Professor
Christopher Looby
1 of 3
AD
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - I'm not usually the type to write reviews, but my experience in this class was so profoundly negative, I figured I'd warn others not to take it. Firstly, Prof. Looby assigns pretty lengthy readings each week, which would be okay if not for the weekly quizzes. These quizzes ask unusually particular, detailed questions that are normally unrelated to major themes/plot/etc., such as the "type of candy Walt Whitman liked to eat" kind of questions. In class, he does powerpoint slides of block quotes from the texts. There's very little analysis, zero discussion, and everyone (and I mean everyone) is on their laptop shopping or looking at social media. What I found uniquely frustrating about this class, however, is Prof Looby's assigned readings. Nearly each week the reading included graphic physical, mental, and/or sexual abuse. While Prof. Looby does provide "previews" of the information that will be covered in the next class, he does not provide any content warnings. Some of the readings also included detailed portrayals of pedophilia and bestiality. I might add, none of these were explicitly condemned or noted as inappropriate. Finally, Prof. Looby is an unusually hard grader. Not to mention our class didn't receive our midterm essay grade until week 10. If you're considering this class, please don't.
Winter 2020 - I'm not usually the type to write reviews, but my experience in this class was so profoundly negative, I figured I'd warn others not to take it. Firstly, Prof. Looby assigns pretty lengthy readings each week, which would be okay if not for the weekly quizzes. These quizzes ask unusually particular, detailed questions that are normally unrelated to major themes/plot/etc., such as the "type of candy Walt Whitman liked to eat" kind of questions. In class, he does powerpoint slides of block quotes from the texts. There's very little analysis, zero discussion, and everyone (and I mean everyone) is on their laptop shopping or looking at social media. What I found uniquely frustrating about this class, however, is Prof Looby's assigned readings. Nearly each week the reading included graphic physical, mental, and/or sexual abuse. While Prof. Looby does provide "previews" of the information that will be covered in the next class, he does not provide any content warnings. Some of the readings also included detailed portrayals of pedophilia and bestiality. I might add, none of these were explicitly condemned or noted as inappropriate. Finally, Prof. Looby is an unusually hard grader. Not to mention our class didn't receive our midterm essay grade until week 10. If you're considering this class, please don't.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Professor Looby was once of my favorite Professors at UCLA. He is such a great guy. He is very interesting and engaged with the material that he teaches. I learned so much from his lectures. He is very very very well-spoken (seriously, I loved that) and I always found myself considering new ideas that I never would have otherwise having not taken several of his courses. Oh, and he picks great literature to read! My only regret is that I never went to office hours and got to know such a cool dude. Thanks Professor.
Professor Looby was once of my favorite Professors at UCLA. He is such a great guy. He is very interesting and engaged with the material that he teaches. I learned so much from his lectures. He is very very very well-spoken (seriously, I loved that) and I always found myself considering new ideas that I never would have otherwise having not taken several of his courses. Oh, and he picks great literature to read! My only regret is that I never went to office hours and got to know such a cool dude. Thanks Professor.
Most Helpful Review
As a lecturer: So. boring. I spent most of the lecture focusing on my reading my twitter newsfeed or refreshing my facebook app on my iphone. BUT, I diligently wrote down every word on his slides, and let me say that helps a lot. And you do have to go to every lecture because attendance is mandatory. But it's not bad because you don't have to participate if you don't want to. Midterm: I got 100% on my midterm and I only studied for one day (this isn't the norm for me, I don't normally do that well). His tests are exact representations of his powerpoints. He gives almost a paragraph of text for identifications and asks pretty basic short answer questions, but you need to review those slides very carefully. Sam Sommers as TA: worst. TA. She was absolutely terrible, so avoid her at all costs. I have yet to receive my second paper grade (which I think should be significantly higher than my first) but she was just a beezy about grading and her particular subjectivity was annoying. She was really bad at leading time-worthy discussions, so attending discussions was rough. Overall: Not a bad course. I'm actually enjoying studying for the final because he lays out the information so blatantly (hence why it's boring) that it's easy to remember and make connections.
As a lecturer: So. boring. I spent most of the lecture focusing on my reading my twitter newsfeed or refreshing my facebook app on my iphone. BUT, I diligently wrote down every word on his slides, and let me say that helps a lot. And you do have to go to every lecture because attendance is mandatory. But it's not bad because you don't have to participate if you don't want to. Midterm: I got 100% on my midterm and I only studied for one day (this isn't the norm for me, I don't normally do that well). His tests are exact representations of his powerpoints. He gives almost a paragraph of text for identifications and asks pretty basic short answer questions, but you need to review those slides very carefully. Sam Sommers as TA: worst. TA. She was absolutely terrible, so avoid her at all costs. I have yet to receive my second paper grade (which I think should be significantly higher than my first) but she was just a beezy about grading and her particular subjectivity was annoying. She was really bad at leading time-worthy discussions, so attending discussions was rough. Overall: Not a bad course. I'm actually enjoying studying for the final because he lays out the information so blatantly (hence why it's boring) that it's easy to remember and make connections.
AD
1 of 3
