I was just wondering if anyone has had Khater and gotten an A in his class. If so I wanted to know how exactly that was accomplished b/c looking at his stats it appears that most ppl get a B.

6/7/2006 10:43:20 PM

Awwwwww shiiiiiiiiiiiii...not this class.

I took this last summer session II and man, 5-weeks never felt so long. You'll have papers due nearly every day (pretty sure it's four 1-pagers per week), a couple semi-large reports, and a God-awful amount of reading to do. It's clear this class is going to be crap when the #1 text is one written by the teacher himself.

Don't listen to his gay lectures he'll post on his website...they do nothing for you. Just read his text and brainwash yourself to believe everything it says for the sake of a decent grade. DO NOT inject your own opinions that differ from what he says (i.e. don't hate on the Arab culture or else it'll harm your grade). To couple the problems, I had this AWFUL T.A. that was a complete toolbag. He'll say in the syllabus "don't summarize" the daily reports, but to "analyze". Well, my T.A. always asserted that I "summarized" no matter what I wrote so watch that carefully.

I ended up w/ a B- which I felt was better than I thought I was going to get based on the rapage that T.A. gave me. It was a very tough B- to get, though. SO much reading and writing.

If you're an Arab or something (no racism) you'll dig the material. The average white male just trying to complete his History reqirement (that's me) couldn't give 2 craps about anything this guy wrote or talked about, thus making for an absolutely horrible time.

Sorry for the downer, hopefully your T.A. will be more flexible...but seriously you'll be writing for this guy almost every single day, and if you're late on 'em you'll probably get less than a "B"-range grade.

[Edited on June 8, 2006 at 4:09 AM. Reason : dang, 900+ days on TWW w/ 5 posts ]

EDIT: Snap, I was taking this course via Distance Ed. If you're taking his in-class course, I'd suggest just taking it online. He posts his exact lectures online if you want to waste your time listening to them. From what I understood, the in-class students gained NOTHING from being there, had to attend a class, and paid more for the course than the same thing online.

[Edited on June 8, 2006 at 4:11 AM. Reason : .]

6/8/2006 4:07:35 AM

^FUCK! I'm taking it too but kinda worried now.

6/8/2006 9:04:08 AM

I really, really would love to take this class...but the thread I was gonna link to about this class made me stay far away from it.

I adore middle eastern culture, learning about it, and exposing myself to as much of it, and information about it, as I can. Even I won't take this course.

Drop it...take something like HI 341 (Technology throughout history).

6/8/2006 12:00:49 PM

I also took the class last summer distance ed and got a B. I believe the problem is they holding all of us to the standard of a history major. I realized early on that whether I put 30 or an hour and 30 minutes into writing the daily essay, I was still going to fall in the B range. I guess a different TA may grade differently, but if this year's is similar, just accept that you probably don't have the analytical foresight to make an A. I do have to say that the material was pretty interesting, I learned alot, and the prof was very flexible about me having my tonsils out the last week of class. As stated earlier, the lectures aren't that helpful, so do distance ed if you can.

6/8/2006 12:49:19 PM

I took this class last summer as well, but not distant-ed. Its definitely not the easiest class ever (and if you are taking any other classes, it will kill you.) I ended up with a B+, but I worked my ass off. That being said, it was by far one of the best classes I've ever taken and Dr. Khater is awesome. I hope you are taking it on campus because you can ask questions, and he actually knows who you are. I can completely understand why those who did it online hated it (I would have too.) If you are really concerned with making an A, drop it. But if you can live with an B, you will learn alot.

6/8/2006 2:02:27 PM

I took both of Dr. Khater's classes and loved them. I think I got an A for 270 and a B for the 400-level one.

A lot of people do not like the fact that you can't bluff your way by him.

He definitely wants you to do the readings, understand the material (or ask questions if you don't understand), and participate in class.

If that's not your style, don't take his class.

(Although I'd advise against taking any internet-based course. I simply don't get the connection I do from an actual teacher).

[Edited on June 8, 2006 at 2:30 PM. Reason : .]

6/8/2006 2:19:09 PM

I got a B years ago in distance ed. My papers were decent and I liked the material. This was all pre 9-11 so I have no idea what the course is about anymore.

i did not listen to the lectures

6/8/2006 3:13:31 PM

Quote :

" you can't bluff your way by him."

VERY true. I hated that I had to "learn" this material because it's the most least interesting stuff in the world to me. If you *want* to learn this stuff anyway, then you'd have no problem with this. Just fair warning, this class is NOT an "A" waiting to happen.

[Edited on June 9, 2006 at 5:14 PM. Reason : ,]

6/9/2006 5:14:37 PM

i took this class last summer d.e. the workload sucks, and makes the material (which i found interesting) frustrating and overwhelming. you also have to make posts on an online message board.

one thing i hated is that i didnt feel like the grading was consistent. one summary i would get the full points and have lots of compliments, the next would much lower. and i think the TA did most of the grading. i really question with as much work as the students had to do in the amount of time the class lasted, that the TA/prof. had sufficient time grading and providing feedback on assignments.

6/10/2006 4:16:02 PM

I'm taking this in the fall... now y'all have me getting nervous about it...

6/10/2006 10:20:13 PM

Taking the class in person is great. I personally wouldn't want to take an online class, though (but that's just my preference). It seems like the majority of you guys took it distance-ed, which is probably what's accounting for the negative reviews.

[Edited on June 12, 2006 at 12:01 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2006 12:00:52 PM

It's one of the most enjoyable classes I've ever taken - he truly loves what he's doing and if you don't love it either (and are willing to spend three/four hours a night on it for a few weeks) avoid it. It's kind of like explaining to someone why addicts to this forum don't find it hard to post consistently for longer periods every day... some people go hard core.

I did for HI 270, and enjoyed it.

6/12/2006 12:17:17 PM

I have all the books for this class and will sell them, send me a PM

6/12/2006 10:31:15 PM