Professor
Sanjay Subrahmanyam
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - I really liked this class. I thought the professor was really educated in the topic and the lectures were very thorough. Would definitely recommend taking notes bc the slides are not very helpful -- they're just very brief bullet points so studying just from that is not v helpful. The midterm was open book and open notes. The final was a take home essay I believe. Overall I found the class easy bc I went to all the lectures and took very detailed notes lol. Would definitely recommend this class, especially if you're South Asian or have any experience learning about South Asian culture and history.
Fall 2018 - I really liked this class. I thought the professor was really educated in the topic and the lectures were very thorough. Would definitely recommend taking notes bc the slides are not very helpful -- they're just very brief bullet points so studying just from that is not v helpful. The midterm was open book and open notes. The final was a take home essay I believe. Overall I found the class easy bc I went to all the lectures and took very detailed notes lol. Would definitely recommend this class, especially if you're South Asian or have any experience learning about South Asian culture and history.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I came into this class with the intention of completing a GE. Both the midterm (30%) and the final (40%) were take home and we had between 48-72 hours or so depending on the test to complete it. I honestly believe that without the idea of these tests being take-home, I would not have done as well as I did. Without COVID, I believe this would have been in-person which I don't think is the best as you have to write out an essay within that limited time without other resources. Like the previous review, I felt that the questions (especially for the midterm) pertained to things briefly covered in class rather than what I expected would be thematic questions. I took very good notes for this course and followed the readings so I was prepared with information, but someone who maybe didn't do this may have had a difficult time completing these. The grading wasn't exactly harsh, but I definitely think that it was hard to compile a bunch of information with the limited word count, at least in my case. For instance I was told I could probably elaborate more, but I didn't have the space to do so. I ended up doing well on the exams, however, but it definitely took some time for me to complete them. Along with these there were weekly writing assignments of 500 words based on primary sources that were 30% of our grade. They were fairly simple and you should be able to do well on them. Chase, the TA, was very nice and was willing to discuss questions which was helpful. Overall, the class wasn't my favorite as I don't exactly love history, but it was an interesting class. If you are looking for an easy GE, I don't think this is the one for you, but if you're willing to put in some work or find world history interesting, I think you'll enjoy it.
Winter 2022 - I came into this class with the intention of completing a GE. Both the midterm (30%) and the final (40%) were take home and we had between 48-72 hours or so depending on the test to complete it. I honestly believe that without the idea of these tests being take-home, I would not have done as well as I did. Without COVID, I believe this would have been in-person which I don't think is the best as you have to write out an essay within that limited time without other resources. Like the previous review, I felt that the questions (especially for the midterm) pertained to things briefly covered in class rather than what I expected would be thematic questions. I took very good notes for this course and followed the readings so I was prepared with information, but someone who maybe didn't do this may have had a difficult time completing these. The grading wasn't exactly harsh, but I definitely think that it was hard to compile a bunch of information with the limited word count, at least in my case. For instance I was told I could probably elaborate more, but I didn't have the space to do so. I ended up doing well on the exams, however, but it definitely took some time for me to complete them. Along with these there were weekly writing assignments of 500 words based on primary sources that were 30% of our grade. They were fairly simple and you should be able to do well on them. Chase, the TA, was very nice and was willing to discuss questions which was helpful. Overall, the class wasn't my favorite as I don't exactly love history, but it was an interesting class. If you are looking for an easy GE, I don't think this is the one for you, but if you're willing to put in some work or find world history interesting, I think you'll enjoy it.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - Ease depends on your background of the material and if you attend lecture. Prior to the course, If you have an idea of what went down from 1400-1700 across Europe, attend and pay attention to all lectures with notes, you can mostly skip the readings and you'll get an A. Still the reading's important to increase your historical knowledge in general. If you have no clue about this period, I'd read the main textbook, though I don't think the documents he provides are necessary. Exams were straight forward; in the midterm and final, the professor gave 4 essay questions and let you choose 2. The final was a take home version of the midterm, where we're given 48 hours to complete the exam and send it in email. Sanjay's lectures were straightforward, easy to follow, and interesting. He adds quips and jokes every once in a while which animate the lectures somewhat. It's basically an info dump though so it can get boring.
Fall 2016 - Ease depends on your background of the material and if you attend lecture. Prior to the course, If you have an idea of what went down from 1400-1700 across Europe, attend and pay attention to all lectures with notes, you can mostly skip the readings and you'll get an A. Still the reading's important to increase your historical knowledge in general. If you have no clue about this period, I'd read the main textbook, though I don't think the documents he provides are necessary. Exams were straight forward; in the midterm and final, the professor gave 4 essay questions and let you choose 2. The final was a take home version of the midterm, where we're given 48 hours to complete the exam and send it in email. Sanjay's lectures were straightforward, easy to follow, and interesting. He adds quips and jokes every once in a while which animate the lectures somewhat. It's basically an info dump though so it can get boring.
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