Earlier this week, we compiled your profs’ most outrageous openers, but then you sent in a few more gems. Below, the stragglers of this semester’s silliest:
Laura Kay, Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
“When sending me an email, send it to this address. My other address is filled with spam, mostly regarding body parts that I do not have.”
Erik Gray, Literary Texts, Critical Methods
“I would argue that you do not enjoy reading because it reminds you of
sex, but that you enjoy sex because of reading. You might object, but
I ask you, which did you do first?”
E’mett McCaskill, Abnormal Behavior
“If someone comes to class pantsless with just a t-shirt on, are they displaying signs of abnormal behavior? Or are they just hot?”
Claudio Lomnitz, Ethnographic Imagination
“Do you mind if I shut the door? It’s paranoia….I don’t want to ever have my back to an open door…. it’s a South American thing.”
Lejla Kucukalic, Science Fiction
“…and film theorists such as Tom Gunning, referred to the reactions to these very early films as ‘an aesthetic of astonishment.’ There was no plot at all, people were just there to see something new and amazing, simple moving images on a screen utilizing new and exciting technology. This tradition lives on today, in Avatar.”
Robert Jervis, International Politics
“I am going to make fun of some countries: France and Canada. Also, I will make fun of New Jersey…How can I get through a 75 minute lecture without a snide comment?
19 Comments
@Anonymous I thought Claudio Lomnitz was from Mexico. Doesn’t that make him North American?
@Anonymous He’s from Chile, I believe.
@Anonymous Paul Richards, Weapons of Mass Destruction: “Welcome to the first class on a miserable day, and a miserable subject.”
@Anonymous \I vork on tings dat go boom.\
I.C. Noyan, Atomic Scale Engineering of New Materials
@Erik Gray... … is full of awesome.
@James Adams, English Novel 2 But, to quote the immortal Tina Turner, ‘what’s love got to do with it?’
@Sad. I was so bummed when they changed the time for this class because I had to drop it. I was really looking forward to it too :(.
@CC 2011 Is it Richard Jervis, or Robert Jervis? Maybe there’s a new prof. on the block teaching intl politics…or maybe he’s also called Richard?
@CC 11 Definitely Robert Jervis.
@Liz Jacob You’re totally right. Fixed!
@Also Jervis says that evvvvvvvvvvvery year. And, to whomever is in that class–get out while you still can.
@U can kiss your weekends goodbye, this class was in my top 3 of hardest classes I took at Columbia. CC 11′
@seriously that class blew sooooooooooooooooo…….. much.
@CC'11 A B+ in this class will make you jump for joy. Seriously.
@Naw Get a cup of coffee, sit up front and pay attention. He’s dry, but generally brilliant.
@srsly? Don’t listen to these people. The workload isn’t that bad, and just because Jervis gives out A’s according to the standard 30% distribution rule doesn’t mean the class is impossible. Also, the guy is genuinely sharp as a tack. Talk to him in office hours.
@CC'11 When I took this class, 14% got A-range grades
@Anonymous Erik Gray talking about sex….. dreamy sigh
@Alan Timberlake, Language History “You have two options for your course book. The first author writes like a real know-it-all. The other one talks down to you in case you don’t know all the terminology. So you can take your pick between being patronized by arrogance or patronized with sort of a feel-good vibe.”
-1/18/2011