James Bierman - University of California Santa Cruz

Professor: James Bierman

Department: Theater

College: University of California Santa Cruz

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: THEA154
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Sad I don't have him as a teacher anymore. He's so kind, wise, and encouraging. He makes me want to keep writing plays, and was really encouraging even when I doubted myself. You will learn so much just by listening to Jim talk, about theater, drama, history, philosophy. DO NOT JUST LEECH AN EASY GE FROM HIM. You'll do yourself a great disservice.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: THEA157
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Interesting professor. You write 1-2 scenes a week and students do cold readings of them in class. TAs grade all the scenes. No textbook.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: THEA157
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

A super EASY class if you do all of your work in time. Really chill and the class is really entertaining.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: THEA50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He's precious! And rambles a lot, but the class is fun and enlightening and it's a good way to start writing for the stage.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: TA157
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Playwriting was fun and super easy...definitely the best way to earn a W no matter what your major is. James is hilarious and really knows his stuff, he does reference a lot of plays, but if you have a good background in reading plays his references are really useful, and if you don't it wont hurt you. no reading, no midterm, no final, no problem!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: THEAT60AB
• 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:

Extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic about the subject, a really nice guy. Lectures, nevertheless, proved rambling and disorganized. Sadly, most of the class did not attend or slept, which was rather inevitable under the circumstances. He's a really cool person, but you gotta love reading a****ton of plays.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: TA60B
• 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:

Oh my god what a waste of time! Lecture is completely pointless and really boring. Make sure to do well on the paper because it is half of your grade. The final is a joke - ridiculously hard yet super easy to cheat because we grade it ourselves. Some of the plays were good but don't take this class unless you have to.

Rating # 8

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 9

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 10

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: THEATER60B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class was okay but the final was no good. We where asked stupid questions that had nothing to do with overall message of the plays. It was more like a quiz to see if we had learned the names of EVERY character in EVERY play.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: 60B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Jim is a cute old man with awesome bowties, but the class wasn't that great. I'm not a morning person, so I missed class a lot, but it made no difference. He only talked about plot and barely any theory. The final was abot minute details no one knew, and then we graded it ourselves. One paper.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: TA60B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

OMG... talk about an easy class. We graded our own finals. I'm not into the subject at all, only took the class b/c it wasn't full. Super easy! Didn't have to do any work or attend lecture and I got a B. However, I don't support taking classes for that reason. if you like theater, take it!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: THEA159
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Loved this class. He knows playwriting back and front and is willing to help. The class was fun and, if you apply yourself to it, you can take a lot away from it. If you're taking it (or 157) for the easy A, you'll get that A, but you'll miss everything else the class has to offer. Take it!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: THEA60B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really knows a lot about theatre history. Sometimes hard to follow but he's just so cute! A good class but you really do have to do the reading.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: THEA157
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Awesome professor...this class was BEYOND easy. An easy A guaranteed as long as you turn in all your scenes on time..no finals...no midterms! how SICK is that?! He knows his stuff...and you MIGHT just get a hot TA !

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PLAYWRITING
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A great teacher with a dedication to the field. Take something from Bierman before he retires! Sometimes connections between assignments are a little tenuous but overall a great class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

a very sweet man who has a great understanding of the art of playwriting, but struggles to connect to the class who can't always relate to the many refrences he makes

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: THEA80B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He knows his stuff. Very, very well. But he spends much too much time discussing esoteric dates and names--specifics which he does not even hold you accountable for. He is very endearing, however, and I like him. I simply wish that he stayed on topic.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: THEA154
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Jim is a Fabulous playriting tacher, he knows just how to get to the bottom of a good story.