Brenner is a brilliant and insightful professor. She is wildly intelligent and kind and genuinely cares for her students, but she can be very short and come off as judgemental on occasion. Lots of readings and short papers due before each class, but it wasn't unbearable. Would definitely recommend her as a professor, but you have to put in effort.Rate My Professors ↗
Historical instructor
RACHEL BRENNER
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor Brenner is a wildly intelligent teacher and scholar and I learned a lot from her and her class. That being said, she can be extremely curt and short with students who do not understand what she is attempting to convey. She lacks true patience when students are attempting to reason with her regarding certain issues in her class.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Lots to learn, though Prof Brenner is very particular about doing things her way (ie lectures outside of class). Only 1 exam. Pretty good.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 2/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Brenner is brilliant. I definitely learned a lot in her course. Unfortunately, I still wouldn't recommend her to others. She is the first instructor I have ever had who goes beyond the occasional rude comment. She can genuinely be cruel, and she takes things very personally. It is impossible to reason with her if she is upset.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Was a ton of work (readings due before each class period) but she grades very fairly and as long as you put in the work you'll get in A. We were forced to attend 2 mandatory outside lectures during the day while many of us had class, but she made the last one optional for extra credit. She's very passionate and you will definitely learn a lot.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 2/5Difficulty 1/5
She required us to attend 3 lectures outside of designated class time. The lectures were all during the day, when most of us had other classes. She told us if we had another class, we had to miss it or we wouldn't get points. Very smart woman but not very understanding/compassionateRate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with RACHEL BRENNER
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
View last recorded teaching term →No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2020 | JEWISH 231 | Elementary Topics in Jewish History |
| Fall 2020 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2020 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Spring 2020 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2020 | RELIGST 400 | Topics in Religious Studies - Humanities |
| Fall 2019 | JEWISH 231 | Elementary Topics in Jewish History |
| Fall 2019 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2019 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Spring 2019 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Fall 2018 | JEWISH 231 | Elementary Topics in Jewish History |
| Fall 2018 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2018 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Spring 2018 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2018 | JEWISH 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2018 | RELIGST 400 | Topics in Religious Studies - Humanities |
| Fall 2017 | JEWISH 231 | Elementary Topics in Jewish History |
| Fall 2017 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2017 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Spring 2017 | JEWISH 432 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Philosophy and the Arts |
| Spring 2017 | MUSIC 497 | Special Topics in Music |
| Spring 2017 | RELIGST 400 | Topics in Religious Studies - Humanities |
| Fall 2016 | JEWISH 231 | Elementary Topics in Jewish History |
| Fall 2016 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2016 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Spring 2016 | JEWISH 432 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Philosophy and the Arts |
| Spring 2016 | MUSIC 497 | Special Topics in Music |
| Fall 2015 | JEWISH 231 | Elementary Topics in Jewish History |
| Fall 2015 | JEWISH 430 | Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature |
| Spring 2015 | CURRIC/EDPOL/HISTORY/JEWISH 515 | Holocaust: History, Memory and Education |
| Spring 2015 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II |
| Spring 2015 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Fall 2014 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Fall 2014 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Spring 2014 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II |
| Fall 2013 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Fall 2013 | JEWISH 356 | Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire |
| Spring 2013 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II |
| Fall 2012 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Spring 2012 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II |
| Fall 2011 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Spring 2011 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II |
| Fall 2010 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Spring 2010 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II |
| Fall 2009 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Spring 2009 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II |
| Fall 2008 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Fall 2007 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
| Fall 2006 | HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401 | Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_a5017ad7f397d9da43ac367a",
"source": "madgrades",
"source_instructor_id": "2601194",
"identity_basis": "source_id",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "RACHEL BRENNER",
"email": null,
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-06 23:14:58.172943+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 18,
"quality": 3.5,
"difficulty": 2.89,
"quality_count": 18,
"difficulty_count": 18,
"profile_id": "rmp:317959",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/317959",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:10:57.378277+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_bb11b243e1e0d7dbf14c5948": {
"review_count": 3,
"quality": 3,
"difficulty": 1,
"quality_count": 3,
"difficulty_count": 3
},
"course_35b64b4b24fe6946834c236e": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 2,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 3.5840451492350502,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"grade_statistics": {
"gpa": 3.662,
"graded": 437,
"counts": [
228,
148,
49,
7,
3,
0,
2
],
"sections": 48
},
"current": false,
"courses": [],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/RACHEL_BRENNER--instructor_a5017ad7f397d9da43ac367a"
}