[ASCE V2359] Introduction to East Asian Civilization: China

Great Class. Two hours a week. One thing to know. Let Professor Rossabi talk and talk and talk. As he talks, you must take dilligent notes. He does not use notes or a guide, and instead comes into class knowing exactly what he wants to say over the next two hours. there are weekly readings which are completely unnecessary should one take careful notes. the key to this class is regurgitating facts and names that he divulged in class back into your exams, the more you remember the higher your grade. also, he is nice, reachable via email, and thoroughly brilliants. he speaks just about any language youcan think of, and knows more about Mongolia than anyone born outside of Mongolia. expect a few weeks off here and there because he often travels to Asia duringthe semester. also, the take home final will free up your study-load during reading week :)

Prof Lean is usually well-organized: she posts her lecture outline online before each class, and displays it on the projector as well. Her lectures usually reflect the ideas of the main textbook reading, a little of the supplemental texts, and occasional outside sources, with special emphasis on themes she will probably ask about on the midterm and final, and occasional outside material. While not especially unique in her views, she does a good job in conveying the information.

What makes the course truly worth taking, however, are the required readings. Lean chooses the course's texts with an intelligent and discriminating eye: the readings are always enlightening, varied, and interesting. The load is heavy, but worth the time. I can say with all honesty that I feel I have a good understanding of Chinese culture because of it.

In terrms of the workload... Each of the two papers has questions similar to those posed for discussion sections. Since the prof limits your sources to the required (and discussed, sometimes even during lecture) readings, it is not too difficult. The midterm and finals covered the 'big' themes covered in class, which Lean herself warns, so it's relatively easy to predict what will be asked.

I would definitely recommend this class.

Extremely nice, knowledgeable, if a bit forgetful old man. He may not know when class is held or how many kids he has, but he definitely knows East Asian history. The class is run as a seminar, a bit disorganized at times, but an overall very interesting experience. There's a lot of reading per class, but it's not necessary to do it all--just read the Brief History. It's probably more important to remember how to spell his name correctly for your quizzes/papers, so you don't incur any point deduction.

Trust me, this class is a joke. The lectures are very unorganized and boring. You will feel like you are in your HS history class so literally you get bored all the time. It is just a waste of time. The reading assignment, honestly, is way too much for an Intro class. (Plus, it never reflects the lectures.) Also you will have trouble understanding her English since her accent is pretty damn heavy.

This class just isn't great. While it's admittedly difficult to cram 500 years of Chinese history into one semester, the class should have run more smoothly than it did. Her lecturing style (even her pronounciation) was condescending, even for a columbia prof. The paper assignments, midterms and finals were confusingly vague, yet still graded rather harshly. I am an ealac major, and this class frustrated and bored me more than any other. To be fair, it got better as the term went along.
However, its just not worth it. There's a lot more out there, don't waste your time.

The reviewers who claimed that Prof. Lean's course is a waste of time are pretentious. The class provides a clear and organized overview of Chinese History, and the 5-10 min review she does in the beginning of each class makes the material very understandable and makes studying much easier. In a class of 100, when she would ask admittedly basic questions merely to make sure that the material from the day before was clear, students would roll their eyes and mutter that the review was unecessary, yet, by not answering her questions they were merely prolonging the wait for new material! Prof. Lean is nice, approachable, funny, and very knowledgable about Chinese History. The TA discussions were a total waste of time, but I liked the textbook and the lectures. A teacher should not be condemned because she makes the material easy to grasp; she should be praised.

Prof. Lean is certainly very knowledgeable about the subject matter of the class and expects a lot from her students. If you are looking for an easy major cultures class that you can breeze through, this isn't it. Weekly discussion sections necessitates that you do at least some of the reading, and papers and exams though not very difficult, are also not easy.

HE's GREAT! Very organized lectures and when he teaches you can tell that he is VERY passionate about the subject and teaching. He's very approachable and he's great with emails. If you go to class and the review sections, I cannot forsee you doing poorly in his class. An A range grade is definitely attainable. He's GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Professor Li is a diligent, caring professor who puts exorbitant effort into lecturing his classes and aiding students in understanding the material. This class is an introductory class in Chinese history and civilization, so the workload, although fair and manageable, was appropriate. Professor Li prepares every lecture with painstaking effort, trying desperately and often successfully to overcome the language barrier that encumbers so many non-native professors. But aside from the somewhat thick accent, Professor Li makes his lectures generally very enjoyable and understandable, and any confusion will be cleared up if you ask him a question after class or e-mail him. He is very prompt about responding to students' questions and concerns. Generally, this class was very enjoyable and hopefully sparked some interest in East Asian studies in some students, although many are just taking it for the MC requirement. Kudos to Professor Li; any accolades he receives he has earned.

