Andrew Jolivette

Most class sessions were taken up with movies that portray American Indians in a negative light. Instead of focusing on specific instances of representation, we would unnecessarily watch the whole movie. There was little discussion about the effects of these images on the Native American community. There was, however, a lot of rhetoric that Jolivette himself didn't seem to understand. Questions like "How does the plot contribute to your understanding of the story?" would pop up regularly on the board and "discussion question" sheets. Readings are repetitive and sometimes ridiculous - one claimed that Thoreau's Walden was just a racist attempt to "become native." There weren't really any lectures. Jolivette talks down to his students, and often chuckles as if we have no idea what he's talking about.

Basically, this class takes 4 months to teach you one thing: American Indians are represented badly in movies. Its not that this isn't true. But it doesn't take 4 months to figure out.

People wrote some pretty harsh mid-semester reviews. But instead of fixing his class, Jolivette just increased the busy-work, making us write down nonsense questions from Blackboard twice a week.

It's pretty easy, and I know you might want an easy A. But it's not worth listening to Jolivette's nonsense for a semester. Avoid this class. It will make your brain hurt.