[ANTH V1007] The Origins of Human Society

Sev is absolutely unbelievable. He and this class changed how I view the world. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's absolutely true (and it's not something that happens often). If you have the opportunity to take a class with him - take it. I took this one because it was a major requirement; I expected it to be a run-of-the-mill intro level course. It ended up being my favorite class at Columbia so far.

I took this class purely for the fun of it - I didn't need it to fulfill any core or major requirements. I found Prof. Fewster to be a funny and engaging lecturer; however, even this (and the cute-rabbit pictures she snuck into every lecture) couldn't save the course from being mind-numbingly boring in the last few weeks. When the course turned to examining agricultural practices in extreme detail, it was hard not to fall asleep. However, if that's your thing, you might really enjoy it.

I was present for Prof. Fewster's hour-long talk about questions worth asking and questions NOT worth asking. I didn't, however, find it condescending at all. It actually came as a relief -- there had been a lot of, "Well, when I used to baby-sit for one toddler last year in high school, I learned that ALL CHILDREN EVERYWHERE always behave in such-and-such a way..." and unfounded, anecdotal, and barely-related commenting happening from students. Prof. Fewster effectively curbed these irritating and unproductive conversations.

She tried to keep assignments low-stress. While a lot of reading is assigned, it isn't necessary to do it. (You might want to books for reference material for your essays, though.) Two big papers and a take-home final (though there was some confusion with whether or not the final had been cancelled in the last several weeks of class.) All easy; all were graded really fairly.

Kathy Fewster is a visiting professor from Wales. At first she appears to be a charming and witty woman, who made each lecture as interesting and engaging as she can. Halfway into the semester, Professor Fewster blew our minds with a condescending lecture about how students should not ask questions in a lecture. Her passive aggression is unrivaled and unexpected. Less than two weeks before the end of the semester, Professor Fewster dropped the final and changed the syllabus. Students were surprised.

The class was inordinately stressful because of the ever-changing syllabus. Otherwise the course itself is interesting. It is divided into two parts, the first part covering the evolution of mankind, the second going over the origins of agriculture (which was significantly less exciting).

This class comprised two major units: human evolution and the rise of agriculture. The first half was human evolution from an archaeological perspective, but also with a lot of scientific evidence. Kathy doesn't really know anything about evolutionary biology, bless her heart, but she actually teaches this unit very well given her weak background in it. I was riveted because she made human evolution into a kind of grand story. She's also very funny; if you want proof, check out this Overheard in New York quote from her class (http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/020696.html). I found her British mannerisms endearing. The second unit about agriculture, unfortunately, was very boring. I think the fact that she knows a lot about the subject made it even more boring, because she got very technical about things like food processing and fossilized plant pollen. I could barely stay awake during this part. Overall, if you're not an anthropology major and you're just interested in human prehistory, I'd say there are probably less boring ways to learn about it. Try the Evolutionary Biology of the Human Species department.

Sev is absolutely fantastic. I took this class not really knowing anything about anthropology and left it seriously considering a major/minor. Somehow, he manages to make lectures full of the same stone tools and unrecognizable old bones fresh and intriguing. He has a great sense of humor and goes out of his way to be available to students (great considering how large the classes is: 100+ students). You can tell that he absolutely loves his work (he focuses in archaeology) and wants to spread that. He's an incredibly fair grader and is willing to recognize tests and due dates that are unfair.

a very engaging professor. he combines archaeology with a lot of philosophical questioning to make for a fascinating class. the papers and exams were well-designed to encourage that fascination. it's possible to not do the readings because he covers them well in lecture, but you'll want to anyways. this class made me decide to major in archaeology.

Sev's basically a rockstar professor. So organized in lecture, accessible outside of class, totally into his material/loves teaching it, very fair in terms of grading, and just overall rad. He presents sometimes boring material in the best way he can, really wanting you to learn. He calls archaeological sites sexy, and just gets generally excited about the material. The paper topics were cool, and the midterm/final reasonable. Reading was what you'd expect for an anthro course, but he picks really interesting articles/texts that you don't mind reading. I oftentimes treated the readings for this class as reprieve from my other classes. I'm hoping to take more classes with him.

Sev is great. He asks you to call him that by the way. He's very friendly and open with students and always willing to help out after class or meet with you elsewhere. As far as the lecturing goes, it gets a little boring at times, but most of the matieral is very facinating, you just have to get beyond his quiet voice and dry humor. As far as grading goes, he's easy on the papers and hard on the exams. The exams are extremely hard and encompass every single thing you learn in class, so when studying, dont leave anything out. Other than the hard grading, he's a wonderful teacher and great friend, actually!

Sev is a great teacher, an amazing lecturer and the nicest person I have ever met.

His lectures are very well-structured and his presentations are so interesting that the attendance was almost 100% on every lecture (something that is extremely rare for a class of over 100 people).
We covered a lot of material and millions of years of human history so expect lots of reading. BUT every single assigned reading is so interesting that it was hard to put the book down.
Grading is fair, exams and papers are enjoyable and fun.
Overall the best course I have ever taken at Columbia!!! If I wasn't a graduating senior I would have definitely become an anthro major after this class!! He is THAT GOOD!!!!