Reviews of professor Ismail Alatas

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Probably depends on the TA, but mine graded very harshly so good grades were hard to get.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Literally antisemitic...

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Took his Islam in the World class. You will have to participate in this class; he does an amazing job of steering the conversation and leading the class to deeper insights. Offers different ways of understanding Islam through anthropological methods; I literally had an epiphany every single class. A lot of work but you will get what you put into it

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Alatas is very knowledgable and his lectures show that. For the Sufi: Mystics in Islam course, there is one large research paper, but if you participate in class and show you care/pay attention, he will sit with you and really help. Half the course is his lectures and half is student led discussion about the readings. I enjoyed learning from him.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Professor Alatas was a huge disappointment. I was so looking forward to his class and thought the topic was very interesting, but his delivery was incredibly boring and honestly it felt like he didn't have full mastery of what he was teaching. He didn't seem to put any effort in. Waste of time.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Pr. Alatas is an amazing speaker and conveys material in a clear & captivating way. Lectures often feel like he's telling stories about the past rather than spewing boring historical facts. All he wants you to take from the class is the ability to relate history to larger themes. Do that and your TA will give you a good grade. Def would take again.