department
classics

Karen is a fantastic LitHum teacher. Having her during the pandemic was actually one of the highlights of my freshman year. She made an effort to help us get to know each other during class by splitting the class in half and letting two groups work on their own in breakout rooms. She's also super sweet, always very passionate about the things we're reading, and is generally quite helpful in showing you how to improve throughout the year. The class also really loved the TA for the class, Isabella, who went above and beyond to help us out! While we put more emphasis on some texts than others, and focused on very specific themes in pretty much every book we read, we still managed to cover a lot of ground throughout the semester. One thing everyone noticed is the importance of participation. You need to make at least a few comments per week to be engaged and show what you're thinking - but if you can do that, you're golden. Overall, a super fun core class, and she grades you well if you put in some level of effort.

Professor Tommasino is the most caring person you will ever meet. All of the classes were designed so they were comfortable and created a space where everyone felt welcome. The discussions he led were always fun and as a non-humanities major feeling intimidated by the class coming in, I always felt I could comfortably participate in the conversation. He also included books that weren't eurocentric and classics that were a fun read. He also was very knowledgeable and provided interesting takes and connections between books, his jokes were endearing and he always spread positivity and good vibes. While the whole year was online, he tried really hard to simulate a close and comfortable environment. When submitting an essay he always replied with a thank you and kind words, he was always available if you ever needed anything, he urged us to ask for an extension or help if we ever needed it, always asked how we were, etc. All in all, a wonderful experience! If you get in his section: congratulations, he is an amazing professor, and I always felt accepted and appreciated by him - rare especially in the online format. If not, I advise you to try really hard to get in, it will be worth it.

Although I do not regret taking the course, I do regret taking it with Professor Foley. I often had the impression that Professor Foley was bored in class. It seemed like she was teaching because she had to, rather than because she wanted to. It was semi-difficult for the class to engage because of this. Besides this, she is very nice. I absolutely suggest taking advantage of her office hours (esp before the midterms) because it will help you expand your ideas.

Although I do not regret taking the course, I do regret taking it with Professor Foley. I often had the impression that Professor Foley was bored in class. It seemed like she was teaching because she had to, rather than because she wanted to. It was semi-difficult for the class to engage because of this. Besides this, she is very nice. I absolutely suggest taking advantage of her office hours (esp before the midterms) because it will help you expand your ideas.

Jeffrey (he insists that "unless our need for the social hierarchy is that strong" to call him Jeffrey) is an AMAZING professor. I had him during a semester when everything was on Zoom, but he was incredibly understanding and engaging even with a technological barrier. As a person, he is very kind and open-minded to all forms of interpretation of the texts. He gave veryyy detailed feedback and was always inviting us to office hours if we wanted to go over papers. However, he usually didn't read drafts of papers before we turned them in (which I know some professors allow). His job is in the Union Theological Seminary, and he curates medieval texts, which in a normal year he would show to his students. I definitely recommend his class!