[J. Dorey]

My ratings may seem a bit out of whack, but just hear me out. I gave it an overall rating of 9 because the video clips, the guest lectures, and the course topics (race, sexuality, culture) were absolutely fascinating. However, I had Dr. O'Connor, and I was not a huge fan of her. She was clearly an intelligent woman and was very nice and approachable, but I found that her lectures and slideshows were a bit unorganized and confusing, but she was still able to keep it interesting for the most part. The only reason I gave "Interest" a 7 instead of a lot higher like it deserves was because some of the readings were a bit dry. The early readings from Arnold and Morrison were a bit hard to follow at times and really just did not do anything for me. Towards the end of the term however, when we began reading Bordo, Horkheimer, and Adorno, it really became a lot more interesting. Also, it's probably worth mentioning that there are quite a few readings per week. So, for that reason, the readings seemed really hit or miss to me. The easiness of the course really depends on the amount of commitment you are willing to put in. Since some of the readings weren't very interesting to me, I often opted to not do them and catch up during lecture. This worked at first, but really ended up killing me on the final, so my rating is based off of my personal experience. In this course, the assignments are tutorial participation (20%), 2 essays (15% and 30%), and 1 exam (35%), so if you put in the work, you will definitely benefit. I would suggest taking this class with only one warning: be prepared to do the work, or you won't get the mark you thought you would.

This course was amazing. Some of the beginning readings, like Jesse said, were a tad dry, but that can all be credited to wording. Basically, you go through 18 pages of size 9 font to figure out something that's actually 6 lines long. But again, those were only some of the readings near the beginning.

The readings in the middle and at the end were fascinating. We cover everything from sexuality, photography, prison systems, ideologies, pop culture, music, etc. One of our guest lectures was "The Politics of Disney". Again like Jesse said, pretty cool stuff.


I on the other hand, really liked Dr. O' Connor. She's intelligent, but she's very wordy. Because she's obviously passionate about her subject and well-versed in it, I suppose she sometimes forgets that her students are merely learning this all for the first time. She does, however, take input and feedback during lectures if someone does not understand something. She's a sweet lady.

Also, if you don't understand something, your TA's are sure to clear it up for you. That class had about 3-4 TA's and they're all excellent. Mine in particular made tutorials something to look forward to. Often, in our discussions, he ended up learning something himself, and the overall experience was nice.


Tips for this class:

. DO THE READINGS. I'm dead serious. Do them. They are important. In the custom-courseware, highlight the parts of readings you do/don't understand, and make little sidenotes in pencil. This comes in handy during tutorials when you have your CCW in front of you; if you understand something that someone else does not, your notes are right there to read off of. If you don't, they are there as a reminder to ask about that topic

. Go to lecture. Dr. O'Connor's slides are not detailed. Sometimes one slide is literally 3 bullet points of information that, unless you've done the reading and heard her speak, would have no relation to each other. Sometimes slides are a single picture.

. Talk to your TA/ the prof. Ask them questions. They'll help you for sure.



Overall, it was a positive experience.

I took this class in the winter of 2011 and had Dr. Helene Strauss. I absoletly loved this class! Dr. Strauss cleaerly knew what she was talking about and was enthusiastic about the material, but was a bit dry at times because she basically read off her notes. My tutorial was great, as with all classes it's hit and miss depending on your TA but I had a fantastic one so I was very lucky. I didn't find that we had all that many readings; about a chapter or two per week and all of them were interesting. Our assignements topic choices ranged from more historically based options such as Matthew Arnold and his take on High or "Capital C" culture to "choose a consumer product and discuss its role in society" to talking about LIPBUBS! UBC, anyone? We had lots of interesting guest lecturers and even did an entire class on Lady Gaga and "disaster [starts with a P and ends with ORN]." I have to amit that I never did the readings (I know) from the assigned textbook an didn't even buy the courseware but I really enjoyed the class and came away with a 10. I highly recommend this class whether you're an English major or not because it is so interesting and pertains to everything that is current in today's society.