Yunxiang Gao

The participation policy is very strict for an online history course. Cameras must stay on, and students are expected to speak regularly or risk being marked absent. There are no alternative participation options. The constant pressure makes the class stressful and focuses more on attendance than learning.

The teacher is really knowledgeable and passionate about her course. However, she doesn't help that much so you have to ask the TA instead. Communication is really hard because you can only reach her by email and you cannot really interact with others because of the channels restriction. Would have appreciated if the communication was smoother.

Worst class ever, she would ask boring and pointless questions on zoom. If you don't turn on the camera you will be moved out. Grading was terrible. If you want to get the lowest grade in your undergraduate career, take this class.

I took this class last year so it was online. Very interesting lectures. Marked fairly. You MUST do the readings to do well in the tutorials. My one complaint is that she never returned our final exam nor did we get our participation grade back, so I just had to guess what I got on those when I saw my grade on RAMMS.

Dont take this class

Lectures were AWFUL, recordings of past zoom lectures with a black screen. Jumps around places in the slideshow and mislabels lectures making it very hard to follow along. Seminars were very unorganized making it hard to participate. If you get the TA for your seminars you will have a much better term. Not to hard or boring just very frustrating.

The lectures were audio recordings of a previous lecture from however long ago w/ a blank screen due to "copyright issues"and the only interaction w/ the prof was during intro week where she mentioned she does not reply to emails. Have yet to receive my mark and the final exam was an essay summarizing the ENTIRE course. Very disappointing delivery

She has a thick accent which makes it hard to follow the materials. Lectures are only available for 12 hours during your lecture day. She has interesting materials but unfortunately she is not dedicated to the online class enough to even teach lectures herself. I paid money too and all I got was a black screen Zoom recording of the pervious term.

Fair warning for ALL Professor Gaos courses, you MUST attend lectures to truly do well. Be SURE to attend the first lecture and if you start late ASK questions to get context. She is a very interesting lecturer! Initially you will have difficulty with her accent but you do adjust after a couple of weeks. The LECTURES CONTEXTUALIZE the MATERIAL.

Super interesting course. 2nd course I've taken with her and she designs VERY informative and thought provoking courses. This is not a bird course, you will work for your grades but the material is not difficult at all. 30% research paper, 2 exams. Several participation papers. Lecture attendance mandatory & not recorded. Fair marker. T.A has PhD.