HIAF 1501

I took HIAF 1501 with La Fleur with the course title Rebels, Runaways, and Revolutionaries. The course content was super interesting, and it's material I hadn't encountered in the past. He organizes the course into 3 sections, with an 5 page essay at the end of each one. The final paper of the course is the compilation of all three essays plus an overarching introduction and conclusion for a total of 20 pages of writing (the minimum for a course to qualify as SWR). La Fleur is quirky but funny, and he's also very aware of the pressures of being a student. However, it's a significant amount of reading due since this seminar only meets once a week. He's a very conversational lecturer, but discussion is a huge part of each class. I cannot speak to the course in an in-person setting, but over zoom I had a good experience.

La Fleur is the GOAT—I took his "Runaways and Rebels" class. He's a bit quirky but becomes comfortable both while lecturing and during conversations with students. He truly makes an effort to get to know everyone and places a huge emphasis on improving your work throughout the course. I definitely had to earn my A, but it wasn't overly challenging.

There's a good amount of reading in this course, along with a quick packet of about 6-7 short responses each week, which serve as the basis for class discussions. With ChatGPT, you can pretty easily get by without fully doing the readings: just upload the texts and ask for the main idea. Though, you won't really be able to go beyond surface level comments in class if you do this. It's more of a play for weeks you're overwhelmed with exams.

Classes usually start with a one-hour lecture, followed by class discussion, where he makes it easy to participate and involves everyone. I'm recalling from memory here, but I think the three rough drafts constituted about 50% of your grade, participation and homework about 25%, and the final 25% was your portfolio, essentially just revised versions of the three drafts combined into a cohesive theme incorporating his suggested improvements.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this course for a relaxed, enjoyable second-year writing requirement, where you’ll engage in interesting discussions and learn some valuable history. I managed by doing fairly minimal work - around 5-6 hours per paper (each 5-8 pages) and roughly an hour per week summarizing readings and completing the pre-class packet.