He's ridiculous! This is by far the only class & professor where I could rate "very poor" on every single question on the instructor's evaluation. He never cares about students' comments. In addition to his thick accent, he doesn't speak clearly or loudly enough for everybody to hear. The midterm was curved...probably b/c no one did well.
If you can get past his use of German versions of words and his thick German accent, as well as the fact that he invents the syllabus as he goes along and you're genuinely interested in the literature, this is an okay class. The tests and gradings are fair and the TA's are really helpful.
Worst professor I have had at this school. You literally can't understand what he says because he has such a thick accent. He is not approachable and gets irritated with questions asked in class. He doesn't really follow the topic of the class, but instead just does his own thing as far as what he teaches. If I had the luxury I would drop the class
I took this class because I already love Kafka and wouldn't recommend if you don't. Attend lectures, take notes, study for exams, and do the readings! Kittler is very passionate and silly. Tested on pretty specific things in an in class midterm and in class final.
Incredibly nice guy. Insanely knowledgeable and passionate about Kafka. Super interesting to talk to during office hours. Lectures can be boring if you aren't into the material. Class is easy, just do the readings, most of them are just short stories. I would recommend this course and also urge you to talk to him outside of lecture, he's awesome.
Does not offer any very unique/interesting takes on Kafka and lectures are very boring. Readings are basic. Not worth it.
Professor Kittler is very passionate about what he teaches but goes in long tangents that have nothing to do with course material. At some points this class felt more like an art history course if anything. Only 4 assignments (Midterm, Final Paper, Final, Section Participation) all online and okay. Didn't go to all lectures because most were bad.
Prof mumbles everything. Worst class I've ever taken, material is dated and difficult to study. Kitler would get irritable when we would ask questions about midterm/his grading. Don't take this class.
bad professor, booo. Never take this class. Boring.
If you want to do well in his class just do the readings. He specifically expects you to use quotes from course material to back up answers on exams. However, I found it extremely difficult to pay attention in his lecture only because he is difficult to understand and often sounds like he is mumbling. He is an ok professor.
The lectures were extremely difficult to sit through and I learned more from independent reading and my section discussions. Go to section it will help you a lot. I barley went to lecture and still got an A, but I believe that grading depends heavily on the TA you have.
Old guy who just isn't super exciting to listen to. This class's material was very boring and hard to sit through. Grading criteria was not clear and lectures were hard to follow. He is a super sweet guy though and cares about his students. He is always open to questions and discussions with students, just not a very captivating lecturer.
Professor Kittler's course was not what I had anticipated as it focusing mostly on machines. His lectures were confusing with very little notes and no clear grading criteria for tests or essays. There didn't seem to be any communication between him and the TA, so it was very difficult to understand some assignments.
Incredibly uncaring, unprofessional, and borderline (if not outright) cruel. If you have a death in even your immediate family he will insist you come to class the next day or fail you on tests worth a huge part of the grade. I really hope he reevaluates his morals as a teacher and as a person. I don't think anyone would think this is appropriate.
he spent 30 minutes showing us pictures and videos of typewriters
I took this honors section with four other students. You didn't have to attend regular section, and we mostly spent our time doing additional readings and talking about the material. No projects, no assignments outside of reading. He had a lot of personal anecdotes that were fun to hear (he's done a lot of cool stuff). Easy class!
Of my 3 years of taking literature courses at UCSB, this was one of my all time favorites. Not only did I find one of my new favorite authors, but the class was collaborative and engaging. Professor Kittler is funny, kind, and caring and it really shows in his lectures. I would highly suggest this class to anyone interested in Kafka!
He is very sweet and accommodating and has a clear interest in what he teaches. But his lectures were incredibly boring, and I could not pay attention at all. The readings are very manageable and some are quite interesting, but some of them are really abstract. His lectures were very unclear but I had a lot of classmates who were very helpful.
Took the class remotely during COVID. Lectures were very boring - Wolf goes off on mind-numbing tangents and rants that take up half of the lecture time and have little or nothing to do with the course. Makes everyone feel stupid for asking questions (responds by saying "I thought it was clear - just read the text again"). Avoid avoid avoid.
Hard to maintain attention during his classes. Lacks engagement and fails to answer questions in class clearly and concisely. I felt more confused after asking a question than I did clarified. Very knowledgeable about the material, but poor execution of sharing that knowledge.
Passionate about his field. Lectures include animations and videos if needed. There aren't a lot of readings and the readings are pretty short (2-38 pages). Exams are easy as long as you listen to class. Gives an option to substitute final paper with something else if you're just taking it for the GE.
Mans is crazy. Passionate about his field but lectures are super boring, 9 times out of 10 I ended up watching naruto on my phone. You definitely have to do the readings to pass, but overall the class isnt that tough if you keep up with the readings and can somewhat analyze the texts.
He can be a little hard to understand and follow along with sometimes, but his passion for the ideas that are talked over keeps you engaged. He was a nice and understanding man who isn't a very hard grader.
I took his German Studies undergraduate class at Cornell over a decade ago. The course was boring--he delivered the material in a way that was difficult to grasp, especially in foreign language. The worst part, however, was that he did not really care about the students, what grades they received, or how his demeanor affected the students.
