Chief Course Directory tipster Jake Miller informs Bwog that this morning, for the very first time, students have access to a full list of this year’s CC professors. For the confused Elevens, we’ve asked some informed upperclassmen (all of who received passing grades in CC!) with whom they recommend taking the class.
Powerhouse celebrities Max Frankel and Dick Wald (both CC ’52) will be co-teaching a section, though some cautious Bwoggers worry that maybe this would be too great, and we’re just setting ourselves up for disappointment? Anyway, if you’ve ever wanted to take a class with the entire news staff of the Columbia Daily Spectator, now’s your shot.
Other favorites include Mark Mazower, Roosevelt Montas, Katja Vogt, Matthew Jones, and Anthony Corsentino. Feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments, the Elevens will thank you.
UPDATE: For you Terrible 12s out there, Lit Hum profs have been unmasked as well. Bwog recommends Denise Milstein, who won last year’s graduate preceptor award and is reportedly unsafe for silent students and those who would skip class, as well as law school admissions dean Harry Kavros.
Let the shuffling begin.
82 Comments
@soo Why doesn’t section 52 have a CC prof yet? This is really unnerving.
@cc '10 i have denise milstein for cc…nothing on culpa, but i’ll take your word, bwog.
@roosevelt montas is THE MAN!! such a good prof. love him.
@god... comes in the form of geoffrey mac adam, who is teaching lit hum.
he is just about the coolest person i know. i worship him.
@CC Alum Second on the Yerkes hero bit. He’s a jack*** but you’re a douchebag if you dont love him.
@cyang val daniel is a brilliant man but a pretty poor teacher
@lit hum unfortunately, it seems that saskia ziolkowski isn’t teaching lit hum anymore. she was awesome. freshmen are missing out.
@while it is true that bulliet is pompous, he’s also rather awesome and entertaining. and to the person who recommended lilla, i would disagree. he is also pompous, but rather nit-picky, not particularly interesting and a tough grader.
eisenbach is really the man though.
@alum Anders Stephanson is awesome. If he’s teaching, take CC with him.
@All I want... …is Music Hum. When does that come out?
@ahhhh definitely recommend Ryan Chaney, very cool prof, nice guy, and you’ll feel like you learned something. Can’t go wrong with Chaney.
@question does anyone know if there is a textbook for intermediate macro with xavier????
@2010 a bit of advice for all the ’11ers: stay away from Richard Billows’ section. I had him last semester and it was a nightmare. Do not listen to the CULPA review; it must have been written by one of the two students he randomly decides he likes about half-way through the first _lecture_ (there is no discussion)
@Weinfeld The person above is spot on. Doesn’t matter how smart you are or how hard you work. If he likes you, easy A. If not, B.
@2011er so basically you’re saying that i should wear a push-up bra and a low cut shirt to class?? just want to make sure i’m getting it right haha
@Weinfeld hahaha, I’m the guy who wrote the original Weinfeld comment and I’m happy to see someone who agrees with me. I’m guessing you were one of the B’s, too? He’d give me, like, 89% on everything. It was almost a joke. Not a funny one, though.
@cc08 katja, roosevelt, and kathy eden are probably the 3 best profs i had at columbia.
four years out of lit hum and i still want to have katja’s babies.
and val daniel is hysterical, but the worst prof i ever had. ever ever ever.
@Question Does anyone know anything about Daniel Graves for CC?
@val e. valentine daniel is the best. you’ll never want to miss any of his classes, ever.
@art hum anyone that has kyle killian for art hum, consider youself blessed by the gods – I had him last semester and he is one of the best professors I ever had at Columbia oh and no final or midterm is SWEETTTTT
@Ron Gejman Art Hum results also out.
@Anyone... …who has Olivia Powell for Art Hum has been blessed. I absolutely adore her.
@'11 section 53 has been assigned. felix koch, a philosophy grad student… anyone know anything about him?
@well... I know nothing about him, but he is absolutely beautiful. Incentive to show up to class?
@cc '11 felix koch’s girlfriend is SO FUCKING HOT! How’d he end up with her???? Does anyone know anything about her? I want to steal her away.
@2011er too bad the ultimate master of lit hum, peter “poucedog” pouncey, has officially retired. or so he says. he’s the man.
@me again god damn it. pouncedog.
@cc10 For Lit Hum, Margo Rosen is great too. Sweet, kind, intelligent.
@More Freshman, avoid Carole Slade and David Yerkes like the plague. I had to have the former for one semester of Lit Hum and if her general demeanor were not enough to make you think she’s a witch, the woman actualyl cackles when she speaks.
I had David Yerkes for a seminar and he has an insufferably pompous personality (and not in an adorable way) and can’t stick to the material or give out relevant assignments for his life.
I can only begin to imagine, however, how awesome it would be to have either Richard Bulliet or Mark Lilla teaching your class…
@Juli Hey — David Yerkes is a hero!
@Did anyone have... Judith Wermuth for LitHum? CULPA Reviews are pretty mixed.
@2011 Yep, I had Wermuth for fall semester, but our class got a different professor for the spring. She seemed a bit hard to please until she got to know us better. I thought she was really sweet and genuinely cared about her students. Plus not a hard grader imo.
@cc08 katja katja katja!!!!
