Guntram Herb

This class has some aspects which make it very valuable, and in my opinion, very interesting, but a huge portion of the class relies on understanding the jargon which comes with it. That being said though, I found myself referencing what I learned in this class a ton in other classes, namely the fact that borders are everywhere and effect everything, so if you're actually interested in this stuff, you'll take a lot away from this class. I personally am glad I took this class because of this, but I would hate to do it again because of just how much time and effort this class took, so really be sure you know what you're getting yourself into. There are at least 2 hours of readings per class, and while you can sometimes get away with not reading everything, for the midterm essays you really need to understand what was assigned (they're also often dense and not skimmable). The best assignment of the class is when you can choose to make a storymap presentation on any border of your choice, and then later an essay on a related topic. An extra comment I want to give is the irony between the standpoint of the class and its structure. The class highlights the ever presence of borders, and takes a viewpoint that they're bad in a lot of cases (which I'm not disagreeing with), and yet, this class has such a "heavily defended border" (barrier to entry) in learning the jargon that is associated with understanding the course content.

This class has some aspects which make it very valuable, and in my opinion, very interesting, but a huge portion of the class relies on understanding the jargon which comes with it. That being said though, I found myself referencing what I learned in this class a ton in other classes, namely the fact that borders are everywhere and e …Read more

Do not take this class. It is not easy. Everyone in this class has the most insane things to say. There are two exams all semester which are short essays. They are graded harshly. The material is incredibly boring. Herb and Lee are annoying. I would not recommend this class to anyone unless you are super into IGS and want to major in it.

I really enjoyed this course unlike other classes here it really makes you think about the broader issues and the exams are not hard so you don't have to worry about that and actually focus on enjoying the material.