I went out of my way to take this upper division class after taking a lower division with Professor McDonnell. In the upper division I noticed her classes are a lot less "structured" than they were in the lower division, she doesn't need to prepare too much, though, because she is so knowledgeable in the subject. I learned a lot about Pompeii, more than I ever thought I needed to, and I thought the class was certainly worthwhile. The class was broken down into one exam, one project, and a research paper.

Her exam was not too difficult. The only complaint I have is that there was very little time and she graded very leniently on some sections but more harshly in others. (To avoid this problem when you take her class just make sure you do the test in the order of point allocation. So if the essay is 50%, short answer 25% and 25% identifications, do the essay first.)

The project was actually really fun. Some people got to do really creative things, and I get the feeling that she appreciates the amount of time students put into their projects.

As for the research paper; it was not too bad. She is totally willing to spend some time helping you find sources and will even loan you books from her own personal collection. Just make sure you do EXTENSIVE research on your topic. If you use any sketchy sources or something like that she will probably call you out on it and that's no fun.

Overall very fun, knowledgeable, and excellent professor. I would take her again, and I'm not even a classics major. She's just so devoted to teaching her students you can't help but be excited to attend class. Don't miss out on the opportunity to take her IMO.