Professor
Saree Makdisi
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Most Helpful Review
TOOK HIM FOR ENGL 10B The posters below me are correct in voicing their negative opinions about him. To the person deeming it UNFAIR for him to put Blake on the final: how FAIR was it that he wasted WEEKS on Blake? How FAIR was it that he wasted ONE WHOLE CLASS talking about the print machines in London and how Blake drew and colored his covers and how the metal copies were made? HOW FAIR was it that he made us read a novel on the LAST DAY OF CLASS, spent the whole 2 hours lecturing on it and did not have a single question about it? PLEASE: he is intelligent (obvious if he's a professor) and he is nice but his tests are NOT FAIR.
TOOK HIM FOR ENGL 10B The posters below me are correct in voicing their negative opinions about him. To the person deeming it UNFAIR for him to put Blake on the final: how FAIR was it that he wasted WEEKS on Blake? How FAIR was it that he wasted ONE WHOLE CLASS talking about the print machines in London and how Blake drew and colored his covers and how the metal copies were made? HOW FAIR was it that he made us read a novel on the LAST DAY OF CLASS, spent the whole 2 hours lecturing on it and did not have a single question about it? PLEASE: he is intelligent (obvious if he's a professor) and he is nice but his tests are NOT FAIR.
Most Helpful Review
Took him for English 10B and I liked him so much that I am taking another class with him, 163A. I would highly recommend Professor Makdisi because he is organized, articulate, straightforward, and a very nice man. His powerpoint presentations are filled with graphics so that lecture is made more interesting. Yes, the final was very tedious to study for but he tells you exactly how to prepare and you know exactly what to study. I didn't feel that the final was especially tedious, especially since many of the works were interesting. Also, Makdisi takes student comments and/or criticisms into consideration, and because many students complained about not having a midterm, he introduced a midterm for English 163A. It's a pleasure taking a class with this man and I would recommend him to any English major.
Took him for English 10B and I liked him so much that I am taking another class with him, 163A. I would highly recommend Professor Makdisi because he is organized, articulate, straightforward, and a very nice man. His powerpoint presentations are filled with graphics so that lecture is made more interesting. Yes, the final was very tedious to study for but he tells you exactly how to prepare and you know exactly what to study. I didn't feel that the final was especially tedious, especially since many of the works were interesting. Also, Makdisi takes student comments and/or criticisms into consideration, and because many students complained about not having a midterm, he introduced a midterm for English 163A. It's a pleasure taking a class with this man and I would recommend him to any English major.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Although all my classes were prerecorded because of COVID, he was by far my best English Professor. He made me see the beauty in texts that I hated (like Samuel Johnson's preface to the dictionary or Elegy in a Church Courtyard.) While many professors (like my English 10C) professor only summarize the readings during lecture, Makdisi actually takes specific examples, quotes, and art from the time period to make powerful and nonintuitive statements about a piece. There was not a single lecture I didn't like. The only complaint I knew of were that he sometimes uploaded his lectures late or he wasn't entirely organized. But the quality of his lectures I think more than made of for that. He deserves to be a distinguished professor.
Fall 2021 - Although all my classes were prerecorded because of COVID, he was by far my best English Professor. He made me see the beauty in texts that I hated (like Samuel Johnson's preface to the dictionary or Elegy in a Church Courtyard.) While many professors (like my English 10C) professor only summarize the readings during lecture, Makdisi actually takes specific examples, quotes, and art from the time period to make powerful and nonintuitive statements about a piece. There was not a single lecture I didn't like. The only complaint I knew of were that he sometimes uploaded his lectures late or he wasn't entirely organized. But the quality of his lectures I think more than made of for that. He deserves to be a distinguished professor.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - This was one of the more interesting classes I’ve taken at UCLA. It’s essentially a study of the urban development and geography of London through a literary lens. There is an online midterm, a group project, a final paper, and an in-class final. Professor Makdisi is amazing! If you are even slightly interested in the subject, I recommend taking this class.
Winter 2019 - This was one of the more interesting classes I’ve taken at UCLA. It’s essentially a study of the urban development and geography of London through a literary lens. There is an online midterm, a group project, a final paper, and an in-class final. Professor Makdisi is amazing! If you are even slightly interested in the subject, I recommend taking this class.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Professor Makdisi was a super interesting lecturer. I wasn't even supposed to take his class and only through some scheduling mishaps did I end up in this course. Coming in with zero enthusiasm for the material, I learned to love this class. The readings were thought-provoking, the discussion sections with our TA (Austin) were engaging, and the midterm/final/map project were very do-able so long as you didn't wait til the last minute. I'd recommend this course!
