HIEU 1502

This course, Immigration, Race, and Islam in Paris, offered me a new perspective on the state of poverty and systemic racism that exists within France. The toughest part of the class was meeting for 2.5 hours per week. It took a lot of energy to get through the seminar component. On top of that, there were 50-100 pages of reading a week, requiring intensive time to understand the scope of the course. The grading was pretty clear. 30% went towards participation, 15% went towards Reflective Writing, 10% towards a 5-page essay, 20% towards the Film Week Syllabus, and 25% towards the final paper, which was 8 pages long due to the virus, but would have been 10 pages otherwise. If you are a history major, this is definitely an interesting class to fulfill multiple gen-eds. But, if no, I would advise taking a course less demanding.

Grading breakdown: 30% participation, 10% short 5-page essay, 15% in-class reflective writings, 20% group project, 25% final essay 2000-words (group project due to distance learning). The course is very interesting: you learn about Immigration, Race, and Islam in Paris (particularly, the course focuses on French African Immigrants from the former French colonies and their relationship with the local French people). You have to read about 50-100 pages every week, some of which can be quite challenging. Then you go to class and discuss it. Before COVID-19, the class was 2.5 hours once a week. After distance learning began, we met for just over an hour once a week. This definitely reduced a lot of our stress. In between these two periods, the class of 14 students broke up into four groups to work on the group project (20%), which was writing up a portion of the syllabus for the end of the course. This was the best part of the course: each group picked a film related to the topic of the course and depicted the themes that we discussed throughout the course and picked a set of readings that foreshadowed the film and its themes. My group met for about an hour every week. After that, each group would run a discussion session, which comprised the last four classes. The final group essay (critical context guide 25%) was 2000-words, which wasn't bad considering that it wasn't that much after you broke it up and because of the fact that you have your group mates to give you constructive feedback on your work. Quick note: ignore the zeros on writing, group work, and other because I will elaborate on those.

In terms of grading, Professor Sessions did not update the grade book until just a few days before we had to make our decision about taking courses pass/fail or graded. In other words, the only grade that was present was the grade we received on the first essay assignment (10%). The highest grade that we received on the participation (30%) and in-class reflective writings (15%), which are both completion grades, was 95%. The highest grade you could get on an assignment was 95%. Not only that, but she also made the cutoff for an A to be 94%, meaning that you have to really get the highest grade possible on every assignment to receive a solid A. There is extremely little room for error. Yeah, so the stakes are high. IDK why she doesn't just give 100s for the two completion grades.

Overall, the class is very interesting and I would recommend it to any student who is good at humanities and writing essays. If you love history and are planning to major in it, then I would recommend taking the class. But if reading and writing are not your strength, I would suggest taking an easier class to fulfill your general education requirements. I know this class is attractive because it fulfills 2x requirements: historical perspectives and 2nd writing. But I personally feel that Professor Sessions assigns too many intensive readings for a 1000-level class for 1st and 2nd-year students. I would recommend starting early on the two essays because she is a hard grader. She also gives very thorough feedback. You must actively participate in class and write well in order to get a solid A in the course.