Newfield is clearly very intelligent but his class can be confusing and strays far from the actual readings. Go to lecture, pay attention, read the books on time, don't waste your money on the reader (you can find all the readings online). If anything, I did enjoy learning how much of a problem-solving genre noir is.

He was OK. The lecture doesn't really focus on the books, mainly politics and complex themes. Found myself wondering what i just heard and how it had anything to do with our reading. 3-4 Quizzes, Two papers, one HUGE final. Questions on quizzes and final are worded so strange and there are more than one correct answer. TAKE NOTES each lecture.

I wanted to like Newfield but this class was unnecessarily difficult. There is tons of reading, a waste of a reader, and a difficult and confusing final. He's cool but the class definitely was more stress than it needed to be.

The professor was passionate about what he taught but lectures were completely confusing and often didn't make clear connections to the readings. Didn't use the e-reader. He only talks about classic detective fiction like Sherlock Holmes for the first week. Everything else is Noir Fiction (which wasn't really in the course description )

This professor always tries to connect the texts to real world situations. Sometimes, lectures did seem to stray really far away from the texts. He likes to talk statistics, administration, and politics. Not a bad professor, just go to class caffeinated. Three books, 2 papers, an unnecessary e reader, and a huge final.

Prof. Newfield lets his political opinions get in the way of his teaching. He often makes assumptions about history based on what would fit into his worldview. Worse, he spent more time talking about politics than detective fiction. Final exam based on politics rather than literature. Was boring and often frustratingly irrelevant and/or incorrect.

Uninteresting readings. Meaningless quizzes. Rambling and tangential lectures, so much so that each lecture covers only about 15 minutes of new material. Lecture slides make zero sense, but I guess it doesn't really matter since he flips through them faster than you can take notes on them.

Newfield was super unpredictable. Instead of talking about detective fiction, he used most of the class to talk about politics or current events. Also very unclear of what he wanted on the papers and final. Grading criteria was not clear at all and he didn't use gauchospace so we had no idea what grade we had before the final.

One of my favorite professors. His class is very discussion based which produces an interactive and engaging learning experience. He cares a lot about his students and is a great person to talk to about both class and life in general. He sometimes can be unclear about what he wants, but he is quick to clarify if you talk to him individually.

If you are interested in actually talking about detective fiction, this class isn't right for you. It feels as though he uses this class as a platform to preach political ideals rather than discuss literature. He also has a tendency to make historically and scientifically inaccurate claims.

I dont understand all of these amazing reviews. In my class, Newfield played favorites, only called on the same 1-2 students and wasn't afraid to humiliate students. There was one girl in my class who Newfield would always pick on in front of everyone. He never communicated with us and we'd show up to class almost everyday without knowing whats due

Newfield is the rare professor that actually likes undergraduates and wants them to succeed. Go to his office hours- he really likes listening to students. I took his CA Noir class and Detective fiction- seriously take anything he teaches, he's great.