MDST 2010

Siva is very entertaining and keeps lectures from being too boring. The materials are extremely interesting, though there is a LOT of reading involved. If you pay attention in lectures and at least skim the assigned readings, you'll be fine.

Siva is very cryptic and can definitely be boring at times, but the reading is mostly interesting and I learned a lot from the class. You don't need to go to lectures, but it definitely helps. There are 4 take home essay tests in the class, with each test made up of about 2-3 1000-1500 word essays...pretty straight forward and honestly could be a lot worse. Overall, I would take the class just maybe not with Siva. Francesca is an awesome TA though!

you have to do the readings in order to participate in discussion and discussions are graded very harshly.

Prof Siva gives way too much reading. Pretty much a book a week. I got a B in the class but didnt do any of the readings. It got to a point where he assigned such a ridiculous amount that it was pretty overwhelming.

Lectures basically consist of him showing videos and skyping people.

Agree with these other reviewers- this class definitely has potential, and a lot of the material is very interesting. BUT the ridiculous amount of reading combined with Siva's arrogant attitude completely took away from that.

My advice is to not take this class unless you are a media studies major.

In all honesty, this class has some REAL potential to be amazing (the topics are very interesting and highly relevant to everyday life), but that potential is killed by the obscene amount of reading that Siva requires. In total, we were supposed to buy & read 10+ for the course, most of which were in the 200-400 page range. More than half of the time, you are expected to read a book a week. Personally, in the beginning of the semester, this wasn't really a problem, and I enjoyed most of the books we were reading. However, as time goes on and other classes begin to give more work (especially after spring break), it's almost guaranteed that everyone will fall behind on the readings. Also, I think most people realized that reading entire books was not even necessary, and a select few of the books weren't even needed to complete the exams, so the incentive to read such an odious amount of text naturally dwindled. But, aside from that, Siva is a fantastic lecturer -- albeit a bit non-pertinent at times, though still interesting.

Siva is a very interesting lecturer, but the readings he assigns are incredibly lengthy and impossible to get through. The bulk of the reading is given after spring break, and you'll be expected to read 300 page books in one week. most ppl gradually get more and more behind because when written, open-note exams are given, you spend all week working on it and then don't do the weekly reading. We had 12 books to buy this semester and numerous articles to read as well. It was also very frustrating when we had skype visits with authors. We had technical difficulties nearly every time, and no one ended up paying any attention because what they had to say wasn't always completely relevant. The exams are heavily based on readings, and not lectures. I wouldn't recommend this class unless you are down for a TON of reading.

This class is really interesting, this year however,he took away the project(which was a needed grade buffer) he tends to ask double negative questions that don't necessarily parallel with the answers on the tests. But he's really knowledgeable and you will probably never think about Media the same again. Ahrum is a must for a TA.

This class is now MDST 2001. Siva's a pretty entertaining lecturer, but he occasionally goes off-topic and includes a lot of anecdotes. The readings are pretty important to the midterms and final, which weren't as easy as I thought they'd be, but were still manageable. Ahrum is a fantastic TA; I've also heard good things about Megan Swanson. The group project was enjoyable and not too difficult. Overall a pretty good class - the only real complaint is that the readings were a bit long for a 100-level class.

Not a bad class, but a lot of reading is required to do well for the take home midterms and final. Lecture does help for midterms and finals, but you really have to know your material. The group project was meant to be a good grade buffer.