Habib, Kenneth  

Habib was the greatest teacher of all time. He taught the class so well and was very knowledgeable about the subject matter. He was very approachable and truly loved his field. He is inspiring and very talented. Take this class!!!!

Great. Cool. Funny. Great Prof. I would recommend doing all the hw though.

great prof. the only thing was sometimes we had to sing in class...sometimes kind of awkward...but besides that he is friendly and loves what he does. and if you have background in music it isn't a hard class at all

i took him for intro to music theory (MU 101) and it was a great class, it really helped solidify what i already knew, and if you are new to music, it still is a great class, whatever you do, do not take a theory class with dr barrata....terrible...terrible...terrible...but with dr Habib, he is the most approachable teacher ive met, his homework is minimal, but important and he truly has a love for music and he wants to make others feel the same, overall, one of my favorite teachers. oh yeah, and he doesnt take roll after the first few weeks of class...

I can tell Dr. Habib loves what he does and tries to get his students excited about the course through videos, musical excerpts, and through discussion, but I tend to have difficulty following the progression of his lectures because he often goes on tangents. Of course, these topics are music related, but they aren't related to the lecture for that particular day. Also, I kinda felt bad that no one asks a question when he practically begs students to ask a question. He would literally stand there and say, "You're supposed to wait 10 seconds to see if there is a question." Perhaps the class already understood, but I often saw blank stares, so who knows if there were people confused or whatnot. One thing that Dr. Habib would say that really annoyed me is when he would ask the class a question, he would follow with, "Quick, quick, quick...not slow." Not everyone can just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. Some, if not a lot, need time to process the information and evaluate it. Maybe he was trying to get us to recognize things faster, but it didn't go over too well. Over all, pretty easy class..one ethnography you have to read and give a report on and then you present a little presentation about the review you gave the book. Dr. Habib is a very nice guy and is helpful, but it would be great if he could develop better organization with his lectures. The material is there, but the structure is a little convoluted.

Professor Habib is a pretty cool teacher! His lectures can be a little boring sometimes, but a lot of the time they are actually interesting. You can tell that he is really passionate about music and he will answer any questions that you have either in class or in office hours. The way his class is structured is 25% midterm, 20% essay, 20% concert attendance,35% final. I would recommend taking Habib. I really enjoyed his class.

Habib is very passionate about american popular music, which is great to have in a professor. He lectures, from the start to the end of every class, and you do have attend concerts. He's a genuinely nice guy and he's pretty straightforward about what is going to be on the midterm and final, and he doesn't grade the essay too hard. You literally have to write down every single thing he puts on his slideshow presentations, and if there's anything I learned from him unrelated to music it is DO NOT SKIP THE READING, my goodness did I miss about 15 questions on the final because I ignored the nightly articles he assigned, I learned my lesson. Honestly, I was interested in the pop culture aspects of the class, but when he dove into actually counting music and the forms and what not that got difficult, I'm not a music major, I don't play instruments and I really didn't think that fell into the course description, but if you go to his office hours he really is incredibly helpful and caring. Take the class, pay attention to his lectures, they're interesting and verbatim whats on his tests, and please, do not make my mistake, read the nightly articles, they aren't long and make up a good portion of the exams. Best of luck, Habib is a cool guy.

I had Habib for Popular Music in the USA. Habib is a great guy and a fair professor. If you show up to class, study for the tests (it seems like a lot of material, but if you make flashcards and go over the material starting four or five days before the test, you'll be good), and put in time to your essay you'll get an A. He is very kind and helpful during office hours. The essay, while it seems hard, is actually very open-ended and he is very open to a lot of ideas. His tests were very reasonable and he graded the essay fairly and without bias. In addition, 20% of your grade is concert attendance, so if you show up to 4 concerts that's an instant grade booster. I highly recommend the class and Dr. Habib.

