| Information | Review |
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Saverio Giovacchini
HIST304 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2021 |
Interesting class and interesting professor. The films selected for this course were awesome and will be, obviously, totally different from what you are used to watching in the 21st-century. Dr. Giovacchini is a great person, an understanding teacher, and a lenient grader. My only complaint was that his lectures could be a bit more spiced up, discussion only came about when we watched a movie which seems underwhelming considering the crazy/complex time period the class covers. Take this class if you like film and/or if the 70s have ever interested you. |
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Saverio Giovacchini
HIST142 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/16/2021 |
Do not take this class. It is 100+ pages of reading a week with random pop quizzes. Most of your grade is based on participation in discussions which is graded pretty harshly. Attendance is mandatory even though the lecture material is virtually irrelevant to the tests and quizzes. There are multiple essays with the most vague instructions possible. The only reason I gave it 2 starts instead of 1 is because the prof and TA were actually smart and kind people. They just ran a terrible course. |
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Saverio Giovacchini
Anonymous 08/21/2015 |
Very intelligent and engaging professor. An eccentric and energetic teacher. Only reason giving 3 stars is because his course was sometimes hard to follow and could have used better structure. Otherwise the classes were well taught and mostly interesting. Course was very reading heavy but the books were thoughtfully selected. |
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Saverio Giovacchini
HIST142 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/04/2013 |
So you know a professor is good when the worst thing you can say about him is his name is too hard to spell. Professor Giovacchini was always incredibly knowledgeable and very good at getting students involved. He would often call on students at random which, to me at least, helped make sure everyone was up to date on readings and awake. Also, for our final project, he insisted on meeting with every group. While we met with him, he gave amazing guidance about sources and possible ideas. He also did a great job of using his expertise to make the class more interesting. He primarily studies film history so he was great at demonstrating the role Hollywood has spread American culture. Also, we got to watch a lot of movies which I personally enjoyed more than the readings. Also our final was to write a movie script (for the scheduled final we just watched the movies). One of my favorite things about this class is just how well he kept bringing up earlier material. How many other teachers could relate Alexis de Tocqueville to Hollywood successfully?The only problem I had with Professor Giovacchini was that he sometimes seemed to jump around a bit time-wise. Like it seems we barely focused on the mid to late 19th century (I really wanted to learn how Europeans felt about slavery) and then spent 2/3's of the class on the early and mid 20th century and we barely got to anything past the 1970's and 80's. So if you are primarily interested in the early industrial era, Giovacchini may not be for you. However, if you want an interesting class with a really smart, involved professor, take Giovacchini. I don't think I've ever seen a professor who tried so hard to have every student succeed. |
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Saverio Giovacchini
HIST457 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2011 |
I would recommend him to anyone. There are a lot of readings, but outside of the first book, which is brutal, they are fairly enjoyable. If you take good notes in class and have some idea about the readings, tests and exams are a breeze. Tests are ID based usually with a mini-essay or two, nothing too difficult, very straighforward. But beware, he does like to call on people in class, so try and at least be familiar with the readings to avoid embarassment. But he is an extremely nice man who is very approachable outside of class. When I talked with him outside of class, it seemed like he actually cared about me as a person, rather than as simply a student. I would recommend turning in a rough draft of the final paper. It lightens the workload come exam time, and he also gives good feedback. Overall an enjoyable class if you are willing to put in the work, because you will get a lot out of it, and will be rewarded for your work. |
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Saverio Giovacchini
HIST457 Expecting an A histenglstudent 06/02/2011 |
Really interesting class and professor. Not too many readings and a good mix of powerpoint, lecture and media clips. Two papers and a few exams that he graded generously. Great class made even better because it wasn't hard to do well! |
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Saverio Giovacchini
HIST429D Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/11/2009 |
Giovacchini is one of the most interesting professors I have ever had. His classes were enjoyable, so it was easy to stay interested. The amount of reading is fairly heavy, so it is imperative that one stays on top of it. However, the readings assigned contained a wealth of knowledge, so they were worth doing. I would definitely consider taking another course with him. |
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Saverio Giovacchini
HIST457 Falco15 06/17/2008 |
A good professor; he knows his stuff and is a very interesting person. If you slack off and/or don't read, you will get burned. Take the class if you are willing to put in the work, it is worth it. |