Cynthia Gao

This course has very interesting content, but it did get repetitive by the end of the course. The midterm was a take-home written exam. It wasn't too hard, but the grading was definitely more harsh than expected. The final was an essay and was graded more easily. Other than that, the course was just daily readings and a weekly reading response. I would definitely take if you are interested in the subject.

This course has very interesting content, but it did get repetitive by the end of the course. The midterm was a take-home written exam. It wasn't too hard, but the grading was definitely more harsh than expected. The final was an essay and was graded more easily. Other than that, the course was just daily readings and a weekly readin …Read more

The topics were interesting but there was lots and lots of readings and we only had two papers that made up most of our grade. There was a 1-2 page reading response every week but was graded for participation.

This is definitely the most interesting course I've taken at Middlebury. Professor Gao is intimidatingly smart, but incredibly down-to-earth and very passionate about the course material. She structured the course very intentionally; each week's reading assignment almost built upon the other. For example, in the first three weeks, we read an excerpt from Capital, then we read Engels, followed by Kollontai. The volume of reading was very fair. For each class (which met once a week for a three hour seminar), we had approximately 100 pages of reading, give or take. The grade is comprised of the following: five one-page reading responses of our choice, attendance and participation, leading a discussion (essentially writing one of the weekly sets of discussion questions based on the reading, and very low-key), and then the final paper, which consists of an abstract, annotated bibliography, outline, and final draft, all weighted in increasing order. Professor Gao could sometimes grade a bit harshly, but is very fair in her reasoning for doing so, and is willing to help a lot in office hours. She is very strict about deadlines, but she also does not assign much work at all, so it is reasonable. The class discussions were by far the most stimulating, exciting, and valuable I've experienced at Middlebury. Overall, cannot recommend enough.

This is definitely the most interesting course I've taken at Middlebury. Professor Gao is intimidatingly smart, but incredibly down-to-earth and very passionate about the course material. She structured the course very intentionally; each week's reading assignment almost built upon the other. For example, in the first three weeks, we …Read more