We're still actively developing this site. If you encounter any issues, please report them! - Report an issue

M
Maria LEPOWSKY
LEPOWSKY,MARIA A
Email
Position

Professor

Department

Anthropology

Credentials

PHD 1981 Univ of California Berkeley

Grade Point Average
2.92
Completion Rate
97.26%
A Rate
28.88%
Students
1901
Rating
2.5
Difficulty
2.9
Would Take Again
80.0%
Attendance
Unknown

88.6% of students reported.

Comments

I took her Medical Anthropology course many years ago. I continue to use concepts and ideas discussed in this course everyday in my professional life as an RN. I really appreciate her storytelling and style of lecturing. I would absolutely take courses from Dr. Lepowsky again.

I don't know most of these reviews are so negative, Lepowsky good professor. She did an excellent job transitioning the course from in class to online and was probably the most understanding professor I've had in this situation. I took this course to fill a requirement and while I'm not interested in medicine the course material was captivating.

She is the most flexible professor I've ever had. She realizes that with the amount of information presented in this class, it's not reasonable to be expected to remember it all. Every assessment is open note/book and/or take home. She does everything she can to ensure the success of her students and is the kindest woman I've ever met.

I never rate professors, but I had to rate this professor. Her lectures and many readings didn't correlate, the slides had no outline, no bullet points, and followed no order. She cites that she went to Berkeley (in 1981) multiple times, every class. We read outdated works that are 20+ years old, and she seemed to refuse to acknowledge her own bias

I am not a GWS major but found the class and lectures interesting. Lectures slides take a while to set in --always take notes. At first I found content very dry. The books were relevant to the course material and were critical for the take-home essays. Discussion teams were dedicated to the material and discussions were useful to attend.

Maria Lepowsky is hands down the best professor I've had so far at UW. She's super passionate about what she teaches, and her class content was interesting too. If you aren't into writing essays though, steer clear of this class. Entire grade is writing based.

Most of grad students love her lecture. She can amazingly clarifies abstract ideas and makes connection among them. I was thrilled after her lecture.

So this woman is obsessed with her own work and continually cites herself during lecture. Not incredibly stimulating material, but overall an easy course. HAVE to attend discussion. You can read the book, do the 2 assigned short papers (2-3 pages), and study you notes and you will be just fine.

Horrible Professor! Class was fairly easy, but lectures were a torture to get through and I'm still doubtful of how useful they actually were to me. Same goes for the readings- I barely read any of the books because I couldn't get through more than 5 pages at a time. Should have been an extremely interesting topic but she made it horribly dull!

studying cultures should be interesting, but she chose the worst material. Our main textbook was biased, and another main book was of course, by her, and represented how self-absorbed she is. Terrible terrible prof., even the TA's agreed. Tests were graded unfairly, and didn't represent our knowledge whatsoever.

She is a horrible teacher. Extremely feminine and likes to boast her own work relentlessly. Avoid at all costs!

she is completely horrible. her lectures are slides filled with copious amounts of material, which she goes through in seconds. my hand was in pain every time i left that class. The exams are not representative of the material whatsoever, and the essay questions are extremely subjective. Maria is unapproachable and stuck up. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLAS

HORRIBLE!! Self absorbed, not helpful, tough grader, disrespectful to student's. DO NOT TAKE ANTHRO WITH HER.

Sad I got this teacher: wonderful material taught in the worst manner...just boring, hard to get anything worthy in lectures, endless slideshows, fast talking in a low voice (probably the mic is bad, weird).

it is a shame that such an interesting topic can be ruined by a single professor. i will not rant, tho, simply bc what i have to say has already been said by other students. on a more positive note, however, my TA ROCKED!! go Kiersten Warning! way to make a horrible class somewhat worthwhile! :)

This woman is a prime example of somebody who should NOT be teaching. Her lectures are pointless, having nothing to do with the material. She can't wait to talk about herself and her "many contributions" to Anthropology. She also fails to explain her expectations on both exams and essays. Avoid at all costs. Worst professor I've ever had.

