Reviews of professor Irene Calis

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
Prof. Calis is nice and cares about her students. She gives clear assignments but lots of readings. If you prepare for class and participate you will be in good shape. There is a book review, a presentation, and essays. Paying attention and taking notes in lectures are necessary. All exams/papers were based on understanding the overarching themes.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Professor Calis' class was an incredible introduction to the Arab world. She gave comprehensive lectures on Tuesdays about the different identities within/frames of how the Arab world is viewed. Fridays included students leading discussions about weekly readings and individual presentations. She really cares about her students and their voices.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
I think professor Calis' Being Indigenous class was by far the most insightful and informative class I've taken so far at AU. Her classes are lecture-style but more conversation-oriented than other lectures where they just talk at you. Participation is a really big part of the class, so make sure to do all the appropriate readings ahead of time.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Prof Calis is an eloquent speaker and a phenomenal orator and professor. However, it is a reading heavy class and the requirements of the essays are very specific and she will grade harshly if not organized in that specific manner. But what makes up for this all is the fact you learn so much from her! She is dedicated and extremely passionate.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
This professor gave great lectures, however she didn't allow use of laptops. All notes had to be taken by hand which was quite irritating. She did not use powerpoint but wrote on the whiteboard. This made it difficult if you missed class. The class was centered around group projects and lots of readings.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Not very accommodating or understanding, doesn't really respect other perspectives, lecture and discussion heavy. A few of the projects wee hard to understand. Also, the final exam was unnecessarily difficult. We had to write a paper using evidence from the course readings and videos, but we weren't allowed to access those sources during the exam.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Prof Calis is amazing and very smart. Her lectures are very intense and interesting, but there is a lot of discussion about lengthy texts, and her directions for assignments can be a little confusing. We sat in a circle which I loved and Prof Calls is truly an incredible teacher and thinker. She will not provide extensions, but its worth it!