<p>I'm looking at the course catalogue for Fall 2011... are there any teachers current Smithies recommend? Or, any classes that are particularly interesting? </p>
<p>I'm like creating a list of classes I'd like to take right now, so any input would be extremely helpful and awesome :)</p>
<p>Howiegrange, I think there’s a website called Rate A Professor or something like that and you can look up Smith professors. You do want to take the ratings with a grain of salt, however. Sometimes students give professors wildly differing ratings, from adoring to angry. If a rating is generally very positive, with a small number of unhappy comments, I think you can generally attribute it to students who received unsatisfactory grades. You are welcome to ask about specific classes and professors on this forum for opinions as well.</p>
<p>Floyd Cheung of the English Department. I’ve heard lots of good things about him and heard him speak at the Fall Preview on the faculty panel. At the same panel I was very impressed with Roisin O’Sullivan of the Economics Department, who is also highly regarded. The great thing about Smith is you will see top professors even in your First Year.</p>
<p>It really depends what departments and courses you’re looking at, I’ve had so many great professors it would be impossible to list them all! If you’re curious about a particular department, I’m sure people would chime in if you list it.</p>
<p>Last summer the Smith Facebook page asked alums and current students to list some of their favorite professors, and I made a neat little list. I think I still have it somewhere on this computer…</p>
<p>Ah, yes! From most mentions to least (least being 2):</p>
<p>Pat Skarda
Susan Van Dyne
Harold Skulsky
Ernest Benz
Kevin Quashie
Ginny Hayssen
Joan Afferica
Bill Oram
Maria Banerjee
Mary Harrington
Walter Morris-Hale
Susan Levin
Karl Donfried
Ernie Alleva
Donna Divine
Joachim Stieber
Betsy Harris
Elizabeth Von Klemperer
Daniel Gardner
Michael Barresi
Vernon Harward
Dawn Fulton</p>
<p>It depends on the department, but to list a few from personal experience (taking a class with them/seeing them give lectures or speak on panels) and from friend’s experiences:
Kate Queeney (Chem), Borjana Mikic (Engineering), Caroline Melly (Anthro), Marnie Anderson (History/East Asian Studies), Daniel Gardner (History/East Asian Studies), Elizabeth Klarich (Anthro/Archeology), Elizabeth Pryor (History), Kim Kono (Japanese Literature), Floyd Cheung (English/American Studies)…</p>
<p>I second Pat Skarda. Take her FYS Groves of Academe. It’s a tough syllabus, but you WILL learn to write better and learn a TON about Smith. She’s an incredible woman!</p>
<p>Pat Skarda is 10 kinds of crazy, but definitely in a good way. TC has a pretty good list, but some of the best Gov professors (who are obviously the best professors period. :-)) aren’t listed!!?</p>
<p>I agree Pat is crazy!</p>
<p>Anybody can recommend good economics and government (I’m gearing towards international relations based courses) professors?</p>
<p>Econ: Roger Kaufman, Mahnaz Mahdavi
Many also swear by Randy Bartlett but D did not take courses from him so I don’t know. Both Roger & Mahnaz were not only great teachers at the time but extremely helpful in mentoring in the application process for graduate school, where D did pretty damned well in a pretty brutal year: now at 5-6-1 (one wait list still operating) with 11 out of 12 being Top 20 programs and an acceptance at a Top 3 in her specialty, Top 5 overall.</p>
<p>Gov: Don Baumer, Pat Coby</p>
<p>As in years previous, those looking for an interesting First Year Seminar should look at “Recreating the Past” or whatever it’s called. You role play four significant events in world history; I remember that one of D’s involved court politics of the Ming Dynasty. Pat Coby teaches some of those courses as well as others.</p>
<p>@TheDad</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I’ll def check those profs out. You were spot on, other than being good at teaching, I also need them to be close with students and know us well, so that when testimonial-writing time comes, I don’t have to scramble around finding someone to write it for me.</p>
<p>Can you explain to me about the 5-6-1? I don’t quite understand it. I’m looking at Law for graduate studies actually. Btw, do you know if grad schools offer fin aid to international students?</p>
<p>As I mentioned in an earlier post, Roisin O’Sullivan is an excellent economics teacher. She is very well-spoken and knowledgeable with a background working in international economics.</p>
<p>5 acceptances, 6 denials, 1 wait list. See also sports scoring: wins, losses, ties.</p>
<p>Graduate school financing is much better for internationals than undergrad though some schools have developed a new wrinkle that I look at as being a bit nasty: no funding the first year, guaranteed after that. But between fellowships, research assistant positions, and TA positions, there are decent funding options available. Some programs offer admission with no funding guaranteed though it can become available later. (And some offer admissions but put you on the wait list for funding; D will be turning down a place that guaranteed her an $18K research assistantship for three years, making someone very very happy as that funding becomes available.)</p>
<p>@Boss51 - Thanks, I will look at the courses she is teaching too.</p>
<p>@TheDad - One of my friends told me that graduate funding for internationals is almost impossible and another said it is easy. Pretty conflicting views huh. I think yours is more accurate than theirs haha.</p>
<p>The system sounds really confusing. I can only attend graduate school with aid because I’ll be spending every penny I have on undergrad studies. I guess I’ll just have to get a complete idea of how their fin aid is structured before I apply, in order to decrease the risk of disappointment due to fin problems again.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I’ll take up a TA position though it sounds good ;/ I refuse to be taught by any TAs so I don’t know if I’ll inflict the torture (haha) on other people. I took a course at a Singaporean Uni last yr and the graduate taking my tutorial was simply terrible. She did nothing to help us understand the very confusing quantum physics concepts. That’s mainly why I’m running far far away from large schools now.</p>
<p>If your graduate stipend is tied to a TA position, you will take the TA position.</p>
<p>I feel like TAs get a bad rep sometimes undeservedly. There’s no magic transformation when someone gets a PhD. that makes them into a better teacher than they were when they were in grad school. Some graduate students really do have a strong grasp of their subject and are good teachers. Some are terrible, but I don’t know that that has that much to do with their being TAs as it does with their being bad teachers.</p>
<p>S and P: well, the difference between being a grad student and being a professor is that profs are hired to teach, as well as for their research. Grad students are admitted on the basis of their research and writing skills, as shown in college. It is true that grad students are not taught how to teach, and they don’t magically pick up the skill upon graduation, but in the job application process the grad students who are applying to be professors but who can’t convey complex information orally are generally weeded out.</p>
<p>I second looking up Reacting to the Past, if it is offered this fall. I took it last fall and though I got off to a rocky start, it easily became my favourite class of the semester. It’s a fantastic way to really get to the material, and you learn a lot about yourself as well. There were two sections last year: one did the French Revolution and Henry VIII with Bill Oram, the other did Athens, Ming China and the Trial of Anne Hutchinson with Daniel Gardner. I don’t know who will be teaching it this year, though- at any rate, I highly recommend it.</p>
<p>Fair enough. But even in the vaunted halls of Smith, we have people who are still in graduate school who teach some of the lower level classes and the exercise and sports studies classes. Smith doesn’t refer to them as TAs (and they’re not TAs really, they’re not assisting a professor and they’re not grad students at Smith. Except the exercise and sports studies teachers who are usually in the masters in exercise sicence program at Smith), to get around the “none of our teachers are TAs” thing. But I have definitely been taught by two graduate students (once in intro to Macroeconomics and once in a language class). Both were fabulous teachers, the econ one was much better than my micro-econ full fledged tenured professor I had the following semester. I really noticed no difference between those “Lecturers” and any other person with a Phd hired to do one or two courses at Smith but who was not yet tenured.</p>