Professor
Henry Sivak
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Most Helpful Review
He's an okay professor. Lectures are fun because he has an interesting, catchy voice and shows lots of pictures. The subject material of the class and what he chose to focus on was very interesting. "Labs" involve going to a classroom, writing down what the TA says, and turning it in. SO EASY. My TA was horrible so I found the "labs" to be completely pointless but hey, at least they were easy. I was very annoyed when I got a C on the midterm and a B in the class because this should not have been such a hard class--it's Geography! He's apparently a very hard grader and must not give out many As, which is annoying. Take Geography 5 for sure (great GE), try to avoid him--but if you can't, just take him. He's okay.
He's an okay professor. Lectures are fun because he has an interesting, catchy voice and shows lots of pictures. The subject material of the class and what he chose to focus on was very interesting. "Labs" involve going to a classroom, writing down what the TA says, and turning it in. SO EASY. My TA was horrible so I found the "labs" to be completely pointless but hey, at least they were easy. I was very annoyed when I got a C on the midterm and a B in the class because this should not have been such a hard class--it's Geography! He's apparently a very hard grader and must not give out many As, which is annoying. Take Geography 5 for sure (great GE), try to avoid him--but if you can't, just take him. He's okay.
Most Helpful Review
Geog 140: Political Geography Man I hate politics. I hated doing readings for this class and I hated going to lecture. But I got an A on the midterm and a B on a paper that I turned in two days late with a 10% reduction, meaning I probably got an A on it. It wasn't me--the TA was Rob and he is a really approachable guy who grades easy and Sivak seems to grade easy as well. I didn't do much reading (basically at all, except for the paper), but I did go to about 75% of the lectures and focused my studying on that. His exams were the same for both the midterm and final. Blue book essays, pick two out of 5 or 6 topics, so as long as you are solid on a few key points and authors/readings, you're good for the exams. He set the midterm and final in class, though, so that means you have 50 minutes to write two essays. The paper was 35%, the midterm 25%, and the final 40%. Sivak himself is awkward in lecture, yes--but the 50 minute time limit makes him (and the topic of politics) bearable, and going to lecture is most definitely worth your while.
Geog 140: Political Geography Man I hate politics. I hated doing readings for this class and I hated going to lecture. But I got an A on the midterm and a B on a paper that I turned in two days late with a 10% reduction, meaning I probably got an A on it. It wasn't me--the TA was Rob and he is a really approachable guy who grades easy and Sivak seems to grade easy as well. I didn't do much reading (basically at all, except for the paper), but I did go to about 75% of the lectures and focused my studying on that. His exams were the same for both the midterm and final. Blue book essays, pick two out of 5 or 6 topics, so as long as you are solid on a few key points and authors/readings, you're good for the exams. He set the midterm and final in class, though, so that means you have 50 minutes to write two essays. The paper was 35%, the midterm 25%, and the final 40%. Sivak himself is awkward in lecture, yes--but the 50 minute time limit makes him (and the topic of politics) bearable, and going to lecture is most definitely worth your while.
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Most Helpful Review
Took him for Cities of Europe. If you don't already know quite a bit about Europe then you're going to be a lost, well at least I was. There is no textbook, just lots of photocopied chapters from books. The whole class is pretty unstructured and unorganized. Nothing in the class seems to connect. Many students just never know what he is talking about. I wouldn't suggest this course at all, sounds a lot better than it even comes close to being.
Took him for Cities of Europe. If you don't already know quite a bit about Europe then you're going to be a lost, well at least I was. There is no textbook, just lots of photocopied chapters from books. The whole class is pretty unstructured and unorganized. Nothing in the class seems to connect. Many students just never know what he is talking about. I wouldn't suggest this course at all, sounds a lot better than it even comes close to being.
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