Mara Leichtman

School: Michigan State University
Department: Anthropology
Location:East Lansing, MI
Overall Rating
rated by 21 students
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 Just don't
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 I don't know what everyone is complaining about. Dr. Leichtman was a great professor, but know this: if you don't bother to participate or even attend class, she won't do you any favors. This class was really interesting, and Dr. Leichtman was really good at fostering discussions and making sure that everyone understand the point of the lecture, which was great because there's a lot of theory involved in this class. One of her exams was a a typical exam with matching, multiple choice, and essay questions. The other exam was just essay. There's only the 2 exams and no final, but a final research paper that's pretty hefty. She's more than willing to work with students and extend deadlines, and if you have a problem/conflict or concern, she's super helpful and flexible. I have no idea why people rated her so low but I'm assuming they thought they could slack off, and that's not the case. Dr. Leichtman gives you as much respect as you give her, but that's not good teaching, it's just common courtesy. Take this class!! It's super interesting and pretty easy!
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 This class is extremely boring yet easy to get a good grade in. She assigns 6 books for the semester however dont buy them/read them because all she does in class are give powerpoints about the book. The powerpoints are long and boring and she constantly rambles on and on. There are 3 tests, no final. i got a C- on the first test and still 4..0d the class. She does offer some EC too. All in all, a pretty bad class but you will get a good grade if you just go to the lectures.
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 I wish I had taken this class with a teacher who actually treats her students like human beings. The content of the course is so interesting, but Mara's disinterest in her students and teaching is nauseating. She would talk down to us to our faces, and that made showing up to class such a struggle. Not showing up to class will immediately affect your grade, though. Her slides are SO long and she won't put them on Angel, so you have to suffer through an hour and a half of her degrading lectures. I got a little out of the course, but take this with any other professor if at all possible.
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 Cons: Frequently late.
Frequently is annoyed with the class for no particular reason.
Doesn't actually teach.
Don't take this class. There went my awesome GPA. Leichtman is not a teacher. She gives you books to read, you read them. She "discusses" them with you, as in, asks questions without ever actually giving answers to them or at least trying to help students figure out what she wants you to get out of the readings. Definitely the worst professor I've had at MSU. She obviously doesn't care to teach, so I wish she just wouldn't. This class was useless, dropped my GPA, and I learned nothing from it.
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 Pros: Persepolis was a great movie
Don't actually have to do the reading
Cons: A TON OF READING
She goes way too fast on her notes so you should bring a computer with you
Some of her exam questions are complete BS
Her class is incredibly boring
Pretty much says it all. This class is incredibly easy to 3.0 and if you listen during class and don't read you could pretty much 3.5. Her class is incredibly boring though and makes you want to bash your head in with a chair. There is a ton of reading. You don't have to do it if you go to class every single time. However, if you are one of those people who don't like going to class you are gonna have to read for her exams. Some of the questions on her exam are complete BS. Also if you are a Conservative Republican (why would you be anyways) you will not enjoy this class what so ever. This class is not terrible but theres def better ISS classes.
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 Pros: She is straight forward and easy going. Lectures contained most of the test material (but not all--- you should do the reading for a 4.0.)
Cons: Pretty heavy reading, lectures were kind of boring, and she went too fast sometimes.
I would suggest taking notes on a laptop so you can keep up.
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 Pros: She tries to get class input during her lectures which gives you a little more time to write down notes. If you go to class you can do well in this class. She goes over all the main points of the books she has you read but it is helpful to actually do reading even though it can be a lot sometimes. Also, she gives out extra credit opportunities to bump up your grade.
Cons: She goes really fast in lecture but not impossible to copy down the notes and class discussions are fairly unorganized. There is a lot of reading but she goes over everything important
I would recommend her class....it was a pretty easy 4.0 IF YOU GO TO CLASS.
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 Pros: Very easy class she goes over the books in class so you dont really have to read in to deep.
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 This professor talks and talks and talks and eventually you won't be able to stand her voice! She makes up words, and talks about theories that nobody understands. Basically the class consists of your hands going numb from taking sooo many notes, the rest of the time you will just be trying to tune her out. It's also a lot of studying if you want a decent grade. and the novels- you don't really have to read them...however they are horrendously boring.
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 Pros: Organized, approachable, knowledgeable
Cons: Very little challenge
Mara is very kind and approachable. Her class was almost too easy. There were times when the reading picked up but for the most part it was very manageable. She does take attendance and makes it about 20% of the grade, so go to class. She walks you through how to do field research in a step by step manner that is very easy to follow. Also 20% of your grade is a research paper that you turn in at the end of the semester. The paper was easy because you have small pieces of it due throughout the semester. My paper fell into place and all I had to do at the end was edit.
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 she talked a lot about how she was disappointed in our reading/writing skills considering it was a 400 level class, but did not seem particularly vested in helping us improve. I think she expected too much of her students when in reality she was the professor and should have been guiding us more, especially when she saw that man people were struggling. Many times I felt as if she were talking down to us
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 She is unprofessional and lacks the ability to understand anything beyond her own core values.
Mara, BLOW ME!
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 Mara knows whats up. A very knowledgeable teacher specializing in MUslim studies, and although the reading load was hefty all the material was very interesting, at least if your ready to step aside from your biases for a moment.
...Although I am an anthro major who enjoys this stuff alot
do not take this class if you are dogmatically religious as you may be unable to come to grips with what is said
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 Truly a horrible experience. The worst professor that I've had. She was very condescending and would complain or kind of "tell off" the class almost every class session. She was only interested in talking about her research and how the Imams in Senegal thought she could not have been a spy because she was too young and pretty (puke!). Seriously, she said this. She also stated that she was not a teacher, she was a researcher and that attitude very apparent. She made it clear she thought teaching us was beneath her.
I dared to go to her office hour once, and she actually rolled her eyes at the question I asked. I really hope she was having catastrophic personal issues, or she should not be paid to teach at MSU. I will never take a class with her again.
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 I hated this class and did not learn anything from Leichtman. Uninteresting lectures, readings and boring topics in general. Pick a different ISS!!!
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 This is the worst class I've taken in my 3 years of higher education. I can't for the life of me tell you anything I learned from the class. Sitting through lecture was almost unbearable, and the readings weren't much better. If you think speed reading off of a powerpoint presentation is a good lecture, then sign up. The only reason I'm not giving this class is a 0.0 is because I got a decent grade despite learning nothing.
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 this class was just bizarre. I can't think of much else to say about it. I earned 31 points of extra credit this semester and therea re only a total possible of 300 points in the class. also, the last exam many people did poorly on, and so she may be making some other changes to the grading scale. the class is soemwhat interesting, but don't read til your head explodes--you will gain most of the main points of the books by going to class and taking some notes or reading power point slides.
good luck. mara is cool!
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 When Professor Leichtman says not to worry about the amount of reading in this class, think again! Even though there is rarely more than 100 pages a week, of the six books that you have to read only 2 were even tolerablly interesting. In fact many of them repeat the same point over and over and over add- nauseum. There was supposed to be 100 points of pop-quizzes in the class which I studied like crazy for before every class only to find that later in the semester she didn't feel like curving the grades and dropped all of the quizzes, basically screwing over anyone who had spent extra time reading and studying for them. Though I learned some interesting things in this class, and it wasn't entirely hard to get a good grade once you figure out how her tests are, I would not recommend this class.
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 Easy class if you go...don't really have to read the books. It is interesting and she is a very good prof! Her grading scale is messed up too a 4.0 is an 88-100 so it helps. I recommend her and she is very nice. Her tests are easy if you read the powerpoints and take notes in class.

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