GDS 2030

Levenson was simply amazing! One of the few professors I felt compelled to go to office hours for only to find a line full of three or four students waiting to do the same. Levenson is an individual who loves almost anything intellectual. You could talk to him for hours about things from Chinese politics to current and classical literature. The course however clearly shows Levenson's English bias, as you read about a novel a week. The books are considered to be must reads, but I had a busy semester and was unable to read most of them. I thought this would come back to bite me during the midterm and the final, but it did not because it is more about themes and ideas in the novels than the specific facts. The lectures deal with the historical context surrounding the novels and authors and the take aways from the novels. Discussion section depends on who your TA is. Mine was english based so discussion was more focused on the texts themselves rather than their context in present day, which was frustrating. Overall though the class was very worthwhile.

This class is amazing. I would recommend this to everyone. Life changing class and Levenson is the man!!!!! There is a ton of reading, which is frustrating, but all of the reading is really great.

Professor Levenson is one of the greatest professors at UVA. You should go to the lectures in the class if only to hear him expound on life, humanity, and conflicts in the world. He's really passionate about what he's teaching and tries so hard to get to know his students - go to his office hours if you feel like you need help or just want to talk to someone. The course material was kind of all over the place and the requirements for the course (one semester-long blog post assignment, a midterm, and a final, both take-home) were a little confusing, but all of the material we covered was super interesting. I didn't think either TA was an extremely good teacher or very clear about what they expected of you, but this was also a new course so I guess that's to be expected, and they'll probably handle it better next year.