Dr. Habib is the spitting image of a perfect professor. He is vastly knowledgeable and profoundly passionate about his field of study, and is incredibly talented in conveying his knowledge to students in a way that fosters their ability to think critically about the world around them. History has never been a subject I took particular interest in, but Pop Music of the USA took a look at U.S. history through the lens of music, which was far more appealing to me personally. His lectures were paced very well and he often stopped after covering a section to ask if there were any questions and to ask if he was going too fast too slow or just right. He also encouraged students to take a side and defend their opinion on any ethical issues that cropped up during lectures. Overall, Dr. Habib taught with just the right amount of meaningfulness as to encourage thoughtful contemplation outside the classroom. This class

Habib's class is ideal for a GE. Studying communications in college, he is effective at presenting material clearly and answering questions. He offered 20% of grade + 3% extra credit simply by attending concerts which were actually somewhat enjoyable. His tests are very fair and I do feel like I learned a great deal about Music after taking his class.

This class is deceiving. I'm actually surprised how many good reviews there are for this teacher. Trust me, I'm not the only one disappointed in my class. The notes are ridiculous so make sure you have a laptop in class because there is no way you will copy them all down by hand. The tests are annoying and there is a listening portion where you have to be able to identify songs from as early as the 1800s. Did I mention there are over a 100 songs you should know? Yeah, save yourself the effort and don't take this class. The amount of material we have to study for the midterm and final is just ridiculous. Too much. Professor Habib is very kind and very passionate about what he teaches but the class is a lot for a GE.

An EXTREMELY easy class. Ended with a 99.8%. Around week 6 or 7, it may feel like suddenly there's a lot of work, but that's just because there isn't any work prior to that. But the entire class is next to no work, just 1 midterm, 1 essay, a final, and some concerts on campus you have to go to. Don't bother with the Grove Music Online reading, there are barely any questions about it on the tests. Cool teacher, lectures are pretty dry though.

Do not be fooled by the good reviews this teacher has. Honestly, the people who gave Habib good reviews are either music majors or people who find interest in old genres of music. I do love music and think it's great but when we have over 100 songs to memorize, you have to admit, it's a little bit ridiculous. On top of that, he doesn't put ANY of the slides he goes over in class on poly learn which means you either have to write down all the notes or bring your laptop and type them out. It's funny because you'll realize by the third class or so, that he goes over the notes WAY too fast and he doesn't wait for you to copy everything down. So unless you want your hand to fall off, I suggest you bring your laptop. He takes this music class so seriously for a general education class. We had a ton of notes to remember and an insane amount of songs to remember (the artist, name of the song, and genre). Habib is a nice guy but he thinks of himself way too highly and it almost comes off arrogant in office hours. If you're taking this class, DON'T make the mistake of thinking it's easy and you can breeze your way through it. Keep up with the listenings and review all the notes. Best of luck if you end up taking the course!

I found this class to be rather boring but not terribly difficult. Yes, Dr. Habib is very passionate about this course, but unless you like listening to music dating back to the 1800's, it's a little disappointing. The class structure is simply copying notes from slides while Habib lectures on the material for 70 minutes twice a week. Your grade is made up of a midterm, a final, attending 4 concerts, and a paper. The midterm and final are fair and doable if you study your notes starting about 4 days before the exams. The paper is 2000 words and it seems open ended, but it isn't graded harshly at all. If you are good at memorization and are a decent writer you WILL get an A or B in this class. Tips: 1. GO TO THE EXTRA CREDIT CONCERT (it will boost your grade a ton, you will get 125% in the concert attendance category) 2. make flash cards of all the songs, this will help for the listening portion of the exams (there are 50 mc on each exam and about 15mc are listening and identifying songs) 3.make a youtube playlist of all the songs so you can listen to the songs on repeat 3. know who sings what, the general dates that that genre of music was prevalent, the characteristics that define each genre, the major players and facts about the players of that genre 4. There are about 4-7 questions from Groove Music Online Readings on the exams, so read the online readings if you have time, if not, don't worry about them

This is a really interesting class. I wasn't really excited about taking a music class, but this class turned out to be kind of cool. The course is broken up by different genres, so he goes over everything from early country music to jazz and rock and roll. He can go off on tangents, but he really knows his stuff. 20% of the class is based off concert attendance (4 on campus concerts), 20% on an essay (which is graded really easily), and a midterm and a final ( which are both really easy if you go to class and look over your notes). By the end of the course, you actually feel enlightened about popular music in the US.