Fall 2020 - Professor Makdisi was a super interesting lecturer. I wasn't even supposed to take his class and only through some scheduling mishaps did I end up in this course. Coming in with zero enthusiasm for the material, I learned to love this class. The readings were thought-provoking, the discussion sections with our TA (Austin) were engaging, and the midterm/final/map project were very do-able so long as you didn't wait til the last minute. I'd recommend this course!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Taken during COVID quarter with Prof. Jaurretche but she isn't on here yet. Originally supposed to be once weekly seminar in person and then virtual discussion sections with additional online assignments. We have a short group research paper and a 10 page term paper researching the history behind one assigned work. I was so excited to get to take this class this quarter, and I think it was a good decision. The course itself is really interesting in terms of the history you learn and the way it incorporates the virtual experience. I love Dublin and learning more about it was great, and I liked the new "virtual" aspect of the course. Having the discussion posts was a fun way to engage and publish our opinions on her blog. The readings were also interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed our in-class discussions. However, I think the class felt a bit disorganized. Having one day for lecture made reading entire novels a bit anticlimactic because we couldn't completely engage, but then we would alternatively just read one chapter or snippets which made it harder to feel like you got a true understanding. I think reading short stories/poems and plays were a good choice to offer a fully comprehensive study in such a short period of time. I wish we'd spent maybe two weeks (aka 2 days total) on the novels, even if it meant we couldn't read as many. DEFINITELY do the readings or you will be sooo lost. And if you're still lost, sparknotes and shmoop are your best friends. However, because of the shutdown, Prof decided to cut our once weekly seminar short bc three hours is a long time to zoom, and instead would post pre recorded intro lectures. the readings need to be more accessible. A lot of us couldn't afford $55 for an ebook course reader with Professor's selections of certain works. Yes, you could find them on archive.org or lib gen or LAPL or online, but with different pagination or not knowing which parts were assigned. Also, many novels were assigned which made it pretty steep in total. I didn't purchase any materials, but it meant sometimes I would have to ask other students for line numbers or page images or email my TA which felt like an inconvenience for everyone, or wait on a book that wasn't coming. Especially during a completely virtual quarter, it seemed odd she wouldn't just post her scanned PDFs on CCLE rather than make us repurchase them. And beware, it's mostly male, white authors, with the only "known gay" being Oscar Wilde. I guess that's to be expected in a course on 1900s Ireland but I would have loved to explore more female authors... Or discuss Bram Stoker's love of Whitman at all. Point is, don't take this course if you're hoping for a ton of diverse rep, take it because you genuinely enjoy Irish lit and history and are fine experiencing just the established highlights in western academia. There were weekly discussion posts and then replies, which were not hard at all. But, they kept changing the deadlines which made it a bit confusing and easy to forget, especially since each one was like this D&D level quest... First, watch the pre-lectures (5-20 min each, 1-3 per week) THEN you read the assigned piece, then you go on a google doc with new people each week and make specific replies to the TA's question by close reading. 2 comments, and one reply to someone else. THEN later on based on what you said you post a close read on CCLE and ask your peers their opinions and questions about the work. THEN at another date, you have to go on and reply to one of their posts. THEN at the very end, post a mini-essay reflection on this week's reading connecting it back to our historical textbook and/or the other assigned readings and/or a virtual trip element for exploring Dublin. THEN, later on, reply to at least one of those. It was so much to remember. Also, sometimes the virtual aspect felt a bit inconsistent closer to the end of class and made me wonder why we didn't combine her virtual blog page with some kind of in-person discussion section. We could have still had our posts each week and the group paper project online but I would have loved more TA involvement and also to have discussions that didn't feel like all of us talking at the professor about our points instead of with one another. Elizabeth is one of the most fantastic TAs I've ever had, she knows her stuff and she loves what she does. She's extremely helpful when you need it and goes out of her to ensure her students thrive. I don't think I've ever had a TA so dedicated to student engagement and making sure we feel encouraged and our efforts recognized. She's also just a super fun person to talk to and made this quarter and class so much more enjoyable! Also, the class promised we'd "virtually" explore Dublin and sometimes we did that using VR or online materials but other weeks there would just be more reading. Hopefully, in subsequent years they'll work out a more consistent immersion because that aspect seemed really cool. Overall though, she really knows and loves the material and she inspired us to engage with it deeply! Would love to have her again!
