WGS 2100

Lisa Speidel is a great professor, she keeps her lectures interesting and strongly encourages us to discuss what we learn amongst ourselves and then share as a class. The typical lecture will include her presenting the topic, maybe sharing a few slides or a youtube clip related to it, and having us discuss our reactions to it to each other and then opening it up for people to voluntarily share. There are short articles to read every week and a few short papers that are mostly reflective/opinion-based. Overall a very easy class with stimulating discussion. Speidel is a very easy grader and has explicitly said that "everyone gets a A unless you don't turn in your work". Would highly recommend

Take this class! Lisa is incredibly engaging and has been my favorite professor at UVA so far. She is so enthusiastic about the material, and because this is an intro class, you briefly touch on a vast number of topics, so if you don't resonate with one, there will be plenty of others! Her class is almost all participation-based, with a few reflections and papers. She is just looking for effort. so as long as she can tell you tried, you will get an A. Overall, it was a fantastic class to fulfill a credit.

Speidel's courses are amazing if you are worried about an easy A and nothing else, but I wouldn't recommend it if you care about the content or experience at all. Over two different classes, I've yet to see her complete her slides nor stick to them for an entire lecture. The majority of our lectures would be taken up by anecdotes about Speidel herself, past students, and even her child. You will almost definitely learn more about Speidel's life and family than you will the actual content of the course.
This all being said, if you have to take this course for WGS major/minor, the TAs are truly a saving grace. Discussion sections are the most informationally dense aspect and by far the most interesting.