Thomas Zeller

This professor has taught: CPSP227, CPSS225, GEMS104, HIST205, HIST329X, HIST396, HIST405, HIST407, HIST408F, HIST408O, HIST428P, HIST619T, HIST638P

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Thomas Zeller HIST205 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/20/2022	Dr. Zeller is a pretty good professor in terms of keeping you engaged and providing interesting topics to learn about. I rarely find myself bored or not taking notes in the class. However, there is a LOT of reading and work to do if you want an A. Luckily, the exams are not overly complicated or difficult as long as you study the main concepts. It's VERY conceptual. It's a class where you should understand the concepts and be able to give opinions off of them; there is no right from wrong answers as long as you can back it up. Just know what you're talking about and be strong in those ideas. Overall I think you should choose this class if you truly are interested or curious about environmental history and you shouldn't if you just want an easy A/not wanting much work for non-major classes. The TA (new one this semester) was also very nice and approachable for any accommodations or requests you need. And if you do decide to take this class, you should approach the assignments in an (especially essays) abstract way.
Thomas Zeller HIST205 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/25/2019	Dr. Zeller is the man! He is like a encyclopedia when it comes to the information of the class, and he is always happy to elaborate or go over info that you don't understand. The readings are a little lengthy, but they are usually pretty riveting (Especially the Cronan piece). Justin (The TA) is also super knowledgeable and dedicated, and discussion sessions with him were always worth going to. Overall a really great course, and not overly difficult either.
Thomas Zeller HIST205 Expecting a W Anonymous 11/01/2018	The grading expectations for a 200 level course are too high. There are weekly readings with a corresponding writing assignment - 200 words. There's no rubric yet he expects essay-level writing without contractions, first-person, generic identifiers (people, individuals), etc. I ended up spending 3-4 hours a week on this minimal assignment. Every single returned assignment was littered with criticisms, and never once did I get positive feedback. I was not the only student who did not understand their expectations; the average was between 50-80% each week. There are two papers - both of which are 80% graded on writing style and 20% content. We were told numerous times to go to the writing center more than once. I went twice, and even had my former composition professor read through it. I edit textbooks as my job, yet I somehow only got an 85% on the paper, lowering my grade to a B+. I read through their critiques and disagreed with nearly all of them. I met with the prof and the TA multiple times before the paper and received zero guidance other than being told, "If you cannot write at a collegiate level, you must go to the writing center." The material for the class is interesting, but there's a reason why a 200-level course has so few A's and so many W's. I am a senior and this is the first class I've ever dropped.
Thomas Zeller HIST205 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/22/2017	I like Zueller as a person, and at times had lower energy humor that put a grin on my face. But I felt my time was wasted in his lectures. Zueller's format is 45 terms he covers in lecture throughout the semester, so you need to go to lecture right? Well..the terms for the most part lacked elaboration/historical context which is necessary for the final. You need to go to discussion though, Justin the TA does a better job setting the historical context. Word of warning though the readings at times were extremely dense, and made the class extremely boring. I learning a decent amount given the class' subject, but I would only recommend taking it if the topic of environmentalism/the environment is a passion you have.
Thomas Zeller HIST205 Expecting a B+ jcampb14 12/22/2015	I absolutely love this class. As an environmental engineer, it was extremely helpful to take this class before I graduated. I definitely feel better informed about our environmental history to better prepare for projects now. Dr. Z was an interesting guy, the lectures were a little boring, but most are. All of the books were great to have on had and really supplemented the class well. Just was the TA that semester and really helped bring the class full circle.
Thomas Zeller GEMS104 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/24/2012	Dr. Zeller isn't that bad. Yes, the class is fairly boring and a ton of seemingly pointless work, but its really not terrible. If you put in your share of the work on the team paper and delegate work within your team, the paper is not hard. Lecture is usually pretty boring, but if you go to lecture, its really easy to participate in discussion without doing the readings. Dr. Zeller is a nice guy, just not a particularly interesting lecturer. Overall, a lot of work, but most of it isn't extremely difficult.
Thomas Zeller HIST205 Expecting a B rose11 12/20/2010	Dr. Zeller is a very nice man. He does have a German accent, but he is not difficult to understand. The class is challenging. Assignments included weekly page-long writings due in discussion, two papers, one midterm, and the final. Discussion is mandatory if you want to receive a decent participation grade. Attendance is taken every week. I was disappointed in the grading of the second paper. The TA said it was a challenging assignment, and would therefore not be graded harshly. This was not the case. I received a C and have never received below a B on a paper in college. Other students were not pleased with the assignment either. Be prepared to study for the exams, also. They involve a large amount of writing. I preferred taking this course for my SH core because it was not a history class on a specific country. The material covered involved countries around the globe.
Thomas Zeller GEMS104 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/25/2009	I honestly did not get the whole purpose of this class beyond the fact that there was tons and tons of busy work. I seriously had more work for this course than for any of my serious courses. Regardless, if you put the time in, it really isn't that hard...but you have to put A LOT of time in...no joke...more than should be required of any 100 level course...even for Gemstone... Still, the lecture topics were interesting and I would say I learned some pretty fun and thought invoking things from them. I just will there was less emphasis on the busy work thinly veiled as a "research paper"
Thomas Zeller GEMS104 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/02/2009	Zeller teaches a class that honestly I think any middle school history teacher could teach. GEMS104 is ultimately a class about using common sense when learning about topics. Speaks in a monotone though and many people really space or doze off during class. Unreasonable enforcement of "no distractions" by TAs. Tries to make things more important and interesting than they really are which in turn makes him irritating. Final is easy; can be passed if you get the main points of the lecture from someone. Discussion is mandatory; topic discussion is often redundant while research discussion is a waste of time. Must do a 30 page paper which really isn't that bad since it's a group project. Unlike other professors that teach large lectures, he has input in your grades which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on which side of the fence you're on.
Thomas Zeller Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2008	Professor Zeller is a very interesting guy. Although there are things you might not particularly appreciate about his class, I think that you will enjoy it overall, and realize that it could be a lot worse! Most of the class required readings-ranging from the textbooks to online podcasts to articles on the website-and most were about very interesting topics! Most of the class was based around discussions about the different topics, although there were some times where he did lecture. We also went to a guest lecture, which was pretty cool! The biggest assignment due throughout the semester is the research project and the poster for it! You don't have any exams, except for the final, which consisted of some IDs, a short essay, and a longer essay. He does have shorter assignments throughout the year, but nothing too unbearable. For the research project, he breaks it down into smaller sections (with due dates) so that you don't wait until the last minute to complete it! He's a little strict on the research paper, especially regarding sources and formatting and such, but overall, it can help motivate you to do well when all is said and done. Also, sometimes his workload and syllabus is a little unclear and unbalanced, but at the end of the semester, you'll have time to work on the research paper, so you should be able to pull a good grade on it. A couple of words of advice to students would be to make sure that you stay on top of the assignments and don't be afraid to take initiative! Professor Zeller can be a bit disorganized sometimes, but make sure to contact him if you're unsure about anything! Also, make sure you come prepared to class and get involved, because participation makes a big impact on your grade, and he does take attendance via a sign-in sheet. You should be able to pull an A in the class, but the only reason I put a B in the "Grade Expected" box was because I didn't want the reader to assume that it would be a "gimme" A. A "B" is almost a definite grade if you do things as required, but getting the A will take a little extra desire and effort -although by no means is it unmanageable, because I pulled it off!