HIST250 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
David Sartorius HIST250 Anonymous 12/14/2024	Genuinely the worst professor I've ever had. The negative reviews here aren't exaggerating at all.
David Sartorius HIST250 Anonymous 12/11/2024	Genuinely, I think that he was the worst professor that I’ve ever had here at UMD. He repeatedly acted as if he was doing us favors then expected us to thank him in class, even waiting for us to do it verbally before continuing. The readings were often long and even if you understood the reading, you could still easily not get full credit for the comprehension quizzes (one week, you had to of memorized the subtitles within the text). These reading quizzes were also graded as either 100% (everything right), 0% (nothing right), or 50% (literally everything in between). You could get 4/5 right but that would count and a 50%. He would often subtly shame some students for either not taking notes or actively participating in discussion which just wasn’t cool. He wouldn’t post grades in Canvas because he’s a “low tech guy”, so you don’t have a real clue your position in the class (makes it feel really subjective too). For the same reason, we had to print out our essay so he can do handwritten critiques. Printing isn’t free; so we have to pay because he’s technologically inept. And since he “…hates it when people just look at the grade and ignore the critiques that he worked so hard to do”, he didn’t give us our score until later that night, leaving us to look at everything we did wrong and to wonder what that would get us on the essay that’s worth 25% of our final grade. It’s honestly ridiculous. Then he decided that the midterm would be a take home midterm in the form of an essay because I guess our essays weren’t up to standard. I mean this in the most genuine way, I have taken professors which have the worst reviews on this platform. I’ve done well in those classes and genuinely think that some of those are reviews are over exaggerations or just students who write a bad review in retaliation. However, I absolutely think that this professor should have a way worse rating on here and should honestly be banned from teaching anything or anywhere. Every bad review I read on here truly had been completely accurate. Genuinely, NEVER TAKE THIS PROFESSOR.
David Sartorius HIST250 Expecting an A VarunS924 10/18/2023	Professor Sartorius was an amazing history professor with enormous talent for teaching. I took the class in my first semester of freshman year, and I was thrilled that his teaching style combines English and history together. The class involves many hours of close reading - sometimes more than 100 pages - along with weekly mini-essays (but you do not do one every week, you choose which seven to do throughout the year). If you do the class, be prepared for lots of readings, improving your writing, including developing your own argument in everything you write, and participating in class. Sartorius takes attendance and puts class participation as part of your grade. The readings in the course are argumentative essays by historians and primary sources that contradict each other. You will need to synthesize these sources together and think very critically when you write. If you come to class and stay engaged, it is a lot of fun, but be wary of using electronic devices, which he is picky about. I used paper notes and printed out readings the entire year.
David Sartorius HIST250 Expecting a B+ HannahRasmussen 12/15/2022	At the beginning of the semester, I only took this class as a “easy” gen-ed without really caring at all about history. However, this class was far from easy. There is a lot of homework and it takes a lot of self initiative to do it well. It is true that the professor insists on being early to class, go to the bathroom before class, and have phones turned off, but is it really that difficult to follow these rules? He does have a little temper but he got better throughout the past semester. I believe that most students who don’t like him came with different expectations for the class and would have preferred better communication. That’s how I felt. However, I went often to his office hours and he helped me understand and learn what I should be looking for. This class is for someone who wants to greatly improve their writing, reading analysis, and their critical thinking skills. It is not for those who want to “breeze” by. I am now reaching for a LACS minor and while it was difficult, and filled with many late nights, I would take this class again. The syllabus is key to understanding structure and being prepared by reading ahead.
David Sartorius HIST250 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/15/2022	The professor is a strict but fair teacher. It is true that he does not like screens, interruptions, and he can be intimidating. However, just by following a few rules like being on time and turning your phones off, the class becomes quite enjoyable. I honestly did not like history before I took this class, but now I’m getting a minor in colonial Latin America. As long as I did my work, I enjoyed the professors little quips and passion to teach his favorite subject. Don’t get me wrong, his class is hard and can frustrate some students, but through his office hours, and notes I believe anyone taking this class will be fine. You just need to put in the work and adapt. If you are not the student to work hard and learn from this class, I suggest you take an easier one. This class challenged my writing, reading, time management, and critical thinking skills every single time, and while it was not always fun, I believe it was worth it. I believe that he often times gets a bad rap due to his demeanor but once you get into the groove of the class, his little jokes and love of history can make the class enjoyable.
David Sartorius HIST250 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2021	Professor Sartorius's HIST 250 class offers a unique opportunity to understand how society works with history as context to "hegemony" which is the main theme of the course. This is not an easy lower level history course! It was harder than one of my 300 level history classes. He is strict and does not take well to eyes on computer screens, and phone usage. He can also get flustered if there is not sufficient participation from numerous students. However, if you show up on time, go to all classes, participate and do all your assignments to the best of your abilities, there is no reason why you should not walk away having passed the course. While he was strict and had high exceptions, your writing significantly improves throughout the course. I would lastly recommend, an interest in the Latin American region as a precursor to this course. I would give this class a 3.5 but that is not possible with this rating system.
David Sartorius HIST250 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/17/2019	He's a very squared guy. Treats course as a 400 series history class. Very passionate about the subject. Harsh grader. It's unclear what he is asking for in his exam.
David Sartorius HIST250 Expecting a C quinnmt 11/10/2010	This guy is brutal. If you want a lot of reading and a douche bag professor then take this class. More reading than a 400 level class.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Anonymous
12/14/2024

