HISA 3003

This was the fifth history course I've taken at UVA and it was by far my least favorite. Professor Nair's lectures are hard to follow - I often left having no idea what the main ideas were because her slides seemed to be randomly put together. The slides themselves are also not very helpful because they don't contain complete ideas and will not make much sense if you haven't read in detail. There was a lot of reading for the course (usually around 6-7 hours/week for me) and most of it is dense and boring. I think the majority of the class stopped reading after the first couple weeks. As for lecture itself, I found it to be extremely boring and didn't feel like I learned much. As much as I disliked doing the reading, that's how I learned the vast majority of the material for the course. The material itself is very interesting, but the way that it was presented made me dislike the class. As for the workload, most weeks just consisted of reading. There was one five-page paper worth 20% that was a response to one of three books that we read on our own. I read Nightmarch and really enjoyed it. There was also an in-class midterm worth 20%. Professor Nair gave us all the possible essay prompts and IDs in advance, so it was not at all difficult if you studied in advance. Class attendance and participation was worth 20%, but you only had to ask three questions in class/go to office hours three times/send her questions over email three times or some combination of these to get full credit for participation. Finally, there was a final exam worth 40%. Professor Nair gave us four possible essay prompts, of which we chose two to answer. We had over a week to write two five-page papers, which was annoying but not too difficult. I didn't find Professor Nair to be a tough grader at all as long as you bring in points from lecture for the midterm and some points from readings for the final. Overall, not a difficult class to get a good grade in, but can be very hard to sit through lecture.

It is clear that Professor Nair is passionate about her studies. I was dreading this class because I don't usually like history, but it wasn't so bad! The class fulfills both the non-western and history requirement. Your grade is composed of participation (attendance is required!), a midterm exam (Bluebook with IDs & Essays), a 5 page book review, and for the final two 4-5 page essays announced ahead of time. There was a HUGE amount of reading, and I never had time to do it until I went back to create arguements for my papers. Also one tip is do not use outside sources for your papers, she provides enough material and wants to see you use it. The "textbook" is necessary. Professor Nair clearly cares about her students, and I would recommend talking over essay thesis ideas/outlines with her in office hours because she can give you valuable input/suggestions to help you do well on the papers. She doesn't put powerpoints on Collab, so make sure you take notes quickly. This is the first history class I've taken at UVa, and I'm happy with my grade. More importantly, I learned a lot about India and Pakistan that really opened my eyes up to a new part of the world. I would recommend this class.

Take this class if you want to know more about India, especially in order to dispel stereotypes about India as a "holy land." It really opened my eyes to the reality of India's state.

Class got boring after a while, but definitely pay attention as she likes to see points from lecture in your papers. A relatively easy grader and a friendly person. Just do the readings and don't fall too far behind.