<p>Hi! I am going to be taking Conversations of the West with Professor Levene and The Doctors Dilemma with Dr. Makover this fall. I was just wondering if anybody has previously had these classes and would know if all the books they list as required are actually necessary to buy. Does anyone know what order the books are read? Would the library most likely have a copy of these books?</p>
<p>I just wanted to add that my mom’s been saying not to wait until the professor tells us what books are actually needed, because then I won’t have time to order it off Amazon for cheaper :)</p>
<p>My Conwest teacher listed like 10 books (books like Plato, the bible, etc.) so I said screw that and didn’t get any of them. It’s NY though, I’m sure we’ll be able to find some used bookstores, or else maybe borrow them from the library or something. I think teachers should get a clue and realize books are expensive. :</p>
<p>honestly, it’s not that they need to “get a clue”. it’s that NYU demands them to submit a booklist in JANUARY or something, because NYU puts in the book orders to publishers. the professor is going to changes things between january and september, and books that she thought they might need, they might not even require them any more. </p>
<p>don’t get any of them. it’s not like you’ll read all of them in this first month.</p>
<p>When do teachers traditionally send out a current syllabus? Before the school year, hopefully?</p>
<p>i’ve never received a syllabus earlier than the first meeting.</p>
<p>I will admit that came off potentially a bit meaner than it had to be. Maybe because I’m having a hard time seeing a conwest class actually READ all the stuff there, and $35 for a bible!? It also doesn’t help that they’re all labled “required” (which they may well be, but it’s an intimidating list).</p>
<p>However, I’m also sure there are teachers out there that request only the newest edition for the class, etc. Good for them, but that **** really IS expensive since oftentimes used options aren’t available, and it can be hard to tell if the newest edition even has anything new in it or if you can get away with a previous edition. (Did that rant make any sense?)</p>
<p>In other news, my calc II class didn’t list anything, but I’m sure we’ll find out what book we need when we get to class. So then I’ll either have to buy it from the NYU bookstore or deal for a few weeks without a book while I order it from somewhere. Inconvenient.</p>
<p>i didn’t mean to make it seem like i was jumping on you. we did a whole class on the textbook trade in Culture Industries, so i thought i should comment. </p>
<p>please, WAIT until you get to class. a lot of times, professors WILL say that the older editions are acceptable. </p>
<p>a lot of times, Bobst will have copies of textbooks for reference. plus, professors usually modify the readings for the first few classes to accommodate people that might not have the book yet. they might give PDF readings or print paper handouts or post problem sets on BlackBoard.</p>
<p>Dude, there are countless bibles out there, so it’s probaby extremely easy to get one for $5. Also, the bible is available online, so it shouldn’t be a big problem. So when will we know for sure what books we will need? I’m covered for microecon, cause it only requires one textbook, there’s not really any question there. WTE looks like the books are finite. However, I heard that for that class, the newest versions are the only way to go, since they get pretty much overhauled every year with all new essays. Conwest with Corradi and Calc II with an unknown prof, however, are clouded with ambiguity.</p>
<p>you’ll know after the first class, I PROMISE. they will go over the syllabus and they’ll answer all textbook questions.</p>
<p>i have one book on the bookstore list, lmao. the rest of the classes are all blog lists and PDFs. so goes the life of a media major.</p>
<p>I was in Levene’s Antiquity and the 19th Century last semester and I will say, I bought two of the books about two weeks after we covered them in class just because I needed to write a paper on them. I wouldn’t exactly advise this method but I still did just fine in the class. Levene hands out a syllabus (with all the books on a schedule) during the first lecture and he does a good job of sticking to it. You can get by buying used copies and taking them from library but don’t be surprised when you cover 10 or so various texts over the semester.</p>
<p>From my experience with ConWest, we were required to read at least portions of each book on the list, and yes, there were about 10 of them. People did have different editions in our recitation sections, and although the TA had the official edition, she had to adjust to 1/3 of the class having different editions, so it wasn’t too much of a problem to deviate. The syllabus would also say Ch 1., section 1-4, as opposed to pages 110-195, so it was easy to get the reading done without having the right edition.
I recommend going to the bookstore sooner rather than later as the old editions sell out quickly. Also, there’s a Barnes and Noble textbook store on the SE corner of 5th Ave and 18th st. that sells the classics needed for ConWest in used condition as well (cheaper than the NYU bookstore, if I recall).</p>