Genuinely the worst professor I've ever had. The negative reviews here aren't exaggerating at all.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Anonymous
12/11/2024

Genuinely, I think that he was the worst professor that I’ve ever had here at UMD. He repeatedly acted as if he was doing us favors then expected us to thank him in class, even waiting for us to do it verbally before continuing. The readings were often long and even if you understood the reading, you could still easily not get full credit for the comprehension quizzes (one week, you had to of memorized the subtitles within the text). These reading quizzes were also graded as either 100% (everything right), 0% (nothing right), or 50% (literally everything in between). You could get 4/5 right but that would count and a 50%. He would often subtly shame some students for either not taking notes or actively participating in discussion which just wasn’t cool. He wouldn’t post grades in Canvas because he’s a “low tech guy”, so you don’t have a real clue your position in the class (makes it feel really subjective too). For the same reason, we had to print out our essay so he can do handwritten critiques. Printing isn’t free; so we have to pay because he’s technologically inept. And since he “…hates it when people just look at the grade and ignore the critiques that he worked so hard to do”, he didn’t give us our score until later that night, leaving us to look at everything we did wrong and to wonder what that would get us on the essay that’s worth 25% of our final grade. It’s honestly ridiculous. Then he decided that the midterm would be a take home midterm in the form of an essay because I guess our essays weren’t up to standard. I mean this in the most genuine way, I have taken professors which have the worst reviews on this platform. I’ve done well in those classes and genuinely think that some of those are reviews are over exaggerations or just students who write a bad review in retaliation. However, I absolutely think that this professor should have a way worse rating on here and should honestly be banned from teaching anything or anywhere. Every bad review I read on here truly had been completely accurate. Genuinely, NEVER TAKE THIS PROFESSOR.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Expecting an A
VarunS924
10/18/2023

Professor Sartorius was an amazing history professor with enormous talent for teaching. I took the class in my first semester of freshman year, and I was thrilled that his teaching style combines English and history together. The class involves many hours of close reading - sometimes more than 100 pages - along with weekly mini-essays (but you do not do one every week, you choose which seven to do throughout the year). If you do the class, be prepared for lots of readings, improving your writing, including developing your own argument in everything you write, and participating in class. Sartorius takes attendance and puts class participation as part of your grade. The readings in the course are argumentative essays by historians and primary sources that contradict each other. You will need to synthesize these sources together and think very critically when you write. If you come to class and stay engaged, it is a lot of fun, but be wary of using electronic devices, which he is picky about. I used paper notes and printed out readings the entire year.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Expecting a B+
HannahRasmussen
12/15/2022

At the beginning of the semester, I only took this class as a “easy” gen-ed without really caring at all about history. However, this class was far from easy. There is a lot of homework and it takes a lot of self initiative to do it well. It is true that the professor insists on being early to class, go to the bathroom before class, and have phones turned off, but is it really that difficult to follow these rules? He does have a little temper but he got better throughout the past semester. I believe that most students who don’t like him came with different expectations for the class and would have preferred better communication. That’s how I felt. However, I went often to his office hours and he helped me understand and learn what I should be looking for. This class is for someone who wants to greatly improve their writing, reading analysis, and their critical thinking skills. It is not for those who want to “breeze” by. I am now reaching for a LACS minor and while it was difficult, and filled with many late nights, I would take this class again. The syllabus is key to understanding structure and being prepared by reading ahead.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/15/2022

The professor is a strict but fair teacher. It is true that he does not like screens, interruptions, and he can be intimidating. However, just by following a few rules like being on time and turning your phones off, the class becomes quite enjoyable. I honestly did not like history before I took this class, but now I’m getting a minor in colonial Latin America. As long as I did my work, I enjoyed the professors little quips and passion to teach his favorite subject. Don’t get me wrong, his class is hard and can frustrate some students, but through his office hours, and notes I believe anyone taking this class will be fine. You just need to put in the work and adapt. If you are not the student to work hard and learn from this class, I suggest you take an easier one. This class challenged my writing, reading, time management, and critical thinking skills every single time, and while it was not always fun, I believe it was worth it. I believe that he often times gets a bad rap due to his demeanor but once you get into the groove of the class, his little jokes and love of history can make the class enjoyable.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2021

Professor Sartorius's HIST 250 class offers a unique opportunity to understand how society works with history as context to "hegemony" which is the main theme of the course. This is not an easy lower level history course! It was harder than one of my 300 level history classes. He is strict and does not take well to eyes on computer screens, and phone usage. He can also get flustered if there is not sufficient participation from numerous students. However, if you show up on time, go to all classes, participate and do all your assignments to the best of your abilities, there is no reason why you should not walk away having passed the course. While he was strict and had high exceptions, your writing significantly improves throughout the course. I would lastly recommend, an interest in the Latin American region as a precursor to this course. I would give this class a 3.5 but that is not possible with this rating system.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/17/2019

He's a very squared guy. Treats course as a 400 series history class. Very passionate about the subject. Harsh grader. It's unclear what he is asking for in his exam.

David Sartorius
HIST250

Expecting a C
quinnmt
11/10/2010

This guy is brutal. If you want a lot of reading and a douche bag professor then take this class. More reading than a 400 level class.

Reviews for HIST250