Professor
Stephen Bell
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - While the class material is interesting, I think Professor Bell didn't make the topic very engaging or fun. He has a dry, monotone, and rambling lecture style that made it hard to pay attention. Nor do I think his lectures added much to the core material of the class- his rural English background and research into Brazil and Spanish America are mentioned quite a bit in class, but his rambling and meandering way of speaking made it difficult to convey the weight, magnitude, historical context, and human impact of his examples. He posts his lecture notes instead of slides, gives easy true/false exams for the midterm and final, and the readings are fairly light, with an open-ended final essay mostly managed by the TA- this is an easy class to pass, but not a fun one to pass. I feel like I would've gotten about the same amount of information from the class if I read "A New Green History of the World" by Clive Ponting, which is what most of the course material is based on. Glass half full, this class gives you the foundation for analyzing how societies have shaped and been shaped by modes of subsistence, and gives you the structure to do your own research on a topic you're interested in for your final essay.
Spring 2025 - While the class material is interesting, I think Professor Bell didn't make the topic very engaging or fun. He has a dry, monotone, and rambling lecture style that made it hard to pay attention. Nor do I think his lectures added much to the core material of the class- his rural English background and research into Brazil and Spanish America are mentioned quite a bit in class, but his rambling and meandering way of speaking made it difficult to convey the weight, magnitude, historical context, and human impact of his examples. He posts his lecture notes instead of slides, gives easy true/false exams for the midterm and final, and the readings are fairly light, with an open-ended final essay mostly managed by the TA- this is an easy class to pass, but not a fun one to pass. I feel like I would've gotten about the same amount of information from the class if I read "A New Green History of the World" by Clive Ponting, which is what most of the course material is based on. Glass half full, this class gives you the foundation for analyzing how societies have shaped and been shaped by modes of subsistence, and gives you the structure to do your own research on a topic you're interested in for your final essay.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Dr. Bell is incredibly knowledgeable of South America and is naturally fascinated by all of its details, even the most niche ones. That being said, the lectures are pretty dry. No slides, just him talking about South America. Attendance is not required but I highly recommend it because that's where 80% of the information for the two exams (assigned via Canvas to take at home) are from. A good chunk is also from the lengthy readings that are assigned but not necessary to pass. The main part of the grade is a final research paper and the proposal for it. Pretty much just choose anything that has to do with South America and research it very deeply and write a paper. The class heavily depends on the TA because I think they are the ones who grade it and mine was a pretty tough grader but honestly helped a lot. Go to their office hours at least a couple times so they can help your paper and at the very least make them hold your name in good favor.
Fall 2024 - Dr. Bell is incredibly knowledgeable of South America and is naturally fascinated by all of its details, even the most niche ones. That being said, the lectures are pretty dry. No slides, just him talking about South America. Attendance is not required but I highly recommend it because that's where 80% of the information for the two exams (assigned via Canvas to take at home) are from. A good chunk is also from the lengthy readings that are assigned but not necessary to pass. The main part of the grade is a final research paper and the proposal for it. Pretty much just choose anything that has to do with South America and research it very deeply and write a paper. The class heavily depends on the TA because I think they are the ones who grade it and mine was a pretty tough grader but honestly helped a lot. Go to their office hours at least a couple times so they can help your paper and at the very least make them hold your name in good favor.
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