Western Kentucky University / V / Tamara Van Dyken

Take her. She is exciting and passionate about her lectures. The students who said the books were irrelevant to the course material were probably the ones who either didnt read them or were not smart enough to understand them. Sorry but it is true. Oh, and it doesnt hurt that she is beautiful to look at too. Sorry, but that is also true.

Dr. Van Dyken is a great teacher. She does not have powerpoints. She writes certain things on the board (which you better write down). There are other things that she talks about that are on the tests, she just doesn't write them down. You have to decipher what is important and study that. This style in teaching is a little hard to get used to. Attendance is not mandatory, however do not expect to do well if you do not attend class.

Dr. Van Dyken is a nice lady, but she thinks she is teaching an English class. The three "novels" required for class had little do with hard history, but more intellectual thinking such as post-modernism. The one good thing though is that she doesn't really lecture, each week you read an article and that subject is the topic for the week which she supplements with a lot of videos, which aren't bad. The two exams arent hard, but the the three papers are just terrible, more about literature than actual history. If she would realize she was in a history class it might be a lot more enjoyable.

There are two text books required for this class and you have to read practically both of the books throughout the class. There are also two novels required to read for this class. You have three grades: paper one, paper two/test two, and the final. I would not recommend her if you are not a history fanatic. The tests are short answer and essay. She is very knowledgeable about the material and will help you if needed. However, if you don't enjoy history I would not recommend Ms.Van Dyken.

She is fine as a teacher. Her notes aren't very detailed, though, so you actually have to read very chapter or you won't do well on the test. She does let you turn in your papers early for her to look over and tell you how to make it better, and she gives you the questions to the final exam before the exam. Her grading scale is crazy hard, and she grades very intensely.