[HIST BC3321] Colonial Encounters

Tiersten is definitely a funny individual. One thing you should know about this class is that it is not a survey of what happened in colonialism, it is about how colonialism affected European culture. Besides that, Tiersten definitely keeps lectures entertaining. Sure, she interupts herself, and talks about how she might act crazy, but she always has a definite point, and you will learn from this class if you just pay attention. Also, it's really, really, easy. One paper, and an easy final and midterm. No worries.

I highly recommend this class for anyone who has any interest in history whatsoever- or even if you're interested in the current events today relating to colonialism because Prof. Tiersten makes this class so interesting. She covers a lot of material (and talks REALLY fast so be prepared!!!) but it's all extremely interesting and you'll be glad you showed up to class. The paper assignment is a fun way to go into more detail of one of the topics you may have wanted to learn more about. Overall, great class even if you're not a history major like me.
Also- the movie assignments were really worthwhile- you get to see some great movies including Chocolat (not the one with Johnny Depp!), Cannibal Tours, Tarzan, etc.

A lot of people trash talk Prof. Tiersten for her broad lectures or, well, fairly easy classes, but frankly there aren't enough teachers at CU and BC who give solid, survey introductions to non-Western history. Colonial Encounters is all over the place, and spans centuries; the course reading and lectures lay out a thematic overview of material you simply can't cover in detail in one course. So: Don't take it if you're looking to learn everything about one area or period. Take it if you want a smart, funny, well-informed lecturer who tells interesting stories and can help you connect what you already know to some broad, historical patterns. Tiersten is a fantastic speaker, a truly dedicated teacher, and nice to boot; her class is one that first-year history students should kick down the door to take. Also, ask her about the death of Captain Cook.

A fairly good course that deals with the concept of empire throughout history, with some profound similarities to the present day. Tiersten is a good lecturer and tries to get the class to participate, which judging by the large size of the class is not always successful. I think a discussion section would have been a good addition to the lectures, but that's just me. She also speaks VERY fast, though you don't really need to get down everything she says. Overall, a pretty good course.

I would not recommend this class. I took it to fulfill one of the history major requirements and regret it greatly. While the class is incredibly easy even for a Barnard course, the lectures might as well be read out of a textbook. Prof. Tiersten is nice enough, but the lectures are a constant stream of names, facts, and dates that superficially engage with events. Covering Colonial Encounters is a daunting subject, and so instead of focusing on a few events this becomes a survey course with enough information to make one interested in a subject but never enough to make one knowledgable. The course seems geared towards maximizing information for ids for the exams. Further, Tiersten does not know much of the material besides that gotten from textbooks. When talking about Africa for instace, she ignored many significant events in South African history in order to make her explanations seem as clear and logical as possible. Unfortunately, history is not always clear and many factors, not 1 or 2, influence events. This is a simplified history course geared towards memorization. Nobody does the reading and even the TAs are bored, either not showing up or looking out windows. The discussions are even worse with a few students talking and most ignorantly.

Lisa Tiersten may be the best professor you will ever have; not one of the best - THE BEST. She is fascinated with history; she is monumentally enthusiastic; she is an excellent lecturer. She will give you an outline of every lecture complete with ID's which will turn up on the study guide for both mid-terms and finals - so if you do them as you go, you will have half of your studying done by exam-time. You might really want to consider this because her exam-style is to give out prepatory essays and a slew of ID's. If you prepare the essays and the ID's you will do well - that's all there is to it. But there are a lot of essays (between 5 and 7) and ID's (around 50) to prepare. They require a good deal of thought and a really thorough knowledge of lectures, plus some of the text and readings but they show up word for word on the exam - no curve balls. While she does tend to digress, it's only because she can't stand not covering items of interest more thoroughly than she gave herself time to do on the outline. This means that she talks REALLY FAST; it's good to study with others because it's almost impossible to get it all and her lectures are she so interesting that there will be times you simply won't want to be distracted by taking notes. She really cares about her students; wants their input and will be blunt, but never rude, if she doesn't agree. She is probably the world's most popular adviser so her office hours really fill up but she will always make time - just be prepared and realise that, just like class, she will talk fast. I would take any class with this woman. She could probably make tax code exciting. Any class you take you will walk out having been thoroughly grounded in key ideas, read some excellent stuff, seen a few good movies, and , on top of it all, it's impossible not to catch her enthusiam. I wonder how many people she has converted to the major.

I enrolled in this class because I needed something to fit in the time slot, and ended up completely loving it despite thinking it was going to be the most boring thing ever. The class was overcrowed but Tiersten managed to know almost everyone's name within the first month. She sometimes seems a bit crazy but her enthusiasm is contangious and she's quite brilliant. If she doesn't know something, she'll return the next class armed with more of an answer than you really wanted. She works hard, cares about her students, has a really good turn around time on grading (which she's quite fair about) and genuinely loves what she teaches. Her lectures are a bit disorganized and she interrupts herself often, but she's easily approchable and does get through the material. I left knowing more than I expected. Seriously, I'd take any class this woman taught and recommend her to anyone. Prior knowledge of history is not required, most of the class knew nothing about history in general. You won't find a bunch of know-it-all history majors here.