University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

Professor at UVa vary. There are good one and bad ones. Most are competent and enjoy their work. You'll definitely run into some that are teaching antiquated version of their topic but when you do get those great professors they are truly great. It's the American education system, they can't all be awesome. The professors that connect different fields of study have been my favorite. Their varying interests make them open to new knowledge and challenge you to expand yours. My favorite professors have been those who aren't so valued by the university because their fields and subjects aren't so valued by society.

This semester I thoroughly enjoy all my classes, and part of that is due to having great professors. Right now I'm taking Mandarin, Survey of Spanish Literature, Politics of Developing Areas, International Relations, and History of Chinese Civilization. Chinese, as you can imagine, is ridiculously hard and time-consuming, but the teachers are phenomenal. Mine is a native of Taiwan, but studied in Beijing. She seems intimidating at first, but she's really endearing. I've learned a lot from her in only a few months of taking the language. As for Spanish, my teacher is very approachable and understanding. I have no issue visiting her during office hours. My professor in the Developing Areas class is actually from Haiti and was there during the corrupted elections which I found really cool. His accent is a little hard to understand sometimes, but you can tell he's very smart. IR is really enjoyable for me, not only because I enjoy the topic, but also because the professor is an enthralling lecturer. Finally, my history class is an overview of 4000 years of Chinese history. My professor really knows her stuff, and her storytelling technique makes the class seem like less of a lecture.