WGS 2100

Take WGS 2100 with Professor Arnold! She is so passionate about women studies and gives us so much information about women related news around the world. The class consisted of 10-11 response papers that reflected on our readings and then we had a final paper we had to write. There was a also a presentation about a different book that each group had to read and then the remaining were participation points. Since she was assigned the class very late, she was a little disorganized, but I think she compensated by giving us more points on our assignments. I enjoy writing, so I was able to get an A on my reading responses but some people did struggle. By the end people got used to the work and were able to get As on that. The overall class was very discussion based. We often got off topic but that was when the conversations got interesting. I think she graded the presentations pretty easy and mainly wanted to see that we understood the main points of the book. If you participate and do the assignments, you will get an A or at least an A-. Great class!

Great class! She graded the weekly responses a bit harshly in the first few weeks but they get a lot easier after that, and it is definitely possible to get A’s. Also, discussions in class were very interesting, and she does a lot to make sure that you learn new material.There are 4-5 short quizzes through the semester but they are all open notes. Some of the reading were dense, but you don’t have to do all of them, just enough to write the response.

First of all, I want to say that I love Professor Arnold. She does an incredible job of teaching the material in a fun and engaging way, especially by sharing personal anecdotes and having us watch interesting documentaries. If I could take another WGS class with her, I absolutely would! She is such a funny, caring, outspoken woman who made the class so enjoyable.

My only complaint about her and the course is how disorganized it is and its complete lack in structure, particularly in regards to grading. One thing that I noticed was that Professor Arnold intentionally assigns vague assignments/paper topics because she wants us to take our papers and projects in any direction that we choose. I love the concept of this, but I believe that if the instructions were purposefully left up to interpretation, then the assignments should've been graded as such. When we finally received our grades for individual assignments, she left comments about how she took points off because of specific things that she wished we had included in our papers or projects, which doesn't make much sense to me since the instructions were meant to be up to interpretation in the first place. And because we didn't get back the grades for our 3 biggest assignments (each worth 20%) until AFTER the class had ended, we never had the opportunity to try to improve on the next paper/project. I think this class would've been so much better if either A) there were clear rubrics to follow for each assignment or B) the ambiguity of assignment instructions were taken into account when she graded. I found it to be a bit unfair that she would deduct points for extremely specific things that we never would've even thought to include. Also, I found out after the class had ended that since professors are allowed to choose whatever grading scale they'd like, Professor Arnold personally treated 94-100 as the scale to receive an A this semester. This was never mentioned at any point in the semester and was also not included in the syllabus. Most professors include their grading scales in the syllabus at the very least, but this was not the case in our class. So everyone in class was under the impression that a 93 and up was an A when it was really a 94 the whole time.

Overall, I would still recommend that everyone take this class with Professor Arnold. Not only is the material undeniably important for everyone to learn, but I also left every class feeling more confident in myself and my words and more aware of things going on in society. However, just be prepared for disorganization, vague instructions, and somewhat unfair grading.

Take with a different professor. Any WGS class is going to be great, but Arnold rarely came prepared and would ask us for topics we witnessed that day that was misogynistic, homophobic, or in some way we could discuss. Other professors will actually teach you stuff, but just complain and discuss what you already know

Love Abby. She truly is a character/inspiration. She makes class interesting. If you think you're interested in Gender Studies, take this course. If you already know a lot about Gender Studies, then this might be a bit of review for you. Lots of readings but you can skim/ read summaries. She sucks at grading things on time. Also the forums...make sure you do everyone of them! It says drop lowest 5 on collab but that's because half the class is supposed to do 5 and the other half is supposed to do the other 5. Overall I love this class and am now pursuing WGS as a major/minor.

My friend referred this class to me as an easy way to knock out a credit, but it exceeded my expectations greatly. Professor Arnold is engaging and demands that her students think critically. The material was unique and offering different perspectives on other classes I took. I would recommend this class to anyone who thinks that they have any interest in gender, sexuality, or the issues that surround them in society today. As for grades, she is critically edits work but I received A's on everything in the class. If you participate in class and do the readings, it is not hard to get a good participation grade. The reading is dense and varies in length, and sometimes it is checked by a pop quiz. Otherwise, there is no work outside of class. She has a strict 2 absence attendance policy. I cannot praise this class enough, everyone should consider taking this with Professor Arnold.