stuff.
If you like reading and write paper, he is a good professor to take.

Von Glahn himself is nice and tries to explain the material as best as possible. But he does drone quite a bit, and he loves pottery and archaeology; half his lectures are based on them, and they don't even really matter towards the end.

There are two essays, each worth 20%. Von Glahn writes the topics himself, and you have to use primary resources in the books you bought to support your thesis. They should be five to seven pages long. This is really tricky to rate because it ultimately depends on your TA. A TA may grade easily, another TA may grade harshly. As far as I know, it is really difficult to get A's on the essays. You have to work diligently, use good evidence, and overall, know how to write an essay.

The midterm is worth 15%. Again, it depends on your TA. There are three essay topics, and you choose one to write about. The midterm is based solely on lecture, so pay attention in class.

The final is worth 35%. Again, it depends on your TA. There are three sections with two essay topics in each section; you'll be asked to write one out of the two. He gives you the general idea of what to expect on the final.

The last 15% is a section grade, which is based on your participation in discussion. The discussions are two hours long and can get really boring, especially when your TA can't speak English correctly (like mine).

Basically, take the class if you're interested in the material, or if you manage to get a decent TA. See the grade distribution? Yeah, it's really hard to get an A in the class.

One of my favorite classes so far. I went in thinking i would hate it but i ended up loving it. he is so enthusiastic and eager to teach that he motivate you to learn. Reading is not totally necessary if you go to lectures but it really does help understand the material. plus, the reading is actually really interesting. i definitely recommend this GE. it is easy as long as you understand the material. the midterm and final are both essays. Amazing professor. Amazing class.

He's really boring, and his powerpoint based lectures are VERY dry.

I wished he would have focused more on dynamic historical aspects such as war and politics. But instead, he focuses on philosophical aspects such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and so forth. And if he does lecture on history, he mumbles monotonously while forging through slide after slide of old antique pots. That's right, ancient, excavated pots.

All in all, his 11A class is the bastard child of Chinese philosophy/archeology, very misleading and awkward.

Another caveat, Von Glahn, aside from being ridiculously boring, is very stingy with As. So you'll need to be careful.

I'll give you some tips, just read the (great) textbook for the exams and ask your TA what they want on the papers. Example, my TA essentially told me what to write, and I aced both papers. Basically you'll never have to go to a single class, and you will still do well.

The discussion sections were a waste of time, just gloss over the reading material for half an hour or so, jot down some questions and be semi-active in the discussion session for the participation points. The discussion material will not be on the exams, so if it's not your paper topic, you don't have to read it.

That's what I did after deciding this whole class was lame and I aced it.

I'm really glad I took History 11A during Fall 2008 with Dr. Von Glahn because he is such a knowledgeable and kind professor. Sometimes the lectures do get a bit boring, but his powerpoint presentations are extremely organized and his lectures contained a lot of important information. My advice to you is to GO TO LECTURE because the midterm and the final are based on lecture information alone, not the readings, so you can't really afford to miss a single lecture. In addition, even though the powerpoints are posted online, it wouldn't make any sense unless you have Von Glahn's lectures to go with it, so go to class! The class is solely based on essays and a section grade, so your TA basically controls your grade because he/she grades all your essays and assigns you a grade for how you performed during the discussions, so participate once in a while so your TA recognizes your face. My TA was very knowledgeable and a fair grader, so I was lucky. If you get stuck with a hard TA, good luck! And your essay grade is based more on how much knowledge you know and how you use the evidence to support your thesis, so don't worry about writing all flowery and sophisticated and using high-level vocabulary. In addition, the two papers are based on the primary source readings that Dr. Von Glahn assigns, so be sure to read (or at least skim) through those! However, we didn't really discuss much of the readings during lecture--only in discussions--and Dr. Von Glahn basically teaches us based on his own research and knowledge of the history. The reading amount was fair--about 100 pages per week--which is reasonable. The paper topics as well as the midterm and final essay topics are fair also. Overall, I thought this class was very interesting and allowed for me to learn more about my own culture. I wish we could've gone through the history in way more detail, but hey, it's hard to go over thousands of years of history in ten weeks.

professor very dedicated and passionate about chinese history. lecture slides and notes organized. basically gives you the midterm and final essay topics by showing you the previous year's test which doesn't make studying for the tests too hard.

only con: the LONG discussion sessions...... try to bring something to do in discussion...talking about confucius and mencius for 2 hrs is dull...