She is the worst prof. I have had to last a semester with in the four years of my education at Madison. She is highly feminist,loves to brag herself up,does not consider any suggestions from class, and has worthless lectures that are highly unorganized and repetitive. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE WITH HER!!! you will regret it. I cannot wait to review

Absolutely awful professor. Extremely critical and high on herself. Material on the exam is not representative of what is covered in class. Avoid Lepowsky at all costs.

Can't wait to write the class evaluation at the end of the semester. She completely believes herself to be above all students. She goes through lecture slides so fast that I have to bring my laptop to keep up. Today she basically told us that if you leave class early, your parents didn't raise you right. Excuse me? Gives zero direction for pape

Other reviews are overlycritical. Lepowsky is a fast lecturer which makes it difficult handwrite own all the notes. She also is a bad exam monitor. HOWEVER, her lectures can be interesting. Her exams are easy, and although she comes off a bit arrogant, she only wants the respect that all profs. should be given. Greatest issue: too much reading

She is the first person I have ever seen who has played the gender card against another woman - but yeah, arrogant, conceited, and won't stop talking about Vanatinai - seriously, you'll have to read a book and write papers about her. And talk about her for weeks in discussion. Tests are easy, but TAs are often overly critical on papers

I would say one of the worst teachers I have ever had. Useless lectures because the exams are impossible. Brags about her stupid research and acts like we should all know everything about Anthro. Do NOT take 104 with her. Ever.

Terrible. Regurgitates information from the readings and goes on useless tangents. Arrogant, conceited, and unapproachable. Tests reflect neither the material in the readings nor the material in lecture. Exams are handled extremely unprofessionally. No guidance as to what to write for the required essays. Avoid if possible.

She is, without a doubt, the worst professor I have ever had. At the beginning of the year, she made herself completely unapproachable. She is vain and constantly talks of her own advances and contributions to Anthropology. Her exams, though easy, are handled completely unprofessionally in terms of regrading. Not connected with student body at all.

This woman is without a doubt the worst professor for this class! All she does is boast about her time on Vanatina, and never tells you anything in class besides "this is in your textbook." She thinks she is hight and mighty,and is completly aloof! Going to lecture is a complete waste of time!

The only entertaining thing about Lepowsky's lectures is laughing at how absolutely fabulous she thinks she is. I thought that this class would be interesting... I would love to hear about something BESIDE her life, her career, her "funny" little stories, or Vanatinai. She's conceited and unapproachable. No need to attend lectures. Easy exams.

Prof Maria Lepowsky single-handedly made me realize that Anthro is a joke, destroying any interest I ever had for the subject. She is too vain, unapproachable, and uncaring to be a UW professor. The best professors are the ones who enjoy teaching, talking to their students, and seeing them succeed. Maria Lepowsky just wants to boast about herself.

Is this the first time she has taught Anthro 104? Maybe she should just stick with women's studies...

Perhaps with smaller classes Maria is better, but for a large lecture, she's not so great. On the first day she made herself appear very unapproachable, she flies through powerpoint slides and gives you no time to write down the loads of information she includes on them, and she is very conceited and talks about herself a lot.

I have to disagree with the other comments and say that i find Prof. Lepowsky very aloof. I also find it frustrating that she tends to talk a LOT about herself and HER exploits in the field of Cultural Anthropology. While admittedly her research is important, I would love to hear a topic that doesn't revolve around her or Vanatinai.

A book report, take home midterm and final, lots of reading...but an AB is fairly easy to get, just hard to get that A. Also have to lead a class discussion with a group.

No Comments

Maria is awesome, she is so easy going and made class so relaxing. She really appreciates everyone's ideas and makes it wasy to speak up in class. She's also very understanding and receptive to any problems you may have. Plus, the class is very easy, 2 take home exams, and two papers. Not bad at all, and interesting!

maria is phenomenal! her accomplishmwnts are astounding, but she's totally down to earth. she makes everyone feel welcome to the class, and she speaks to you on a peer level. she is also extremely understanding of schedules- she gave me an extra week to do my take home midterm. class is not too difficult, just a few papers.