Take good notes. If you do that, and study for the midterms - like, make flashcards, listen to the assigned songs a bunch - you'll do well. His class was fine. My only complaint would be his lecture can get really dry. It gets hard to pay attention. Dr. Habib is a really nice man though; if you ever go into office hours, he's very personable and willing to help you with whatever you need. For the argumentative research paper you write, okay your thesis statement with him beforehand. I'm pretty sure he doesn't read them all, but if you have a good intro/thesis statement, you'll probably get a good grade on it. Not a very hard class, but definitely go to the lectures. You will definitely miss test material if you miss even one day. No homework; you're graded on the midterms, final, research paper, and concert attendance. I wouldn't rave about this class, but I can't really complain. It was fine. And a head up, if he offers the Arab Music Ensemble Concert for extra credit... know that it is 3 hours long :p

I was blocked into Popular Music of the USA with Professor Habib for my first quarter at Poly, and I'm glad I was. However, if you're taking the course thinking it's an easy A, don't! It was much more work than I thought it'd be and I didn't do well on the tests. I was able to save my grade with the essay, which is 2,000 words on any musical topic that's relevant to the class. A lot of my classmates seemed to think the class would focus mostly on modern day music--it doesn't. We started with music from the 1840's and went all the way up to modern day. The class is about exploring popular music throughout history, not just today. Professor Habib was a very good lecturer and lectures were never boring. He is always willing to help if you go to his office hours, which were right after my class, and is rooting for you to do well. Overall a fun class to take if you're willing to put a little bit more work in.

Professor Habib was not the greatest lecturer. He simply read off his power points. The class times are very boring, but he is very helpful in office hours. Go to those, best way to study! Attend the concerts, get the extra credit, study the songs and materials and you should get an A in the class with the right amount of effort.

I was blocked into Popular Music of the USA my first quarter and absolutely loved it. I have no music background whatsoever, and this class was still by far my favorite! The first half of the class (up to the midterm) sort of dragged out only because I wasn't familiar with the music. The midterm wasn't bad, but you need to study a lot before! The second half of the class was amazing because most of the class knew the music and we got to jam out. There is one huge essay that you have to do, but honestly I started it the week of and got an A on it. The final is not cumulative, but you need to definitely study. Overall, an amazing class. Kenneth is such a wonderfully spirited person who works really well with his students! I totally recommend his class!

So happy I got blocked into this class for my first quarter at Cal Poly. Prof Habib is a super cool and insightful dude. He literally just reads off of his powerpoints in lab so you have no worries about missing information. He also keeps the class interesting by play music videos and documentaries that correlate to the genre that the class is currently studying. Your grade is comprised of two tests, concert attendance, and an essay. The tests are not too bad as long as you start studying a week in advance. Notes are the most important thing to read to study, after that listen to the required listening, and finally read the grove resource if you have time. Concert attendance is an easy grade boost. Go to his Arab Ensemble for extra credit! Lastly, the essay is long but NOT HARD. He grades more on effort and understanding than style and specific musical knowledge. Go to his office hours like 2 weeks before its due and show him a topic and thesis and he will aid you in developing it. Easily my favorite class of last quarter highly would recommend!

BRO. THE TESTS THOUGH. i mean... the class is pretty detrimental to one's mental stability. i suppose some people enjoy it, though i certainly could not bare it. type out the notes tho, there's a lot on each slides. study your brains out. i went to every class, took notes paid attention and studied for days still got a D on the first midterm. unless you're desperate try for something else homeboy

Prof. Habib's Popular Music of the USA was easily my favorite GE at Cal Poly. He presents all info in an easy to understand way, and is actually enthused when he does so, which makes it all incredibly easy to digest. The one factor that decides your success in the class is attendance. GO TO ALL THE CLASSES! As long as you show up and take notes (bring a laptop: he has long powerpoints and can zip through them quickly at times) you'll breeze through the class. Attend all the concerts, and go to the extra credit concert! He's a pretty easy grader on the essays as long as you show that you put in a solid effort (anyone who had a decently written paper got at least an A-). The midterm and final are easy as long as you review your notes and run through the listening a few times before each of the exams. Don't bother with the online readings he assigns: he wrote most of them so he naturally goes over the same points that each article makes during his lectures. All in all, an amazing class. Highly recommended if you love listening to a variety of music from different time periods.

