Professor
Joseph Nagy
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Most Helpful Review
I had Professor Nagy (if you’re curious, it rhymes with garage and the y is silent) for both fall and winter of the GE30 cluster in 2011/2012, not the class above. He was definitely the best professor out of the teaching team, which also included Kendrick and Tangherlini. He seemed to be the “main” professor, as he definitely lectured more than the other two. Nagy is a very interesting man who starts off each lecture with some sort of clip, generally of the older/classic variety, and somehow connects it back to the reading and his lecture. (He seems to have a fondness for opera as well.) I usually enjoyed his lectures, and he did a good job covering the reading. Speaking of the reading, it was often dry and boring, especially in the fall. The class is more focused on what is a myth/classifying myths/being really technical about definitions and less about actually reading and comparing myths. However, you do read a bunch of myths from around the world and get to hear from an assortment of guest lectures. Grading is based on reading quizzes that I found very easy considering I actually did all the readings. Most of the people I knew in that class didn’t bother to do the reading, and their scores on the reading quizzes ranged from fine to not-so-great. While there are a lot of books to buy for the class, Nagy is good about putting up articles on the course website that you can print out or simply read off your screen, which is much nicer than paying for a course reader. Additionally, you don’t have to buy any new books for winter. The other main portion of grading are the essays; there are two each quarter with a rewrite of each. Instead of a final, there is an essay due finals week. I ended up with an A in fall and an A+ in winter. For discussion, I had Sara Burdorff. She is super nice and a great TA Take her if she is still there! Other TAs that seemed great based on their lectures/word of mouth are Wayne Bass and Laura Pierson. Anna Page was also lovely, but sadly I’m pretty sure that was her last year.
I had Professor Nagy (if you’re curious, it rhymes with garage and the y is silent) for both fall and winter of the GE30 cluster in 2011/2012, not the class above. He was definitely the best professor out of the teaching team, which also included Kendrick and Tangherlini. He seemed to be the “main” professor, as he definitely lectured more than the other two. Nagy is a very interesting man who starts off each lecture with some sort of clip, generally of the older/classic variety, and somehow connects it back to the reading and his lecture. (He seems to have a fondness for opera as well.) I usually enjoyed his lectures, and he did a good job covering the reading. Speaking of the reading, it was often dry and boring, especially in the fall. The class is more focused on what is a myth/classifying myths/being really technical about definitions and less about actually reading and comparing myths. However, you do read a bunch of myths from around the world and get to hear from an assortment of guest lectures. Grading is based on reading quizzes that I found very easy considering I actually did all the readings. Most of the people I knew in that class didn’t bother to do the reading, and their scores on the reading quizzes ranged from fine to not-so-great. While there are a lot of books to buy for the class, Nagy is good about putting up articles on the course website that you can print out or simply read off your screen, which is much nicer than paying for a course reader. Additionally, you don’t have to buy any new books for winter. The other main portion of grading are the essays; there are two each quarter with a rewrite of each. Instead of a final, there is an essay due finals week. I ended up with an A in fall and an A+ in winter. For discussion, I had Sara Burdorff. She is super nice and a great TA Take her if she is still there! Other TAs that seemed great based on their lectures/word of mouth are Wayne Bass and Laura Pierson. Anna Page was also lovely, but sadly I’m pretty sure that was her last year.
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Most Helpful Review
(I DID NOT TAKE ENGLISH 495E! THE COURSE I TOOK WITH HIM IS: GE CLUSTER 30 (Never ending stories)) Selling all of these books (individually or as a package) - these are pretty much all the books required for this class (there might be a couple more, I'm not sure) but yeah. They are all in new condition (paperbacks), barely touched, except for Sacred Narrative. That's a bit more used and has some highlights in it but it's in good condition. If you're thinking about taking the class and want to buy these or get pictures of the books for verification, contact me at thu25@g.ucla.edu. If you're living on the hill, I can also personally deliver any of these books to you before school starts (sometime between sept 25th-oct 2nd). BOOKS: Beowulf and Other Old English Poems ($6) The Aeneid (translated by Robert Fitzgerald) ($9) The Mabinogion (A new translation by Sioned Davies) ($10) The Epic of Gilgamesh ($7-$9) The Iliad of Homer ($7-$9) Comparative Mythology by Jaan Puhvel ($20-$25) The Odyssey ($7-$10) The Heroic Ideal by M. Gregory Kendrick ($22-$25) The Sacred Narrative by Alan Dundes ($20-$25) A Writer's Reference (7th edition) by Diana ($60-$65) Hacker/Nancy Sommers On a side note: Nagy was a very informative professor, really knew his stuff. He's kind and open to helping students in office hours which is always a plus. Sometimes his lecture did get a bit boring but overall, he's pretty good!
(I DID NOT TAKE ENGLISH 495E! THE COURSE I TOOK WITH HIM IS: GE CLUSTER 30 (Never ending stories)) Selling all of these books (individually or as a package) - these are pretty much all the books required for this class (there might be a couple more, I'm not sure) but yeah. They are all in new condition (paperbacks), barely touched, except for Sacred Narrative. That's a bit more used and has some highlights in it but it's in good condition. If you're thinking about taking the class and want to buy these or get pictures of the books for verification, contact me at thu25@g.ucla.edu. If you're living on the hill, I can also personally deliver any of these books to you before school starts (sometime between sept 25th-oct 2nd). BOOKS: Beowulf and Other Old English Poems ($6) The Aeneid (translated by Robert Fitzgerald) ($9) The Mabinogion (A new translation by Sioned Davies) ($10) The Epic of Gilgamesh ($7-$9) The Iliad of Homer ($7-$9) Comparative Mythology by Jaan Puhvel ($20-$25) The Odyssey ($7-$10) The Heroic Ideal by M. Gregory Kendrick ($22-$25) The Sacred Narrative by Alan Dundes ($20-$25) A Writer's Reference (7th edition) by Diana ($60-$65) Hacker/Nancy Sommers On a side note: Nagy was a very informative professor, really knew his stuff. He's kind and open to helping students in office hours which is always a plus. Sometimes his lecture did get a bit boring but overall, he's pretty good!
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