What a great teacher! Prof. Li is a very enthusiastic professor who cares a lot about both his students and the subject. You can totally feel his excitement when he lectures, especially when it's about ancient Chinese archaeology. Email him one question and he'll return a 3-page detailed reply along with URLs, book names, and other information in case you want to find out more about the matter on your own. He speaks English with an accent, which may take a lecture or two to get used to, but generally it's not a problem. In fact, if you know the context (i.e. you don't sleep in class), a few missed words here and there are not a problem at all. I highly recommend Prof. Li for any class. (A sidenote that's not related to the professor but to the class: there's usually a large number of freshmen who are there just for the MC requirement and care nothing about the material, such as the other "reviewer" who recommends the course because it's easy. their inane chatting during class and recitations and do-only-as-much-as-needed-for-the-A attitude can be extremely annoying. Notice there's no comma between "freshmen who" above; I don't mean all freshmen are like that, nor only freshmen can be like that. But most of the annoying people are freshmen. If you're one of them, please consider improving your attitude towards your education. What a waste it is to come here and make a numeric average your goal in life.)

Prof. Hymes is definately a knowledgeable professor who knows his stuff extremely well. His lectures are to the point, sometimes peppered with amusing remarks, but overall the same, which can get monotonous. However, he gives way too much reading each week, and though you soon learn to do the bare minimum (or just not do it at all), you find out for the midterm and the final that you'll need to read at least something. Discussion sessions are required and lacking, though it depends on your TA and the other students. Overall a pretty good class that can get dry.

I took this class to fulfill the first half of my major cultures requirement. It's overall mediocre. Prof. Hymes is a really nice guy who definitely knows his stuff, but when it comes down to it...this class is filled with alot of dry history. There's sooooo much reading. If you dont do the reading, discussion sections and lecture can be confusing and boring. The reading, most of it, is pretty relevant on the exams. Be prepared for alot of work.

This is a great class to take for your MC requirement. Very little work (readings not strictly necessary, but assigned in case you're interested) but he still goes through the material enough that you can learn it. The discussion section was ultra-boring, but if you go to every one and post to the board weekly (any old crap your brain vomits is fine) it boosts your grade, because most people are too lazy.

This teacher has received rave reviews, but for some reason, I really didn't enjoy his class. I found his lectures for the most part boring and spent most of the time spacing out in class. This class is not particularly hard, just boring, which can make it hard to do as well as you want. I do that Hymes is a great person though. He really cares about his students.

Professor Hymes is brilliant and enthusiastic; he's so genial and unassuming that it's easy to forget how much he knows and how much work he puts into preparing his lectures and his extensive and very helpful web materials. There are two drawbacks to this class: one, the reading load is murderous, and two, there is an incredible amount of information to learn, much of it dry history. With some creativity and skimming, you can get away with reading considerably less than he asks, but don't take this class if you're not willing to stomach almost six thousand years of "and then Emperor X took over the north, and then this tribe took over the north, and then this river shifted, and then these people revolted..." My discussion section was largely a waste of time, but you really don't need the TAs' help. Professor Hymes is incredibly accessible and will often write a long, informative, interesting, detailed response to a student's e-mailed question and then send it to everyone in the class.

Professor Hymes is an excellent professor. He organizes his lectures so that you can follow them easily without boredom. He has a way of conveying large amounts of information effortlessly. He is tremendously helpful with any question, often giving back 4 or 5 paragraphs in response to any questions you ask him. Highly reccomended.

This is a great class. The professor is extremely friendly, the TAs are all very encouraging...Although there's A LOT of reading and the amount of information in the lectures can overwhelm you sometimes, it's a good way to get a general overview of Chinese history and culture. Also, Professor Hymes puts a lot of work into the class website, with pictures, readings, paintings, etc, so they can really help you to gain a further understanding of the topics discussed in class. If you have any questions about anything, Hymes will always respond in a kind manner. He's just really great!!