Professor
Yunxiang Yan
1 of 1
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - Professor Yan is a nice man, but his lectures are very boring and consist of him going off on tangents. He spends a lot of time talking about each slide, so much that he was behind schedule since he continued his lectures going into the following week. There were reading responses due for weeks 2-6, which I found pretty pointless. The midterm and final weren't bad, they consisted of multiple choice and a few short-response questions. Most of the content on the exams came from lecture and the readings from the textbook; the supplementary articles are practically worthless. There was also a 5 page ethnographic observation paper that required us to go do fieldwork at either Wooden, Trader Joe's, or the farmer's market. Overall, this class was okay and definitely requires some effort to do well.
Winter 2019 - Professor Yan is a nice man, but his lectures are very boring and consist of him going off on tangents. He spends a lot of time talking about each slide, so much that he was behind schedule since he continued his lectures going into the following week. There were reading responses due for weeks 2-6, which I found pretty pointless. The midterm and final weren't bad, they consisted of multiple choice and a few short-response questions. Most of the content on the exams came from lecture and the readings from the textbook; the supplementary articles are practically worthless. There was also a 5 page ethnographic observation paper that required us to go do fieldwork at either Wooden, Trader Joe's, or the farmer's market. Overall, this class was okay and definitely requires some effort to do well.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Yan is a great professor, who knows his material inside and out. It may be hard to understand his acccent sometimes, but he tries especially hard to help his students understand the course material. Not an easy easy A, but is definitely do-able if you keep up with the readings and attend lecture.
Professor Yan is a great professor, who knows his material inside and out. It may be hard to understand his acccent sometimes, but he tries especially hard to help his students understand the course material. Not an easy easy A, but is definitely do-able if you keep up with the readings and attend lecture.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2019 - I was looking for some readings from this class on line and somehow got into this page. Looking at it I realized I might be the last class of students who actually participated in the program and this review might not be helpful at least in the next few years. Even more so, if I hadn't decided to participate in the program a year early, I might have also lost the opportunity to participate as well. While my current status absolutely turned this course into a once in a life-time experience, I'd say objectively I also learnt quite much from the class in a chill way. During the pre-departure conference I said I chose this program as I wanted to learn more about the country in which I grew up deeper through different perspectives, and I did achieve that goal through the class. Professor Yan's unique background made him capable of understanding the unique feature of the country and the city, which brought tremendous value to me. Though I might not be able to change my current situation, I still feel lucky that at least I can understand the essence of it based on what I learnt from the class. Well, honestly I didn't realize how much I learnt from this course plus how much Professor Yan influenced my life until recently, as it suddenly (actually not quite sudden) becomes so relevant to my life. But in 2019, what I enjoyed more was actually the schedule and design of the course. We got plenty of time to explore the city by ourselves as Professor Yan strongly encouraged us to do so. This may be the last normal summer I've had, and I'll miss it for the rest of my life. Ok - sorry about making the comment too personal - but I guess it's fine cause I think the program will not resume at least for the next few years. But I genuinely wish my prediction is wrong.
Summer 2019 - I was looking for some readings from this class on line and somehow got into this page. Looking at it I realized I might be the last class of students who actually participated in the program and this review might not be helpful at least in the next few years. Even more so, if I hadn't decided to participate in the program a year early, I might have also lost the opportunity to participate as well. While my current status absolutely turned this course into a once in a life-time experience, I'd say objectively I also learnt quite much from the class in a chill way. During the pre-departure conference I said I chose this program as I wanted to learn more about the country in which I grew up deeper through different perspectives, and I did achieve that goal through the class. Professor Yan's unique background made him capable of understanding the unique feature of the country and the city, which brought tremendous value to me. Though I might not be able to change my current situation, I still feel lucky that at least I can understand the essence of it based on what I learnt from the class. Well, honestly I didn't realize how much I learnt from this course plus how much Professor Yan influenced my life until recently, as it suddenly (actually not quite sudden) becomes so relevant to my life. But in 2019, what I enjoyed more was actually the schedule and design of the course. We got plenty of time to explore the city by ourselves as Professor Yan strongly encouraged us to do so. This may be the last normal summer I've had, and I'll miss it for the rest of my life. Ok - sorry about making the comment too personal - but I guess it's fine cause I think the program will not resume at least for the next few years. But I genuinely wish my prediction is wrong.
Most Helpful Review
Prof Yan is such a great professor. Class was interesting and funny~ Prof Yan always tell you his own personal stories, which makes the class even more interesting. midterm/final time he would look over the assigned readings to pick out the *important* ones for you to study for the time. Test not so hard, pretty straightforward, as long as you do the *important* readings then you should have no problem. He also tries really hard to grade the tests so you can get them back faster! Yan is such a dedicated Professor!! If only he taught other department courses~
Prof Yan is such a great professor. Class was interesting and funny~ Prof Yan always tell you his own personal stories, which makes the class even more interesting. midterm/final time he would look over the assigned readings to pick out the *important* ones for you to study for the time. Test not so hard, pretty straightforward, as long as you do the *important* readings then you should have no problem. He also tries really hard to grade the tests so you can get them back faster! Yan is such a dedicated Professor!! If only he taught other department courses~
AD
1 of 1
