Western Kentucky University / H / James Hamilton

Hamilton is a very knowledgeable professor. He is NOT organized and a bit forgetful! His exams are a bit tricky in that he gives you several pages of words (up to 100) to study for the exam. 5-7 Short Answer (3-4 paragraphs) and 1 Essay (8-10 paragraphs). He give you hints on what would be a good possible essay. He chooses which of the words he will use for short answer or essays. Hopefully you chose the the right ones. His grading is very objective with no explanations on why you received the grade he gave. If he does write a word or two you can not read his writing and have to ask what is meant. He give TONS of extra credit work, but this consists of writing many papers. You have two MANDATORY papers in Chicago Style Format. One is 5-7 pages and One a book he assigns and you have to tell how it relates to history 3-5 Pages. So you will be writing a lot. If you like to write this class is for you. If you do not DON'T TAKE HIM!! Don't count on taking the first exam and seeing how you do to drop before the deadline. He is very slow at returning exams. He is a good professor as far as knowing his material and I really enjoyed listening to him lecture. Lectures are directly from the book so you can Highlight what he says and use that for studying. Otherwise you will wear out many pens/pencils!! If you think this is and easy 100 level course don't take him. Attendance is not mandatory but you get Extra Credit for Attendance and does make you sign a sheet. If you leave early he passes the sheet around again to get a final headcount.

Great class! TONS of extra credit! When I say tons...I'm talking over 50 points of extra credit. His tests require major studying for though unless you are an audio-learner and can remember everything that he says in his lectures. But overall, this class was a breeze!

Other than the papers that are NOT by choice of the teacher (they are mandatory for the history department), this class is painless. Mr. Hamilton is SUCH a nice guy and is so easy to work with. He gave extensions on papers if someone was having a hard time completing them, and gave limitless choices to students on topics and test questions. If you respect him, he WILL respect you. Great man!