@also for Lit Hum, Michael Rosenthal is an excellent choice
@I really enjoyed Douglas Chalmers’ class. Not terribly difficult, very open-ended with paper topics, and trended toward modern applications.
@yoo why do some people have appointments at today while others have it on the 30th? And why are student life fees $541 this year?!
@asdf transfers or readmits from medical leaves or study abroad register now
@pissed also have E. Valentine Daniel. Anyone in Vogt’s section bribable for their spot?
@curious 12er anyone have any words on flora armetta? i have her for lit hum, and i’m curious.
@umm richard bulliet is teaching lit hum. awesome. also dave eisenbach is a good choice.
@Fuck Freshmen: consider yourselves ridiculously lucky if you’ve scored Eisenbach as your Lit Hum instructor.
Had him for History of the Presidency last semester (read the bwog archives) and was kicking myself for not having conned my way into his Lit Hum section freshman year.
@curious any clues about when the two unassigned cc sections will, you know, be assigned?
@Corsentino is he ok with answering questions if he’s asked good questions, or is it basically just a lecture
@jones i had matthew jones for a history seminar and he is phenomenal. his lectures are interesting and engaging, he has a great sense of humor, and hes a fair grader.
@corsentino is very insightful, but bad at managing class discussion and responding to student comments. had him in s07, and it seemed like everyone in his fall section had switched out.
@hmm How about Kirsten Lodge? I checked on CULPA but the reviews are mostly about she teaching Russian, not Lit Hum.
@Ron Most of this conversation should be on CULPA people… It exists for posterity.
@ok so I am in corsentino’s class. Culpa has uniformly bad reviews, yet bwog lists him as a favorite. Reviews in the comments seem mixed.
So can I switch? If I can, should I?
@mlt Whatever you do, avoid Valentine Daniel like the plague. He’s a nice enough guy, but totally incapable of teaching the material. That and the fact that he missed 5 classes and rescheduled them on Friday mornings, couldn’t write a decent essay question to save his life, and was a wildly inconsistent grader. If it wasn’t for wi-fi in Hamilton, and the utter ridiculousness of his life stories, I might have died of boredom in his classes.
If that doesn’t persuade you, 17 of the 22 people in my fall semester section transferred out. The other 5 were either athletes who didn’t care, or unlucky souls who couldn’t fit a different class into their schedule.
@has valentine daniel fuck
@for the record i loved val daniel. he certainly is crazy, but in an awesome way.
@matthew jones nope. it seems that noone in my section in the fall of 2007-2008 thought he was that great.
@wtf u crazy?
@... the gs section has a grad student. surprise! surprise!
@CML Where the fuck is Countess Kira Kalina von Ostenfeld? Teaching one of the TR 4-6 sections? (That’s when I had her.) Or is she gone? How awful that would be.
@Anonymous gots no teachers, grad students anyone?
@oh eight Anthony “Tony” Corsentino isn’t bad. Kinda talks a lot, taking away from student presentations.
Shamus Khan from the Sociology dept. is supposed to be a great prof. His doctoral research sounds pretty awesome.
@scared how about Jean Laponce?
@anything on Jean Laponce, anyone? 18, i’ll see you in class.
@jonesy Matthew JOnes is hands down the best CC teacher.
@seconded
@pierce i agree, roosevelt is da man…
@2011 i feel lucky now…and cautiously optimistic about this semester
@What about George D Frangos?
@CC07 I had corsentino and he was SO dry.
Kathy Eden is a rockstar.
@2011er any thoughts on paul weinfield?
@adsjal I had him last year… He’s like a cool, hip young guy, but I think he really favors certain kids. I probably wouldn’t want to take another class with him, but if he likes you, you’ll get an easy A. Unfortunately, he didn’t like me (for whatever reason).
@STATHIS STATHIS.
best. class. ever.
@Did you mean beers? I generally don’t like talking about philosophy over bears. You can’t ever get them out of the cave.
@Montas Montas is excellent! He knows everything inside and out. He allows good discussions but he provides complete context to every work in order to create an informed conversation. A lot of less knowledgeable section leaders just let the class devolve into senseless debates of values and philosophy. That’s fun over a couple bears but it’s good to have structured and informed debates in class.
@omg i had anthony corsentino…SO nice and an awesome professor. amazing w. kant.
HIGHLY recommended
@'11er Anyone know anything about George D Frangos? He appears to be such a non-entity his own department doesn’t list him.
@I vote for Ryan Chaney…he is the coolest person ever, and understands more of Plato than I ever will
@Anyone... …know anything about Jason Gajderowicz?
@... I had Jason for some Latin classes and he was a really cool guy. Very funny and nice. I think he would be a good CC/Lit Hum teacher.
I also had a semester of CC with Dick Bulliet and it was horrible. A huge waste of time. He is also incredibly pompous (and insecure).
@... Hey, thanks! That’s a nice bit of good news.
@The CC gods... …have given me Katja Vogt. I feel kinda special.
@cc10 I
@cc10 that was suppose to say: I Heart Katja.
@Alum “All of *whom*”, not “all of who”. Or better yet, “each of whom”.
Sheesh.
@hmm my professor isn’t posted. i was also somehow switched to a section in pupin — this doesn’t bode well.
@creeper i want to have coital relations with dear katja