Professor
Richard Anderson
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - This was one of those classes that was hard, but extremely rewarding. We had 5 books that were read (almost) cover-to-cover in 10 weeks. Prepare for a few hundred pages of dense reading each week. Class is held once a week, but was my favorite class each week. It's a seminar, so there were only 15 students. We all wrote CCLE posts each week in response to that week's readings and were asked to respond to our classmates posts. I got to know my classmates through class discussions and by reading their posts. Anderson tends to ask open-ended questions like, "How did you get here today?" or "What does this author get wrong?" He is often looking for a specific answer, but don't be afraid to ask clarifying questions. He is the first professor I've had who encourages wrong answers. Contrary to some of the previous reviews, Anderson truly cares about his students. When I told him that I was having trouble getting my accommodations approved through CAE, he called CAE on my behalf. I don't think it's a coincidence that my accommodations were approved shortly thereafter. There are no tests or quizzes, just a 5000 word (~20 pg) essay. The essay was HARD. I didn't quite make the 5000 word cutoff, but I still made an A. This class gave me more than a few grey hairs, but I left with a newfound sense of curiosity about US history and its connectedness to current events.
Fall 2019 - This was one of those classes that was hard, but extremely rewarding. We had 5 books that were read (almost) cover-to-cover in 10 weeks. Prepare for a few hundred pages of dense reading each week. Class is held once a week, but was my favorite class each week. It's a seminar, so there were only 15 students. We all wrote CCLE posts each week in response to that week's readings and were asked to respond to our classmates posts. I got to know my classmates through class discussions and by reading their posts. Anderson tends to ask open-ended questions like, "How did you get here today?" or "What does this author get wrong?" He is often looking for a specific answer, but don't be afraid to ask clarifying questions. He is the first professor I've had who encourages wrong answers. Contrary to some of the previous reviews, Anderson truly cares about his students. When I told him that I was having trouble getting my accommodations approved through CAE, he called CAE on my behalf. I don't think it's a coincidence that my accommodations were approved shortly thereafter. There are no tests or quizzes, just a 5000 word (~20 pg) essay. The essay was HARD. I didn't quite make the 5000 word cutoff, but I still made an A. This class gave me more than a few grey hairs, but I left with a newfound sense of curiosity about US history and its connectedness to current events.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - Professor Anderson really cares about his students, but goes about it in a pretty rude way. He is really blunt and laughs at students' responses to his questions. The class on the whole was easy, though. Each week you have to write a 500 word (usually less) response on the CCLE forum and respond to 3 classmates' posts, attend lecture, and at the end of the class you have to turn in a 5000 word essay. He never told us the breakdown of the grades, so I'm not sure of the percentages for each of those. He is really confusing when talking about the paper, but if you go to office hours he makes a lot more sense. He goes on a lot of tangents to his days in politics and they're interesting but not really applicable to the class. Update: the whole grade is your paper and he grades it incredibly arbitrarily. Do not take. Also HE BRINGS HIS DOG TO CLASS :)
Winter 2016 - Professor Anderson really cares about his students, but goes about it in a pretty rude way. He is really blunt and laughs at students' responses to his questions. The class on the whole was easy, though. Each week you have to write a 500 word (usually less) response on the CCLE forum and respond to 3 classmates' posts, attend lecture, and at the end of the class you have to turn in a 5000 word essay. He never told us the breakdown of the grades, so I'm not sure of the percentages for each of those. He is really confusing when talking about the paper, but if you go to office hours he makes a lot more sense. He goes on a lot of tangents to his days in politics and they're interesting but not really applicable to the class. Update: the whole grade is your paper and he grades it incredibly arbitrarily. Do not take. Also HE BRINGS HIS DOG TO CLASS :)
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