[HIST BC3803] Gender and Empire

By far the best teacher I've ever had at Barnard. Rao's enthusiasm and rich vocabulary will make you jealous. She is downright inspiring. While I only took this class for a general requirement, I walked away with so much more. Take this class!

Professor Rao can be incredibly intimidating, simply because she's so brilliant. She literally knows everything about everything. This is both good and bad for you. It's bad because her mind works a mile a minute, and sometimes it can be hard to keep up with her in lecture because she's just thrown out several complicated concepts in the space of a couple minutes. It's good because you learn SO MUCH from this woman. South Asia is her area of expertise, but she can lecture in just as much detail and with just as much nuance on slavery in the Americas, or sex workers in colonial Nairobi. Because she is so brilliant, it can be really intimidating to speak up in class, and I often felt like she put me on the spot. But this is because she really challenges you to articulate your ideas clearly and back up your opinions. And despite all of this she is actually very approachable outside of class. If you are interested in the topic, and/or if you want to improve your speaking and argumentative skills, I highly recommend that you take this class.