Thor Anderson

if you want to hear random stories that have nothing to do with your class, this is the teacher. we don't get much done in class, and what is done, has no use, as there are no tests. the material also isn't too interesting, which makes the class even worse. the final project was fun to do, as you learn a lot, but it could've been for any class, as your project just had to about something in a city. this class just didn't amount to much, which was disappointing.

Thor is a kicked back "let's talk about life" kind of instructor. I really enjoyed his style because it encouraged class room conversation and always gave rise to many social, political, cultural and emotional conversation. Thor also has a calming aura about him that is inviting. I recommend him. If you need a class with a lot of structure and written exams to prove your intelligence then Thor is not your man. Thor has also done some amazing anthropological work which makes you appreciate that he knows the stuff he preaches about.

I really enjoy Thor's class. He gave us students the freedom to do what we wanted in class such that he believed that we are able to educate ourselves by experiencing and doing our own research. He lets the student come up with great ideas and is an open minded person.

I saw the last review given to Thor and I felt that someone had to stick up for him. I would just like to say that the last reviewer is NOT representative of the attitudes of his students towards him. When I took the class I became friends with several other students there and we all thought he was an amazing teacher. The comments made about him cutting people off were true, however it has to be taken into consideration that in those few cases where it happened, the person (usually the same individual) was rambling and most of the rest of us were sitting there rolling our eyes at each other waiting for them to make a coherent point. Like any good teacher should, Thor was just making an effort to effectively moderate the discussion. Overall Thor is very unconventional as far as his teaching method goes. He treated us like adults and made it clear that it was up to us whether we wanted to get something out of the class or not, that all he was there to do was point us in the right direction. In my opinion (and that of my friends in that class) Thor is one of the best instructors in the department. If anything his unconventional approach serves to illustrate how university classes SHOULD be taught but unfortunately usually aren't. In summary: if you want someone who is going to teach in a methodical, conventional manner, don't take a course with Thor. If you want someone who will force you to think for yourself, develop strong critical thinking skills and, above all, remind you that learning is not just about books and papers, but about LIFE, you'd be missing out if you didn't take a class from him.

Thor is an interesting guy and he is pretty nice. However, taking a class with him has proved to be a frusterating experience. He is oh-so-vague about what he wants in assignments and is pretty flaky in general. He was late to class alot, and also he didn't return our first writing assignment until about 2 months after we turned it in. He interrupts students when they're commenting in class and completely misses their point. I raised my hand and spoke once and never did it again because he cut me off, twisted my words around, and didn't even let me finish my point. I saw him do this so many times to so many students. He's pretty knowledgeable and has done some pretty awesome research, but I wouldn't take another class with him, nor would i recommend it to someone else.

Thor Anderson is an incredible instructor. After having taken numerous film theory and production courses in film; I finally found an instructor and a class that was an inspiration. If you are a film major I highly recommend Thor, there should be more instructors like him here at State. Through Thor's style of teaching in the 595 course we were able to cut film down to its base level of pure visuals and discover what are our motivations for the medium. There were no tests and no textbooks we as adult students were treated like adult students;we were responsible for our own attendance and what we put in to the class is what we got out of it. We also were required to keep a weekly entry of what we dicussed in class, Thor in general kept a loose reigns on the class and dicussions that would arise. We were also encouraged to work as a teams to develop individual films. I have never felt the comradrie and support of other fellow film students as I felt in Thor's class. When one person was having problems in post-production other students were there to help and re-enforce each other. I have found that in other film classes there was alot of backstabbing competiton for classes,and a general competiton to prove who's the best. That kind of competition was not the case in Thor's class which is undoubtably to his credit. Thor's 595 class helped renew my faith in the film classes at State. So if you want to take a class where the intructor truely cares about you as a student and cares about the process of film I recommend Thor Anderson wholeheartedly.