GDS 2559

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.