Courses and Profs

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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<p>I thought I'd start a thread as a reference for new Smithies about courses and profs. WIth any luck current students can add to this thread when they come home on break.</p>

<p>If you have a comment to add, please copy the thread and add yours under the appropriate section. That way the most recent and most complete version should be at or near the top.</p>

<p>Courses</p>

<p>Government 100. Political Theory, the general pre-req for Government majors. Has several tons of reading from Plato through Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, etc. A "weeder" class with tough grading...first paper had highest grade of A-. I had a description of the final and it was a bear...you would be screwed if you had not done the reading.</p>

<p>Professors</p>

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<p>Courses</p>

<p>FYS Recreating History. One of the First Year Seminars, the <em>only</em> required course at Smith, a writing-intensive course. There are dozens of FYS options offered, this is one of the most popular. This year (2004) there were three sections offered by different faculty. All sections have three historical re-enactments out of a menu of four or five. The section I'm familiar with did the Athenian Assembly in the time of Pericles, the Wan-Li Rebellion of the Ming Dynasty, and the trial of Anne Hutchinson in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Lots of research, lots of writing, lots of hours spent outside of class, lots of role-playing, lots of fun. </p>

<p>Government 100. Political Theory, the general pre-req for Government majors. Has several tons of reading from Plato through Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, etc. A "weeder" class with tough grading...first paper had highest grade of A-. I had a description of the final and it was a bear...you would be screwed if you had not done the reading.</p>

<p>Professors</p>

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<p>I'd also suggest students or visiting prospectives check out A Student Perspective on Every Course Taught At Smith at Smith.edu/aspects, which is only available from on-campus computers. </p>

<p>ratemyprofessors.com also has a smith section.</p>

<p>And yes, GOV 100 was tough...two classes shy of completing the gov major it was the hardest class in the department i've taken so far. I don't know if I'd call it a "weeder" course though...it's not as though students who find themselves unprepared for a gov major after taking this course can switch into an 'easier' major...I don't think gov's any harder than any other social science or any more determined to reduce the number of students in the department.</p>

<p>After 2.5 years at Smith, I'd say that the courses that changed my life were GOV 190 (Empirical Methods in Political Science) and REL 205 (Approaches to the Study of Religion). I had the most fun in Coastal Kayaking. And I'm most looking forward to Logic 100 (Valid and Invalid Reasoning), Whitewater Kayaking, and an Amherst course called Evaluating Social Policy.</p>

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<p>stacy- I couldn't access aspects until I got to the campus! I wish I did :) The Jolt was my best option and the most up-to-date to finding out more about courses and profs.</p>

<p>Courses</p>

<p>FYS Reenacting the Past (History, "Reenacting"). One of the First Year Seminars, the <em>only</em> required course at Smith, a writing-intensive course. There are dozens of FYS options offered, this is one of the most popular. This year (2004) there were three sections offered by different faculty. All sections have three historical re-enactments out of a menu of four or five. The section I'm familiar with did the Athenian Assembly in the time of Pericles, the Wan-Li Rebellion of the Ming Dynasty, and the trial of Anne Hutchinson in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Lots of research, lots of writing, lots of hours spent outside of class, lots of role-playing, lots of fun. </p>

<p>Government 100. Political Theory, the general pre-req for Government majors. Has several tons of reading from Plato through Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, etc. A "weeder" class with tough grading...first paper had highest grade of A-. I had a description of the final and it was a bear...you would be screwed if you had not done the reading.</p>

<p>Introduction to Astronomy: Definitely designed for science majors- do not take it if you don't plan to be a sci major, even if you're comfortable with math. No labs :) You spend 1/3 of the semester reviewing physics and chemistry and don't encounter the actual astronomy information until after your first exam. It was fun once we got to those chapters, thank god! Professor Lowenthal is great- very helpful and excited about the subject. The grading is done by a TA so some years, it's easier to get good homework grades, in other years, not so. This year was rather harsh... Very fair.</p>

<p>FYS 116: Kyoto Through the Ages: Taught by Tom Rohlich, East Asian dept. You know tell you to choose courses based on the prof, not the subject? They're telling the truth!!! This course was not quite worth my time this semester since the prof wasn't very articulate and organized in class. It can be difficult to keep the class discussion going. I don't believe that this course fillfulled the expectations for a Writing Intensive because we only did one rough-draft hand in all semester. His comments were fair and critical... but I really had hoped for more revision work. The subject material can be tedious at times and the work tends to be just busy-work with the exception of reading Lesley Downer's Geisha. </p>

<p>Professors
The Woronzoff-Dashkoffs (Russian dept) Model professors! Their personal and family history are so interesting and tends to be the subject of class discussions when someone asks an innocent question LOL. They both are very patient and fair graders if you're willing to put the work in to be successful. These profs love it and are willing to help students succeed if they express desire to study Russian literature and language in depth (history including). They are just the major reasons why I don't want to leave Smith! Oh yeah, they bring in delicious Russian candies every once in a while (dark chocolate with some nuts).</p>

<p>FYS- personally, I don't feel that they were worth it. My friend was in Gardiner's Reenacting the Past course, also. We both felt that we just got more out of our other classes (Russian Literature and Women's US History from 1865-present) in terms of learning how to write in college. Do the FYS just because you're interested in the subject, not to improve your writing (even if it does say Writing Intensive...)</p>