Won Kim

i thought won kim to be an interesting woman and would liked to have learned more about her, being from korea and as she said, having to work very hard to get to where she is today. as a result of all of that hard work, she really knows what she is talking about. it's true though that she encouraged group discussion, but not really those who spoke. she wouldn't necessarily disagree, but her reactions did not make other students want to respond thus the discussions always dissipated and really never went too far. i thought all of the readings [though there was a lot - three books and a course reader] very interesting, especially the book we read by angela davis. i learned a lot about welfare and immigration and where women fit in. i was never taught this stuff in my 11th grade history class - not from a women's perspective anyway. while no one ever really knew what was to be discussed the day of class, it didn't really bother me. i did not find the class difficult and i also didn't find that all of the readings were necessary so it really wasn't as much work as some thought. i think though, it is important to have an interest in women's studies before taking this course or it is likely it won't be interesting. don't just take it because it satisfies a certain GE. in summary: the class is not too difficult if you attend semi-regularly. there is much reading but not all of it is necessary. there was a midterm, a take home final and a five page paper, none of which were extremely difficult if you attended class. it wasn't very organized, but it also wasn't chaotic.

Won Kim did a pretty good job for someone who's teaching her first semester here. The problem is that she received so much negativity from some of her students. This might have distracted her from doing a better job. She did know her material. However, the problem is the organization of the course. She gave us too many readings and too much material to memorize. She seems to forget that this is a lower division class. Kim did give us a study guide, but it was just way too much material to study for. Also, she was not assertive enough. For example, there was one guy in the class who contradicted everything she said. Those who took the class know what I'm talking about. He wasted so much of our time with his irrelevant and insupportable comments. Basically, it was a lot of mumbo jumbo. She finally put him in his place, but by that time it was already the end of the semester. Her class consisted of a midterm, a take home final, and a five page paper. Only those who are willing to do a lot of reading about this subject should take this class.

My overall impression of Won Kim is that she is very unorganized and unclear with her lectures. The worst part about the class is that there are a numerous amount of reading assignments, but we rarely discuss them in class, or even bring them up period. The course has three required books, as well as a course reader, so the cost was high. Although the books themselves are fairly interesting, it is hard to tie in the lectures to what we read outside of class. She encourages class discussion, but often we get off topic, and what really bothers me is how she often responds negatively to the comments that students make. It is obvious to see that she often comes to class late and unprepared. I do not like this course, mostly for the way it is run. We have no idea what we are going to be tested on, and there are only 2 tests per semester, as well as a 5-page paper.

It's obvious that Prof. Kim is trying hard to make this class as interesting as possible but sometimes her disorganization and A/V problems are distracting. It's the middle of the semester and she still has problems with the overhear projector. Perhaps she should spend some extra time working with this equitment after class. Also, when she uses statistics, she can not always back them up with a source which at times makes them seem like she just made them up. She asks for discussion but then gives very little positive reinforcement to those who do speak. Usually she has a very defensive response to any questions as well. Prof. Kim knows her stuff and she is trying to make the class intersting though. Maybe she just needs some time to get used to teaching at this school.

When I go to this class, I am never sure what topic we are going to cover. This is not a good thing. The prof always seems disorganized and late. Though we are asked to read pages and pages of text, It is not clear what we are supposed to be learning. The people she hired for our course reader (which we have had to buy along with 3 texts) were rude and minimally available for reader purchase. One can tell that she is trying, but she is too disorganized to really make her message clear. Another annoying tidbit: she allows irrelevant class disscussions to go on forever. For instance, we'll be talking about patriarchy and and someone will argue about what is and what is not in the bible wasting 10 minutes of class time. This has happened a couple of times which tells me that she does not really have much control of the class. Maybe over time as she gets used to teaching at SFSU, she may improve.

Won Kim is obviously a new instructor. As she is from Korea and English is not her first language, many of the students that are not familiar with or understand her accent miss a lot of what she says. I personally have no problem understanding her, but it is an observation I've made. She always starts class late, as she herself is on time or a little late and then has to write a bunch of things on the board. She does not use the wireless microphone properly - instead of clipping it to her lapel or collar, she holds it up to her mouth, so she is too close to it. The material that is being presented is the same material that I learned in my 11th grade history classes or earlier. I don't know if she selected the material, or if the department has. I don't think she knows the material very well herself. There is no written homework, but there are way too many outside reading assignments. There are two exams during the semester, as well as a 5-page paper. There is nothing listed on the syllabus for the final exam period.