MDST 3883

If you are looking for a straightforward, enjoyable class for your last semester of undergrad, this is NOT it. I was challenged (in a positive way) by the concepts of the course, but the instructor's concept of speculation grading made it nearly impossible to score well on any weekly assignments in the class. I attended office hours once, sometimes twice a week, receiving more and more corrections on my papers each time, never meeting expectations and never passing, like nothing was every satisfactory. Every week this continued, I feared the class was going to be the only thing keeping me from graduating. I have taken physics classes easier than this; As a media studies major, studying media should not spark such gut-wrenching dread and anxiety as I have experienced- just trying to earn a C. I enjoyed the professor's passion for the subject, but spare yourself for one of the hardest classes yet.

I was really looking forward to this class because I have a deep interest in Media Studies, and more specifically film study, but I was really disappointed in this course. While the instructor does a good job laying out the class expectations, they are much harder to achieve than they appear. This course is based on specification style grading, meaning you only have to complete a certain amount of assignments for each letter grade. I thought this would be a good fit for me, but the instructor makes the requirement for each specification nearly impossible to achieve (this results in meeting expectations equating to nearly a 100%). I received really harsh feedback from the instructor on multiple occasions that I had never experienced at UVA. It made the class unenjoyable and anxiety-inducing. I do really well with constructive criticism, but this instructor typically just handed out criticism. It made what should have been a fun class one that I regret taking.

Some reviewers say he just wants you to learn so you have to go to office hours to learn how to write in his style, but I found that the ONLY way to find even minor success in this class was to attend multiple office hours sessions per week and seek outside help often. I did not even find my writing habits to improve in this class as a result of this work. It was just not a good use of time.

While enrolled in multiple 4000-level classes, this was one of the hardest classes I have taken so far. There was little reward for my work and I found the instructor incredibly (I cannot emphasize this enough) difficult to work with. I nearly considered withdrawing from the class at one point (which he recommended to many students who were struggling with his expectations, rather than reaching out to help). I would not recommend any class with this instructor.