William H. Issel

Love this guy, and this course. He's a very funny and very learned man, with tremendous energy, insight and warmth. Two papers and a final. I haven't finished the course yet so I can't speak to the final, but the first paper was interesting and fun to do. The textbooks are really good reading, too. Out of my four classes, this is the one I really look forward to.

Dr. Issel is simply a great teacher. He's fun, dynamic, knows his material and shares his information like a gift. He enjoys the topic so much and relates it so well that his lectures are fun. His voice is a bit raspy and my first thought when I heard it was -- Oh, god, I'm going to have to listen to this all semester? But I quickly learned to love listening to him. His quizzes were a bit tricky, but fair enough. Know the material! You may wonder where some of those ID's popped up from, but they're all there. His reading list was long and sometimes challenging, but for the most part the books were good reads. I strongly recommend shopping ahead and reading ahead! Some of his assignments are good enough to make enjoyable vacation reading. I worked hard in this class, but really enjoyed it, and learned a lot, not just in the material, but in viewing American history in the perspective of its religious dimension.

Very interesting, great personality, mid-term, final, and 2 book reviews on books of your choice, he takes time to help you find books that interest you. the text book is wonderful.

This is a wonderful class!! Prof. Issel is always well prepared for class and presents infomation in a clear straight forward manner. This thought provoking class exams the development of American thought and culture from the Colonial Period to date. What I liked most was the exloration of the cause and effect model offered in terms of how and why ideas developed and changed over time. I also enjoyed the way in which Prof. Issel linked the struggles of blacks and women to the large discourses and struggles going on at the time and thus laying out how their struggles are American struggles. There are 2book review required for this class and provided you go to the lectures you should be able to earn at least a B. Take this class!!!