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.
It's not difficult to pass the course as long as you do the reading and attend section. His lectures are a bit of a snooze though. They're pretty meandering. He even seemed oddly confused when asked about some of the content and exam requirements. The course was still interesting. Just have a good TA and note his main points during class.
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.
Probably one of the worst lecturers I've had. He really just rambles the entire class, very often not about the reading assigned that week. Midterm and final are both short answer, so you do need to actually do the reading. Apparently he grades based on if your answers matched up what he talked about in lecture, but I never went and got an A.
Long and boring lectures that rarely talk about the actual reading assignments. He is very particular about the answers he expects on his exams; you must phrase your responses exactly how he explained them in class, otherwise he will say it's wrong. Lots of reading. Lecture is hard to follow, so hope for a good TA to explain the readings.
It was clear even from the first lecture that the professor is very passionate about this class, always open to questions and thoughts during lecture/office hours. He was even flexible about the term paper deadline. Of course, there are many readings, but as long as you attend section and pay attention in class, you'll do well.
Talks a lot in lecture and goes off on tangents. Even so, he is very in love with what he teaches. He's also very caring and for what is right, like the TA strike. A lot of reading, mainly the Odyssey & some play I forgot. Both interesting and the tests were just main ideas of that and to analyze the books a bit. No HW
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
Kittler is very nice, the lectures are not very relevant to the course. I barely went to class but got an A because the entire course is based off a midterm, final, and final paper. Section is important and the TA will go over what you need to know. Lots of reading so make sure to stay on top of it. Section and reading are a must for this course.
very easy course. I never attended lecture and barely kept up with readings and still got an A-. Professor is very nice
The class was really easy and I'd definitely recommend it as a gen ed. If you attend lectures, you'll be fine. He was friendly when answering questions. One of my favorite classes!
as mentioned by others, lectures are hard to sit through and occasionally his German accent is hard to understand. the lectures were essentially just a more detailed summary of the reading we did for homework
Pretty tough professor, lectures are hard to sit through, too many tangents, extremely hard to understand.
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!
While I agree that his lectures are long and tangential, he always made sure to upload his slides and recording to GS. This class is great if you enjoy ancient literature; the readings and assignments are interesting and relevant. Grading included participation, a midterm + final exam, and a final paper (1800 words). Easy class if you stick with it
Wolfs lectures were incredibly hard to sit through. I attended lecture for the first half of the quarter before I realized the lectures had nothing to do with the midterm or anything at all really. I think hes a nice guy, but not a great public speaker and went on the worrrst tangents. Anyway, easy A so I cant be that mad. Section was important!
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.