HIST M116C
Power and Imagination in Byzantium
Description: (Same as Classics M170C.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Requisites: courses 116A, 116B. Designed for juniors/seniors. Study of relations of authority and intelligentsia in highly centralized Byzantine Empire. Topics include criticism of emperor, iconoclasm, intellectual freedom, attempts at reform. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
I usually don't do reviews since I am lazy, but I had to make an exception Professor Langdon since he is the nicest, most caring professor I had ever taken. Like others have mentioned, Professor Langdon's class is not easy. In lecture, he throws out a lot of information so that it is hard to keep up even after you did your readings. But, if you go back home and listen to his lectures again, the information will start to get clearer. As for his tests, I felt it was extremely reasonable. For my class, we had 2 mandatory tests, each worth about 50% of the grade. We had objective questions, an essay and a historical paragraph. He also curved the test, which was very nice of him. This is by far the nicest professor I have ever met. I lost my course reader about halfway through the course and the professor offered to borrow his course reader for the duration of the course. Of course, I ended up finding my course reader, but the gesture was really thoughtful. Also, during class one day, a girl spilled coffee in class and the professor was extremely gentle about it. Another time, someone's phone rang off and he didn't make a big deal out of this either. He also makes a conscious effort to get to learn the students' names. The professor's passion and knowledge comes through in both his lectures and his course reader. You could tell that he put in a lot of time into his course reader and that he cares about the student's learning. Would I retake a class with Professor Langdon? Maybe. I am not sure if I want to work that hard again. Do I regret taking a class with this Professor? No, since I learned so much in a short amount of time. I should also mention that I took HIST 114C, 6 week session during Summer Session A. (I could not find this as an option, so I chose Hist M116C). I would assume that the regular 10 week session is more rigorous.
I usually don't do reviews since I am lazy, but I had to make an exception Professor Langdon since he is the nicest, most caring professor I had ever taken. Like others have mentioned, Professor Langdon's class is not easy. In lecture, he throws out a lot of information so that it is hard to keep up even after you did your readings. But, if you go back home and listen to his lectures again, the information will start to get clearer. As for his tests, I felt it was extremely reasonable. For my class, we had 2 mandatory tests, each worth about 50% of the grade. We had objective questions, an essay and a historical paragraph. He also curved the test, which was very nice of him. This is by far the nicest professor I have ever met. I lost my course reader about halfway through the course and the professor offered to borrow his course reader for the duration of the course. Of course, I ended up finding my course reader, but the gesture was really thoughtful. Also, during class one day, a girl spilled coffee in class and the professor was extremely gentle about it. Another time, someone's phone rang off and he didn't make a big deal out of this either. He also makes a conscious effort to get to learn the students' names. The professor's passion and knowledge comes through in both his lectures and his course reader. You could tell that he put in a lot of time into his course reader and that he cares about the student's learning. Would I retake a class with Professor Langdon? Maybe. I am not sure if I want to work that hard again. Do I regret taking a class with this Professor? No, since I learned so much in a short amount of time. I should also mention that I took HIST 114C, 6 week session during Summer Session A. (I could not find this as an option, so I chose Hist M116C). I would assume that the regular 10 week session is more rigorous.
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