<p>good course?</p>
<p>Emergence of Modern Europe = HIST 103, that is taught by Professor Harkness, yes? I definitely enjoyed the class last fall, and I took another class with her in the spring. A lot of 103 seemed like review for me, but that's probably because I took AP Euro in high school (and I'm a history major). Her specialty is in, I believe, England from 1400-1800(?), but she covers most European countries pretty evenly.</p>
<p>She is funny, extremely friendly, and very accessible, and her exams are definitely reasonable if you study for them; you just need to study terms and brush up on essay topics she provides. Class participation is pretty important in her classes, and is calculated in discussion sessions. The class has discussion once a week, and the more you attend/talk, the higher your grade. I don't think the discussion actually accomplished very much though, a lot of people seemed to be too tired to keep their eyes open, let alone discuss Montesquieu, at 8 in the morning.</p>
<p>I only have two complaints about the class... one, the discussions were a bit too early in the mornings for my taste, but I really like sleeping in. If you're an early bird, that shouldn't be an issue for you. Also, the discussion times might have changed from the 8/9 AM slots they used to occupy. </p>
<p>Secondly, the course books aren't too captivating. She seems to favor books that are basically collections of a bunch of documents. While normally I don't mind reading documents on topics that I am really interested in, reading a book full of dry treatises/letters on one topic isn't exactly my cup of tea. I couldn't bring myself to actually finish Leonardo da Vinci's notebook, though if you're really interested in the sciences you might enjoy it. She did mention to me in passing though that there were some book changes in 103, so perhaps some things have been removed/added.</p>
<p>So all in all, I definitely recommend the class! The issues I had with the course are minor in comparison to how wonderful the professor and course are.</p>
<p>I unfortunately don't know anything about East Asian Societies, though. :)</p>
<p>East Asian societies is OK... </p>
<p>Classes are super laid back... you just walk in, and a movie starts, basicaly every class lecture. he only lectured maybe 3 times? Although the lecture might make you fall asleep, but they are really interesting (just long...two hours). </p>
<p>I felt that the material was very relevant to today's society...and for the most part interesting..just ALOT Of info. THe professor knows alot just never really teaches... but you do learn stuff. </p>
<p>Then theres a lot of reading, but that's what discussion is basically for (going over the reading). TBH, i didn't read ANY of the 8 or so books, and I got a B, but i did go to all the discussions and some lectures. I mean, you do know whats on the test, because he gives a study guide, but it's hard cause he gives you LOTS of possible questions and only picks a few </p>
<p>I'd say easy to get a B, hard to get an A. it was ok.. take it if you really want to learn about east asian societies.</p>