Cotkin, George  

hes so funny bc hes kinda dorky, but way energized. he explains things well and isnt too tough!

Professor Cotkin is an extremly good History teacher. He presents the material in an extremly animated manner that kept me thouroughly entertained throughout class. His lectures were pretty straight forward and they were easy to follow. His teaching style made me extremly exciited to attend his class. There is reading, but it isnt to hard, and it is always discussed the next day, or tied into the lecture somehow. The grade is based on one midterm and one final, both are essays. Questiuons are fair and given to you a week or two in advance to allow you to prepare to write the essay in class. Their is the option of a take home final instead of doing the in class essay.

I highly recommend this teacher to anyone. He is a very good at lectures, and is very passionate about this subject which makes the material easy to learn and incredibly interesting. The midterm was an in-class essay, and the final was your choice of an in-class essay or a take home essay. There was no real textbook, just a book written by the professor, and a couple novels. This is an excellent course especially if you don't like textbooks and memorizing a bunch of small details.

This was my worst class ever at Poly!!! I hated going to class because of the daily quizzes and the most boring instructor giving his web page based lecture. I retook this class with a real professor, Dr. Barnes. Do yourself a favor, do not take this guy under any circumstances!!! I got a D, my first one ever by this guy, and I did study!! He gives map assignments that just kill, and his midterm and final are tough! If you have to take this class, do not take it with him!!!!

Cotkin Rocks, I can imagine finding him on the subway in new york. His sarcastic personality supplements his endless knowledge of bibliography. His is smart and helps out a lot with writing papers, just don't let him tell you what to write. Make your own decisions and he will help.

OK, the last person who wrote about Dr. Cotkin should have his head examined. I hope, either he rated the WRONG teacher or he is just some loser who got drunk one night and decided to bad mouth random professors for kicks. First of all, Cotkin doesn't give map quizes, nor does he teach off a class website. Second, it was stated that he recieved a "D" but if you look to left, it states "grade recieved 'B'", so obviously something is wrong with this picture. Now that its cleared up, Cotkin is by far one of the most entertaining professors at Poly. His humor and energy go a long way to keep his class motivated to do their work. He is very friendly, organized, intelligent, and he does something that hardly any professors do... he gets to know everyone personally by learning their names and something about them in order to show that he cares about their success in his class. I give him an "A+" even though I only recieved a "B" in his class. To the "bad mouthing" writer, my advice is to GET A LIFE!

Cotkin's a good guy. He knows what's up and adapts his class accordingly. If you pay attention and listen to him you'll do okay (I guess that's the case with every professor). The only reason I did not do as well as I should have was because of my own laziness. This guy is cool and you should take him whenever possible. You may even learn something in a history class! (gasp!)

The homework load is not easy, but also not impossible. The grading system is on the tough side, so watch out for that. Otherwise, the class is a lot of fun. Cotkin is fun and goofy, and he definitely knows history and how to make it interesting.

This guy is whacked as hell. The reading load is heavy and the material is as interesting as a dead snail. He will tell you what to put in your paper (what it needs to make it better) and then mark you down for putting it in -- will tell you it weakens your argument. If he tells you to put something in your paper, get it in writing and have him sign it. He's a nice guy, though.

Professor Cotkin's favorite musician is Tom Waits. That says more than any review of him could.

Why this guy is teaching 304 is a mystery. We were supposed to learn the different ways to look at history. Instead of giving us an overview of the many ways history can be seen or studied, we suffered though the point of view of a few people who are more philosophers than they are historians. (One of them doesn

Professor Cotkin is a great guy and a great History teacher. He has a unique quirky sense of humor that makes class entertaining. The class wasn't too difficult, there is a lot of reading, but there always is for a history class. The paper is not difficult, although he could be a little clearer on what he wants, and he's on the tougher side grading wise. Class is discussion based on the reading, 30% of your grade comes from class participation. One Midterm, one final. Great Guy, I defiantly recommend him!

Prof. Cotkin is a rare breed of professor at Cal Poly. He obviously knows his material well but most of all and above all else he really loves to teach and discuss. He's not the kind of prof. that will spew out facts and drone on for hours at a time. On the contrary, Cotkin will engage the students in thoughtful and interesting conversations that truely made me think and definately expanded my mind. The class itself is hard for many students to grasp because it is so abstract in a lot of ways. Cotkin tries to explain this but I feel that this is the greatest weakness of this course. After asking over and over how to write a Historiography paper, I finally, like many others, just did the best we could still without having a FIRM grasp on what was required. Take Cotkin, you'll enjoy him if you enjoy a class that forces you to think.

Dr. Cotkin is one of the best teachers I've had the pleasure of taking a class with at Cal Poly. But hey, I've only been at Cal Poly for two quarters so that ain't sayin much. hehe just kidding George. Seriously I really enjoyed Dr. Cotkin's class, he's funny in a corny teacher kinda way. You have to and in class midterm, a take home or in class final, and an 8-10 page paper to do. There is a lot of reading to do and make sure you do it because class participation in like 30% I think. The class discussions were very interesting and changed the way I thought about history.

Dr. Cotkin is the most bad-ass person I know. He once wrote a three hundred page book and then, in an act of defiance, threw the only manuscript into a fire. Because of integrity, he says. Damn. He also has fabulous taste in music, argyle socks, top hats, and Woody Allen films. (Though despite his intellectual genius, he insists "Soul Plane" starring Snoop Dog is his real favorite movie.) This is a truly brilliant individual that cares deeply about his work and his students. He encourages me to be my best, and has helped me to develope confidence as a writer and historian, and has helped me through emotionally trying times. He is a true person, who believes and lives what he teaches... Existentialism... Ethics... Virtue... and how to put together a smashing outfit. Take this guy, and get to know him if you can't. He's the type of person you want in your corner.

The guy talking about map quizzes is probably talking about Reidlsperger (forgot how to spell it) who I'm pretty sure doesnt teach at poly any more (thank god). Just a clarification because I know that comment annoys the hell out of Dr. Cotkin! Cotkin is my favorite history teacher!! Woohoo

One of my favorite professors at Poly! He is open to all points of view and opinions. His grading is very fair, and you know exactly what to expect. He does require a decent amount of reading, however it is all very interesting and relevant to the class. I highly recommend taking a class with him.

Cotkin is my absolute favorite teacher at Poly. He is extremely passionate about his subject and extremely knowledgable. Everyone in the dept. respects and loves him. His class opened my eyes to what I really want to do with my career. He is extremely helpful in office hourse and will probably try to hook you up with someone in your class because he loves being a matchmaker. hahaha. He is by far the best professor ever!

I took Cotkin for sr project, both 460 & 461. He's in charge of the masters' program, too, and for good reason. He demands a lot, really encourages you to develop your evidence and perfect your writing, and my final paper wouldn't have been half as good w/o him. What makes Cotkin so great is he wants you to love what you write about, and he seems to enjoy learning from what you're researching. But DON'T SLACK OFF... I had a meeting w/ him in week 2 or 3 of 460, & had gotten nothing done since the last meeting, & he looked all sad, like I let him down, and then he creamed me.

The most amazing professor at Cal Poly. He chose to work with me because my senior project was on Punk :) ('The mass marketing of ideals the history of the incorporation of punk into the commercial mainstream') The best two quarters of my college career!!

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.