GoldMay 03, 2010
Awn, Peter 
V2630 Islam
Professor Awn's course was extremely delightful. He shines as a beacon of subject-matter expertise and pedagogical genius. What sets him apart from other lecturers is his ability to connect with the students and not take himself or anyone else too seriously. His relaxed matter fosters a relaxed atmosphere in which the material does not feel like work. Some of the lectures were a bit dry, which he acknowledges. The majority of the lectures, however, were delightful to attend and very informative. He does not seem to be an extremely difficult grader, though that guess is mere conjecture. The key to success on the essays seems to be thinking critically about the material and writing coherent sentences with proper grammar and punctuation. No witchcraft here. Another nice part of the course is the reading list provided. For every topic on the syllabus, a list of recommended readings is included. I will be referring back to that list in the years to come to deepen my understanding.
Professor Awn's class was a diamond in Columbia's occasional academic rough.
There is a fair amount of reading for this course. However, this is one of the courses you can skim the reading if you have a lot of other work to get done. You're best served by doing it, however. Four eight-page essays and a simple final.
December 31, 1999
Awn, Peter
V2630 Islam
Please keep in mind that this review is more than 5 years old.
The man is witty, entertaining, opinionated, and interesting to listen to. He peppers his lectures with fun anecdotes. Despite the large classes, he attempts to personally grade every paper submitted. He's also a nice guy to speak with.
December 31, 1999
Awn, Peter
V2630 Islam
Please keep in mind that this review is more than 5 years old.
This is one of the most overrated courses at Columbia. Yes, his lectures were somewhat enjoyable because of his personality but I learned literally almost nothing about Islam from this course. You're supposed to read all these ancient religious texts but without context they're meaningless and difficult to make sense of--and he doesn't really explain them very well. Also, they're unmatched for boredom. You thought the Iliad was boring? Ha. Awn is a very nice man who is funny and entertaining. I remember on the first nice day of weather when I took the class, half the class skipped, and he announced, "The Steps, 1; Me, 0." But that can't compensate for his all-over-the-place, unorganized lectures. If you're someone who likes a little structure in a lecture, you're going to be irritated. In all honesty, there are better ways to fulfill your major cultures requirement and learn about Islam (just not with Saliba's Islamic Civ class--he's like a lunatic).
You don't need to do a lot of the reading. Three 7 page papers, final exam is a joke and I don't even think he counted it. But it's really unclear what he expects from you in the papers and the topics kind of sucked each time (very boring and vague). Don't remember if there's a midterm. Easy to get a decent grade, hard to do well because the requirements aren't clear, sort of like the readings and the lectures. (Detecting a theme here, Sherlock?)
December 31, 1999
Awn, Peter
V2630 Islam
Please keep in mind that this review is more than 5 years old.
Peter Awn is a great man, and this class is dope. Whether he sticks to his lesson plan on a given day, or not, is neither here nor there; as his diversions, covering topics ranging from female circumcision to his favorite racist movies, are at least as interesting and educational as anything he planned at the outset. His offbeat background (which I haven't figured out entirely yet, but it appears to contain a stint as a Jesuit priest and frequent experimentation with what he lovingly refers to as "pharmacological delights," among other things) makes even the lectures concerning more mundane subject matter extremely entertaining. Awn uses Islam as a tool for confronting students preconceptions about both that particular religion and religion in general, and forced me to ask myself questions that I would never have thought of on my own. The TA session was a total waste of my time and Awn's paper topics are vague and very difficult to mold into anything of value, but if you can slog through that stuff this is a gem of a class.
Three short papers, a final, which in Awn's words, "I can assure you will be of absolutely no educational or societal value," medium-weight reading assignments, and a trip to the Islamic Art galleries at the Met.
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