Professor: Symonds Course format: Seminar Number of respondents: 32 Total Enrollment: 43 Class Composition: Froshs: 0 Sophs: 1 Jrs: 16 Srs: 23

Instructor Average: 1.79 Course Average: 1.77

"AIDS in International Perspective" attempted to look at the global problem of AIDS from a variety of different perspectives, especially the sociological and the anthropological. Students' background knowledge on the issue ranged from non-existent to comprehensive, and the class made room for all of them.

Professor Symonds was well-liked and named as an extremely approachable professor with a true passion for her subject. Many students disliked the format of the class, however, saying that the discussion-based seminar was ineffective in a class of 44 people and that discussions often returned to the same topics again and again without purpose. Though the respondents liked the guest lecturers, they agreed that Professor Symonds should have lectured more and used movies and student-led discussions less.

The course requirements consisted of light to medium reading, two short (three to five page) papers, and one 15 page term paper. In addition, each group of students was required to lead 2 discussions. The reading, especially Paul Farmer's book on Haiti, was interesting, but some students complained that some articles were out-of-date and therefore ineffective. The paper topics were very open-ended (too open-ended for some), and grading could have been harsher.

The class had a lighter course than most students expected; most spent around three hours a week when papers were not due. In terms of general expectations, too, the class fell, some students felt, below the mark. Though everyone loved the subject matter, and liked the professor, the discussions often bogged down because they were too repetitive or because too few people were participating. A change in format might make this class as wonderful as it looks on paper, but if you are willing to take responsibility for discussion, it is probably still a worthwhile course to take.

View BC/0168 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.