Should I take History 1BB3 as an elective? I'm interested in the 20th century and I think this could be a cool course. It's taught by Mukharji, but ratemyprof doesn't have an entry for him.

The material for the course is potentially interesting but I hated the course as taught by Dr. Egan. Since Dr. Egan isn't teaching it I'd say go for it, I don't know about the other Prof but the subject matter is solid.

It was Dr. Egan's style of teaching and convoluted way of moving through history that made me really, really, really hate the lectures, not the material he was supposed to be covering.

This course, especially taught by him, is generally considered to be very representative of upper level courses. There's a good number of readings and you have to actually work to keep up with him in lectures, but I found it very easy and did well.

A number of people disliked it, but I think I honesty think its because they were either too lazy to do the readings, not used to not be coddled (compared to other first year courses, its less highschool-ish), just sucked at history, or had horrible writing skills. I don't think background knowledge was an issue, most of the stuff he goes over isn't covered in even IB history.

It was easily one of my lightest courses, but I come for a science background, so it might be different for you. Either way, I would take this course again, it was a good survey of the period I like (20th century) and didn't focus on Europe (he specializes in Asian history, essp the India-Pakistan-Bangladesh area, so there were a lot of examples from there), which tends to happen with 20th century.

Originally Posted by britb

This course, especially taught by him, is generally considered to be very representative of upper level courses. There's a good number of readings and you have to actually work to keep up with him in lectures, but I found it very easy and did well.

A number of people disliked it, but I think I honesty think its because they were either too lazy to do the readings, not used to not be coddled (compared to other first year courses, its less highschool-ish), just sucked at history, or had horrible writing skills. I don't think background knowledge was an issue, most of the stuff he goes over isn't covered in even IB history.

It was easily one of my lightest courses, but I come for a science background, so it might be different for you. Either way, I would take this course again, it was a good survey of the period I like (20th century) and didn't focus on Europe (he specializes in Asian history, essp the India-Pakistan-Bangladesh area, so there were a lot of examples from there), which tends to happen with 20th century.

Are you talking Egan or Mukharji?

Presumably the latter, otherwise I would be offended at being called lazy or someone who sucks at History and/or writing b/c I didn't like the way a course was taught by a particular Prof.

Just because people don't like a certain Professor's teaching style doesn't make them any of the above just because it was a light course for you. You might have a different learning style or prefer different things than other people.

Mukjarji! Sorry, I should have cleared that up. I have a horrible time trying to spell his name.

I mean lazy because you are given the readings at the beginning of the year, and it was stressed in nearly every lecture and tutorial to read them, every answer was in there. Admittedly, some were long, but I know some people only did poorly because they refused to sit down and go through them, even with the tutorials and lectures constantly dealing with them.

As for writing skills, its a big part of the course and if you aren't strong in essays, you'll suffer for it. Same thing for not being strong in history - there's a certain way to handle the assignments, and if you don't acknowledge/follow that, your mark will suffer.

I was just trying to point out reasons people might have done bad/not like the course. Sorry if it sounded a bit harsh.

I suggest reading the description in the undergrad calender, and reading reviews. Also try to find a previous course outline. If you like what you read, go for it!