Beshara Doumani - University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Professor: Beshara Doumani

Department: History

College: University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great professor. Tackled heated issues in an objective and informative fashion. The textbook also outlines factual historical data and gives you a very concise but detailed picture of the regional politics. Doumani is definitely not bias. Any objective observer will be able to determine that he builds on fact and separates his personal feelings.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HIS12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This was one of the best courses that I have taken at Berkeley. He is a fantastic lecturer, it is extremely interesting material, and the grading is fair. The textbook is very informative and I continue to use it. Lastly, the GSIs for this class are among the most talented GSIs I have seen at Berkeley. They know what they are doing. Worth the work.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HIST9D
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof. Doumani is one of my favorites. Very gifted lecturer, genuinely cares for his students and is very approachable. This was an intro course in Middle East history and he was really able to synthesize enormous complexities in the Arab world. Not as biased as some have suggested (depends on your agenda). I found him to be fair and consistent.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The class was a difficult A; you must take NOTES & READ! The lecturing is a bit dry due to Doumani's monotone. The info is very enlightening. Time is spent on studying the ME pre19th century. There is a biased towards Islam & away from Judaism & Christianity, but the class addresses biases w/ critical thinking. Take-home Midterm and Final Essays.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Doumani is very warm, human, and approachable, and is never too busy to talk to his students. He presents a wide variety of perspectives through his thematic lectures and numerous assigned readings; his own opinions are well-substantiated and insightful. Frequently references musicians and films you wouldn't expect a middle-aged historian to know.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HISTORY
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof. Doumani's teaching was extremely biased and narrow-minded. Prof. Doumani had his own agenda for the course. The worst part was how he would not tolerate any opinion or view that differed from his. (and this is Berkeley!) This was the first time I've been disappointed with a class at Berkeley.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Too much information, not enough time to cover it in in-depth. Reading was boring, mostly from textbook. Only graded thing was the takehome midterm, so no idea what to expect in terms of grading. Ran out of time at the end of semester to cover current topics. I feel like I wasted my time.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

pretty impressive for an intro class

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

i was a history major, but unsure on what my emphasis would be. after his class i decided on the middle east.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HIST125
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Doumani's lectures are very well-structured; everything is power-pointed and almost every topic is touched upon in sufficient depth. The readings are very interesting and easy to get through for the most part--he is also very amusing and down to earth in class, and his cultural references will often catch you by surprise. He allows free discussion

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I found Professor Doumani's class to be among one of the best MES related cuorses offered at Cal. The class was well structured, the claims were substantiated and backed with as much evidence as you could possibly expect from an undergrad course. Prof Doumani was helpul, refreshing, and deeply insightful. He is firm in his beliefs and is clearly am

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Because he's so obsessed with being balanced he ends up glossing over a lot of things and presenting a pro-Israeli perspective.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HISTORY12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I found Doumani to be a terrible lecturer and this to be a terrible class. There was way too much reading and the lectures were given straight from a power point that had far too many unimportant details listed, making it difficult to pick out the relevant information. When I took the class there was a take home paper midterm and a final that cover

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

When I took this course I was a History major with an intended emphasis in the Middle East. Doumani completely disuaded me from doing either. His class was the most biased, least scholarly course I have ever taken. Most of the evidence supporting his claims, when he even bothered to provide "evidence" was inconclusive, circumstantial at best.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: HST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Doumani may not be the most entertaining of professors, but he knows the material and selects the best reading in the field. You have to be ready to do some work, but for the love of god you go to Berkeley so that should not be a dissuading factor. Also, Mellisa was an amazing GSI who was approachable and well verse in M.E history.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I guess if you aren't interested in Middle Eastern History, don't take this class (duh.). If you are interested, this class will be amazing and eye opening. It is crucial to understand the events happening in the world today.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HIST12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

This class dissuaded me from becoming a history major. Doumanni is a very unengaging lecturer and is far too esoteric. There is too much reading and Osama is a terrible GSI. Even the GSIs are borded by his lectures. This course by the worst one that I have ever taken at UC Berkeley.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: HISTORY12
• Grade Received: P
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He's pretty much boring and grumpy. DO NOT take his terrible class as your first history class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HISTORY12
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

History 12 is such an interesting class, but unless you're really interested in learning about the Middle East, don't take it--it's a lot of reading. Doumani is very nice but lectures can be boring at times. if malissa is your gsi, switch. she's condescending and subjective.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HISTORY
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Amazing teacher, lots of information. Not bias! Speaks the reality of the region.