Professor
Marc Bolin
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Your grade is based on participation in discussion, a final project, two exams, and a concert analysis. Overall everything is graded pretty leniently. Professor Bolin lets his TAs assign section grades (~20% of your total grade). There are some pretty lengthy weekly readings but they are not tested on the exams AT ALL. I wouldn't waste my time on them (I stopped reading them after week 2). The exams (midterm and final) both have an in-class Canvas MCQ and a few take home short answer questions. The MCQ was actually a bit difficult because it felt like it was about stuff he didn't emphasize as much (for the first one at least, i stopped going to class after midterm #1 which made the final MCQ even harder for me). Honestly, if you're fine with risking an A- or below I wouldn't bother with going to class. That said, even if you don't go to class there's enough extra credit that you can probably still get an A or A+. Again, there is a sizeable amount of extra credit on the short answers (around +20% of the short answer grade) that more than makes up for a poor MCQ score. Your grade ultimately depends on your TA (although I'm pretty sure ALL the TAs grade pretty generously so long as you put in some effort). My TA was Martin Hundley who was a bit disorganized at times but graded extremely easily. He was also really passionate about the subject in discussion which was nice to see. Our grade was based entirely on attendance at discussion and 2-3 sentences in a weekly Canvas discussion thread. For the concert observation analysis you go to a random jazz concert and take notes on it. I wouldn't stress about finding one on your own too much because the professor/TA usually drop 1-2 opportunities during the quarter about events you can go to. Directions for final projects were a bit unclear. Most people end up doing a 7-8 page research paper. It's not too bad considering this is the only real/hard non-exam work you're doing the entire quarter for this class.
Fall 2024 - Your grade is based on participation in discussion, a final project, two exams, and a concert analysis. Overall everything is graded pretty leniently. Professor Bolin lets his TAs assign section grades (~20% of your total grade). There are some pretty lengthy weekly readings but they are not tested on the exams AT ALL. I wouldn't waste my time on them (I stopped reading them after week 2). The exams (midterm and final) both have an in-class Canvas MCQ and a few take home short answer questions. The MCQ was actually a bit difficult because it felt like it was about stuff he didn't emphasize as much (for the first one at least, i stopped going to class after midterm #1 which made the final MCQ even harder for me). Honestly, if you're fine with risking an A- or below I wouldn't bother with going to class. That said, even if you don't go to class there's enough extra credit that you can probably still get an A or A+. Again, there is a sizeable amount of extra credit on the short answers (around +20% of the short answer grade) that more than makes up for a poor MCQ score. Your grade ultimately depends on your TA (although I'm pretty sure ALL the TAs grade pretty generously so long as you put in some effort). My TA was Martin Hundley who was a bit disorganized at times but graded extremely easily. He was also really passionate about the subject in discussion which was nice to see. Our grade was based entirely on attendance at discussion and 2-3 sentences in a weekly Canvas discussion thread. For the concert observation analysis you go to a random jazz concert and take notes on it. I wouldn't stress about finding one on your own too much because the professor/TA usually drop 1-2 opportunities during the quarter about events you can go to. Directions for final projects were a bit unclear. Most people end up doing a 7-8 page research paper. It's not too bad considering this is the only real/hard non-exam work you're doing the entire quarter for this class.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - As someone who could care less about jazz, I really enjoyed this class. The lectures were two hours which would drag on but being honest, I never attended class and just reviewed the slides which provided the lectures WORD FOR WORD. Prior to the TA strike, I must have just been unlucky but my TA would not really help us in any way, and for every assignment she graded, she would give me a 4.9/5, which felt a tad dramatic. The midterm and final were easy considering each question was based on the SLIDES. Although for a GE, the work and tested material were tedious considering you are expected to memorize artists from a selected list including a song, and significant fact but the exams being online made it less stressful. The final project was on anything jazz-related, I did a research paper that got an A+ since it was graded by Bolin himself due to the TA strike, which I was fortunate in that sense. Although I am just listing downfalls, the class was not difficult considering I got an A. LOTS OF EXTRA CREDIT WAS PROVIDED ... but, it was a lot of work for one point which felt not worth the time. As someone who put in the bare minimum, I still landed an A. Bolin is also a very understanding man, I missed a quiz due to being out of town but because I communicated with him about my absence, he allowed me to take it from home which was a relief. Following that, he then sent me a link to the recorded lecture and that saved me a lot of stress. Overall, I enjoyed the class because of Professor Bolin, As a freshman in my first quarter, it was nice to take a class that was stress-free and engaging.
Fall 2022 - As someone who could care less about jazz, I really enjoyed this class. The lectures were two hours which would drag on but being honest, I never attended class and just reviewed the slides which provided the lectures WORD FOR WORD. Prior to the TA strike, I must have just been unlucky but my TA would not really help us in any way, and for every assignment she graded, she would give me a 4.9/5, which felt a tad dramatic. The midterm and final were easy considering each question was based on the SLIDES. Although for a GE, the work and tested material were tedious considering you are expected to memorize artists from a selected list including a song, and significant fact but the exams being online made it less stressful. The final project was on anything jazz-related, I did a research paper that got an A+ since it was graded by Bolin himself due to the TA strike, which I was fortunate in that sense. Although I am just listing downfalls, the class was not difficult considering I got an A. LOTS OF EXTRA CREDIT WAS PROVIDED ... but, it was a lot of work for one point which felt not worth the time. As someone who put in the bare minimum, I still landed an A. Bolin is also a very understanding man, I missed a quiz due to being out of town but because I communicated with him about my absence, he allowed me to take it from home which was a relief. Following that, he then sent me a link to the recorded lecture and that saved me a lot of stress. Overall, I enjoyed the class because of Professor Bolin, As a freshman in my first quarter, it was nice to take a class that was stress-free and engaging.
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