Carol Zaleski - Smith College, Northampton, MA

Professor: Carol Zaleski

Department: Theology

College: Smith College, Northampton, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: REL208
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Honestly, this was a very "eh" class for me. It wasn't so much a class to learn about the Inklings as it was a class for people who were already fans to ramble on. I had never read LOTR before and I felt very uncomfortable in this class. The professor is very sweet but she does tend to ramble during lectures. I don't feel like I learned much.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: REL206
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

This is the second course I've taken with her. Prof. Zaleski has a really chill class. Participation not mandatory. You can do the readings but she hands out the key terms you need to know for the exams, so you can just use that and you'll be golden. If you do the readings then you have great discussions to look forward to. Interesting class.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: REL105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Easy A course. She's also a total sweetheart. You won't really learn much from her lectures though. But it's still good enough for a blow-off class.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: REL101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

This is my first class with Professor Zaleski but it's definitely not my last. She's so interesting as a person, and though she tends to go on about things, she is a great educator. I feel like I'm learning, but I don't feel the stress and pressure that others lay on here.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: REL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Love Carol. This women is hilarious and eccentric. Definitely would take another class with her.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: REL105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I had her for Intro to World Religions. She is a very nice person and will answer your questions in class or meet with you outside of class to answer your questions, but I found her lecture style to be kind of unclear. What I mean is-- she just kind of talks about the a topic with no structure and sometimes it's hard to know what to take notes on.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: 105
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I don't recommend the Intro class if you want to have real discussions or go very deep on anything. Professor Zaleski doesn't give the most engaging lectures ever but out of the two professors, she's much easier to listen to and follow. I appreciate how friendly she is, but I wish she had more structure to her talks and asked for more participation

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: 205
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I really enjoy Professor Zaleski. She knows so much--not just about religious authors and texts, but also about philosophy, history, and literature. She can be a little rambly at times, but she is great about always making space for discussion and allowing students to feel heard. She is incredibly humble and will go out of her way to be helpful.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: 100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I don't know that I loved all of the material, but Carol has a way of just making you feel appreciated and seen while learning. She co-taught the class and was also a good collaborator.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: 100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Love Carol. She is the best professor I've had. She really cares about her students and knows so much.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: REL312
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Carol is a fantastic professor. Her lectures can be a little off topic at times, but I love that because she's so smart that her random insights and stories make the class great. She's very understanding and kind, but she also cares about students learning, so she will definitely make you work and think. I would definitely take another class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: REL
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Beautiful and brilliant! You will learn a lot if you do the readings and participate in class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: REL308
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Carol is the best professor I've had at Smith. She is the sort of person whose warmth is utterly infectious. She sometimes gets very off topic, and she can be hard to follow, but it is clear that she is absolutely brilliant. She always is helpful and encouraging, and genuinely wants you to succeed. It's worth taking a class with her.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: REL208
• 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:

I really enjoyed the Inklings class with Professor Zaleski. The discussions in class were lively and it was a great experience.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: REL206
• 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:

She's one of the best professor I've ever had.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: REL206
• 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:

Carol is wonderful :) I highly recommend her. I don't know what the previous comments about her being flaky or boring are about because she's one of the most brilliant, engaging, compassionate, and quirky, not to mention funny, professors I know! Definitely take any class with her!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: REL105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

not terrible. really easy. very minimal assignments and clearly understood. maybe not a great professor if you're a huge nerd and want to get a lot out of the class but she's fine. not difficult at all

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: REL235
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Carol is so adorable and kind, and she really loves her subjects. Easy grader, too. But in our class there was so much to cover but we talked about so little of it in depth. But definitely recommend her. Do at least a section of each reading and be prepped to talk about it, though, just in case.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: REL105
• 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:

.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: REL105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

She is just okay.