Dr. Ogden was really a fantastic CC professor. This was her first semester at Columbia, but you would never be able to tell she hasn't taught CC before.
Perhaps the first, most important thing to mention is that she is incredibly, incredibly intelligent and really knows what she is talking about. While some people may complain when their professor lectures during class, the general consensus in our class seemed to be that it was a pleasure listening to Dr. Ogden's lectures. She always came prepared with many notes on the subject and time period being discussed. She knew the answer to almost every one of our questions, and if she didn't, she came to class the next time with the answer.
This does not mean that her classes are all lecture. In fact, most of the time is spent on discussions, which flow well since Dr. Ogden really knows how to foster discussions by asking the right questions. However, Dr. Ogden does not include participation as part of the grade. This is great for those days when you don't read, because sitting in the corner and not saying anything will not affect your grade in the class.
Dr. Ogden is also very helpful with papers (which you get to choose your own topic for), and she is a very fair grader since she gives very specific comments and explanations for why you got a certain grade on your paper. While it is not exactly easy to get an A on the papers, the midterm and final (especially the passage ID sections, not so much the essays) are easy, since she takes passages that were discussed a lot in class.