AMST 2001

This class was taught by Professor Hedstrom and Professor Handler (they alternated teaching each of the 6 units). Both were extremely well prepared for lectures, and I never had trouble with being engaged for the full 75 minutes. They were the best two lecturers I've had so far at UVA. Readings each week could get pretty long, but they are generally doable. Weekly journals due to TAs are helpful for connecting key concepts to previous units (which will also help with midterm and final exam prep). Overall, the course was very interesting and it felt meaningful to learn about the American systems we participate in, often subconsciously. Definitely take this class if you want to better understand American culture and learn from amazing professors.

Amazing class! I personally preferred Hedstrom's lectures to Hamilton because he was so incredibly engaging, but both were still great. The units are World's Fairs, Protest Music, Taste, Consumer Capitalism, Civil Religion, and Boxing. I thought civil religion was the best. It truly transformed how I see America. The class was pretty easy and straightforward. My TA was Sally Duncan, and she was a super easy grader but not a great TA. She talked so quietly and asked us questions so there was basically no discussion. I would skim the readings or read summaries. You don't need to read them, just at least have a general idea of what they are about. Loved this class!

This class was taught by both Prof. Mathew Hendstorm and Prof. Jack Hamilton. The course was interesting and relatively easy, even though I am not a fan of history readings. You'll have to submit a weekly journal about the assigned readings, which is only 1 page, and you only need to skim the readings to do them. The readings were generally long, so skimming is a tool you have to utilize. TAKE GOOD NOTES! It helps a lot with the midterm. The foodways project is an excellent grade booster and is really enjoyable because it is about food. The final was switched to be a take-home test, and we had three days to complete a test that only needed 3 hours, which was also an excellent boost to my grade. I really recommend this class if you want an eye-opening humanities course. In the beginning, I thought this class was challenging, but when I learned how to skim the readings and write good notes, it became the easiest class in the semester.

Take this class!! It is such an easy gpa booster. There are weekly readings, which are very long but you do not have to actually read them fully. The professors mention the readings and what they are about in the lectures, so as long as you take notes about that in class, you are fine. The only homework is a weekly journal entry, which is literally one page, and graded based on completion. There is a midterm, and a final, but both were graded very fairly. They also didn't require a lot of studying. I would just recommend going to lecture and paying attention. #tCFspring2022

This semester, the class was taught in alternating units by Professors Hedstrom and Hale. Hedstrom's units were World's Fairs, Taste, and Civil Religion, while Hale's were Minstrelsy, The Bomb, and Race & Photography. The two professors had different lecturing styles, but both are definitely passionate and knowledgeable about the content they teach. My two complaints were that there was too much reading assigned for each week, especially for an intro-level class, (although the summary of it is usually given in lecture/discussion), and the "no technology" rule in place this semester which was kinda annoying (although it wasn't strictly enforced). Tests were somewhat vague in their questions, but grading was pretty lenient. The foodways project is actually a lot of fun if you pick a good topic. Overall, would recommend for a chill, fairly easy class. #tCFfall22

note that this class was in the summer semester, so it was crunched into a month
The workload was reasonable, although there was a good amount of reading and writing assignments. The food project was really interesting and I liked it.
The midterm and final exams were doable, but quite long (nearly 3 hrs each) and had a lot of writing.
Overall, interesting class because of the way the modules were set up based on topic. I felt that each module was relevant and thought provoking.