Professor Kodesh is full of information, a clear master of the subject he teaches. However, his lectures are quite boring. He is very willing to help outside of class, which I appreciated very much. This class wasn't time consuming at all, we just had 2 midterms and a final essay. If you want a general synopsis of Africa, take this class!Rate My Professors ↗
Historical instructor
NEIL KODESH
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Neil Kodesh is a very knowledgeable about African history - however, he is a very boring lecturer. He has weekly quizzes of varying levels of difficulty, and there are weekly readings (a lot of them). There are two essays which are graded difficultly but fairly.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Prof. Kodesh is a fine professor and definitely knowledgeable, but I felt that the class was not worth it. Half the lectures were given by guest lecturers (other profs in the department) and the class, while interesting, wasnt memorable compared to others. Your grade came down to your TA (mine was horrible), so Ill give Neil an average rating.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Neil is an amazing professor and I learned so much about Africa in general from this course, definitely recommend; however, a 75 minute lecture with him talking the whole class period is TERRIBLE. 30 minutes in, I begin falling asleep. You have to attend lecture in order to do good on the assignments, but great course.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Note that all of Neil's classes with the 277 tag are the same one, it's crosslisted as several different things. His lectures are incredibly informational (if a bit dry), so though attendance isn't mandatory you'll struggle a lot if you don't go. Lots of reading, but it's fairly easy and you can get away with skipping it fairly often.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 2/5Difficulty 2/5
This was probably the most boring class I've ever taken. He doesn't post slides at all, so it's pretty necessary to go to lecture to gather information for the essays. The whole class is graded on three essays and participation, so no final, which was probably the best part of the class. The class wasn't really difficult overall, just really boringRate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with NEIL KODESH
HISTORY 990
Research and Thesis
1–9 creditsHISTORY 990 is a research and thesis course where students conduct independent research and write a thesis under faculty supervision.
No offering record · Spring 2026
No recorded grade history
HISTORY 999
Independent Work
1–6 creditsHISTORY 999 is an independent work course involving directed study under faculty supervision.
No offering record · Spring 2026
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2021–Spring 2022 · limited sampleRecorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2026 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2025 | HISTORY 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2025 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2025 | HISTORY 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2025 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2024 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2024 | HISTORY 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2024 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Spring 2024 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2023 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2023 | HISTORY 600 | Advanced Seminar in History |
| Fall 2023 | HISTORY 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2023 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2023 | HISTORY 600 | Advanced Seminar in History |
| Spring 2023 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2023 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2022 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2022 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Fall 2022 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2022 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Spring 2022 | HISTORY 283 | Intermediate Honors Seminar-studies in History |
| Spring 2022 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2021 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2021 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Fall 2021 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2020 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2020 | AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI 983 | Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics |
| Fall 2020 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2020 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2019 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2019 | AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI 983 | Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics |
| Fall 2019 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2019 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Spring 2019 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2018 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2018 | AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI 983 | Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics |
| Fall 2018 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2018 | HISTORY 283 | Intermediate Honors Seminar-studies in History |
| Spring 2018 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2018 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2017 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2017 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Fall 2017 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2017 | HISTORY 283 | Intermediate Honors Seminar-studies in History |
| Spring 2017 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2016 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2016 | AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI 983 | Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics |
| Fall 2016 | HISTORY 753 | Seminar-comparative World History |
| Fall 2016 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2016 | AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI 983 | Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics |
| Spring 2016 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2016 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2016 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2015 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2015 | HISTORY 283 | Intermediate Honors Seminar-studies in History |
| Fall 2015 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2015 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2015 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2014 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2014 | HISTORY 283 | Intermediate Honors Seminar-studies in History |
| Fall 2014 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2014 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Spring 2014 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2014 | HISTSCI/MEDHIST 919 | Graduate Studies in Medical History |
| Fall 2013 | AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 277 | Africa: an Introductory Survey |
| Fall 2013 | HISTORY 283 | Intermediate Honors Seminar-studies in History |
| Fall 2013 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2013 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Spring 2013 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2013 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2012 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Fall 2012 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2012 | AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI 983 | Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics |
| Spring 2012 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2012 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2011 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2011 | HISTORY 600 | Advanced Seminar in History |
| Fall 2010 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Fall 2010 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Spring 2010 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2010 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Fall 2009 | AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/GEOG/HISTORY/POLISCI 983 | Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics |
| Fall 2009 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2009 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Spring 2009 | HISTORY 600 | Advanced Seminar in History |
| Spring 2009 | HISTORY 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2009 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2009 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2008 | HISTORY 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2008 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Spring 2008 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Spring 2008 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
| Spring 2007 | HISTORY 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2007 | HISTORY 692 | Senior Thesis |
| Spring 2007 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2007 | HISTORY 861 | Seminar-the History of Africa |
| Spring 2007 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2006 | HISTORY 600 | Advanced Seminar in History |
| Fall 2006 | HISTORY 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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