Spring 2020 - Taken during COVID quarter with Prof. Jaurretche but she isn't on here yet. Originally supposed to be once weekly seminar in person and then virtual discussion sections with additional online assignments. We have a short group research paper and a 10 page term paper researching the history behind one assigned work. I was so excited to get to take this class this quarter, and I think it was a good decision. The course itself is really interesting in terms of the history you learn and the way it incorporates the virtual experience. I love Dublin and learning more about it was great, and I liked the new "virtual" aspect of the course. Having the discussion posts was a fun way to engage and publish our opinions on her blog. The readings were also interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed our in-class discussions. However, I think the class felt a bit disorganized. Having one day for lecture made reading entire novels a bit anticlimactic because we couldn't completely engage, but then we would alternatively just read one chapter or snippets which made it harder to feel like you got a true understanding. I think reading short stories/poems and plays were a good choice to offer a fully comprehensive study in such a short period of time. I wish we'd spent maybe two weeks (aka 2 days total) on the novels, even if it meant we couldn't read as many. DEFINITELY do the readings or you will be sooo lost. And if you're still lost, sparknotes and shmoop are your best friends. However, because of the shutdown, Prof decided to cut our once weekly seminar short bc three hours is a long time to zoom, and instead would post pre recorded intro lectures. the readings need to be more accessible. A lot of us couldn't afford $55 for an ebook course reader with Professor's selections of certain works. Yes, you could find them on archive.org or lib gen or LAPL or online, but with different pagination or not knowing which parts were assigned. Also, many novels were assigned which made it pretty steep in total. I didn't purchase any materials, but it meant sometimes I would have to ask other students for line numbers or page images or email my TA which felt like an inconvenience for everyone, or wait on a book that wasn't coming. Especially during a completely virtual quarter, it seemed odd she wouldn't just post her scanned PDFs on CCLE rather than make us repurchase them. And beware, it's mostly male, white authors, with the only "known gay" being Oscar Wilde. I guess that's to be expected in a course on 1900s Ireland but I would have loved to explore more female authors... Or discuss Bram Stoker's love of Whitman at all. Point is, don't take this course if you're hoping for a ton of diverse rep, take it because you genuinely enjoy Irish lit and history and are fine experiencing just the established highlights in western academia. There were weekly discussion posts and then replies, which were not hard at all. But, they kept changing the deadlines which made it a bit confusing and easy to forget, especially since each one was like this D&D level quest... First, watch the pre-lectures (5-20 min each, 1-3 per week) THEN you read the assigned piece, then you go on a google doc with new people each week and make specific replies to the TA's question by close reading. 2 comments, and one reply to someone else. THEN later on based on what you said you post a close read on CCLE and ask your peers their opinions and questions about the work. THEN at another date, you have to go on and reply to one of their posts. THEN at the very end, post a mini-essay reflection on this week's reading connecting it back to our historical textbook and/or the other assigned readings and/or a virtual trip element for exploring Dublin. THEN, later on, reply to at least one of those. It was so much to remember. Also, sometimes the virtual aspect felt a bit inconsistent closer to the end of class and made me wonder why we didn't combine her virtual blog page with some kind of in-person discussion section. We could have still had our posts each week and the group paper project online but I would have loved more TA involvement and also to have discussions that didn't feel like all of us talking at the professor about our points instead of with one another. Elizabeth is one of the most fantastic TAs I've ever had, she knows her stuff and she loves what she does. She's extremely helpful when you need it and goes out of her to ensure her students thrive. I don't think I've ever had a TA so dedicated to student engagement and making sure we feel encouraged and our efforts recognized. She's also just a super fun person to talk to and made this quarter and class so much more enjoyable! Also, the class promised we'd "virtually" explore Dublin and sometimes we did that using VR or online materials but other weeks there would just be more reading. Hopefully, in subsequent years they'll work out a more consistent immersion because that aspect seemed really cool. Overall though, she really knows and loves the material and she inspired us to engage with it deeply! Would love to have her again!
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