Sonnino seems to have convinced himself that only his idiosyncratic approach to historical inquiry and teaching is the legit one. Enough said. Often too scattered and silly to take seriously.

I am a huge medieval history lover, so I thought this would be an enjoyable and challenging class to take. However, his grading on papers was completely insane. You will never reach his standards for writing. Don't take this class if you love history -- arbitrarily gave out A's only to some. Students who worked hard still got no mercy.

He is only accessible by phone, which is his personal phone. You need to call his phone for office hours or extra help. There was no TA and sections are run by the professor. I tried calling him 10+ times about a question regarding my paper and he never answered. Weekly reading and 100 word papers. Reading is difficult.

In online class, the lectures did not matter much. They provide context to the readings, but the majority of the learning is in the reading and writing. He will make you think in ways that you havent before. Read the readings, go to the discussions, and prepare to get harsh feedback. You are not as great a writer as you probably think. Keep trying

This class is incredibly frustrating because the professor does not give any feedback grade wise until the end of the course (he simply gives a letter grade). To top it off, his lectures are repetitive and not memorable. Take any other history course, trust me an interest in the source material will not be enough to get you through this class.

He Is an amazing a thoughtful man. He makes you rethink the way you've always looked at history with his peculiar teaching method and his unconventional approach to history. His way to lecture is unique and really makes you feel what history is all about. He doesn't give insane amounts of assignments. He's gonna make you work and improve yourself.