Kenneth is a very nice person, and definitely wants you to learn. I took MU 227 as a GE and because it met the UCSP requirement. At the beginning of the course Kenneth asked a class of around 50 people how many were music majors and only one person raised their hand. He went on to discuss how you don't need to be fluent in music language to do well in his class. Unfortunately you really do have to be very good at understanding forms and if you're not musically inclined DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. The tests are RIDICULOUSLY hard. He goes out of his way to attempt to trick you on questions. Almost all questions will have an 'All of the above', 'None of the above', 'a and c' etc.. While I did appreciate that he is passionate about Music, he acted as if this was a course for Music majors and expected so much. His clarifications on what he expected on tests were non existent and studying useless material did nothing. I was able to crash this course, but now I realize the only reason I was able to was because nobody wanted to take this class. I hope Kenneth can improve, but as of now I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND to find a different class or professor.

If you take copy everything from his powerpoint slides down, you can ace his tests because they are basically the same information. Don't bother doing the online readings, and go to the additional concert for extra credit! Also, he's a pretty fair and generous grader on the paper. Like everyone else who has taken him has probably said, it sucks that he doesn't post his slides online, so just do your best to copy all the info down.

Okay class. Lectures are very long and there are a lot of notes. Can be interesting but also can be boring. It is more of a history class than a music class. Study the notes hard for the midterm and final.

As you can see, I got a decent grade in the class, but do not let that deceive you. Also DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE POSITIVE REVIEWS. Professor Habib is far and away one of the most incompetent professors I have ever had at Cal Poly (and I've had a few). So much so that I felt obligated to write one of these PolyRatings, something I don't normally do. First of all, you must attend every class because he doesn't post anything online, and I mean ANYTHING. This guy doesn't even post his syllabus online because "we live in a world of online plagiarism." Next, his lectures involve 3 aspects: him reading off his slideshow that anyone unfortunate enough to not have a laptop has to furiously scribble down before he goes to the next slide, Habib playing music, and then Habib goes off on these 10-15 minute tangents about God knows what. Finally, there is almost zero structure to the class. It may seem easy at first since there is "no homework" (read the Grove Online stuff!!!!) but the difficulty of the class skyrockets around the time of the first midterm. The midterm and the final involve all information you've learned up to that point and also every song you've listened to in class. This isn't just know the song, by the way, this is knowing every single minute detail about the song that it would take a whole week to memorize everything! His instructions on the required essay that is due at the quarter are more than vague as he pretty much says "Write an argumentative essay on music!" at the beginning of the quarter. TL;DR: DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR

If you're looking for just an average GE, this is it. Habib is super boring, I'll give you that. Everything he says is monotonous and carefully constructed because he's super into not offending anyone, but whatever. You're taking a GE to have a clear cut idea of how much work you have to put in, and not much extra brain strain required. He lays out the course from start to finish day one. There's no homework, his midterm is exactly what'd you'd expect, and just write a damn essay in the middle about anything interesting to you, and put a reasonable amount of time into it, and you'll get an A. I just wrote a boring essay about feminism and got a 96 no problem. The only reason it seems busy in week 7 or so is because the essay and midterm are a week apart, but like I said, there's literally nothing to do before that. I'd recommend listening to the music throughout the quarter, but I like most certainly didn't and still walked away with a 92. I'm throwing my grades in there just to say it's really not that bad of a class. It's exactly what a GE should be and I'm okay with that. The only thing that I wish was different is they should call it "The History of Popular Music in the USA" because it really is a history of music course, so be expecting that day one.

Read the music website readings he assigns because he pulls out specific information on his tests. Also, listen to all of the music listenings and study the genres. He's a cool guy, but unless you've had coffee you might fall asleep during class.

He is very confident and experienced with speaking and it shows. I was pretty much engaged the entire time -- a 4 unit class meeting only 3 hours a week? Time flies and I learned a good deal about music. Highly recommend. (oh, listenings are important)

I took this class NOT as a music major. But according to his teaching styles, I should have been in order to get an A in the class. He expected everyone to know music to his degree, however most of us took this class as a GE and are not music majors. He also made the class really political and it was not what I was looking for from a 200 level music class. He just lectures for an hour and a half straight. Not very much homework, just lots of busy work readings and an essay. If I were you and you needed an art requirement filled, I would look for anything else if music is not a subject you are passionate about.

For a GE class, Dr. Habib gives a lot of work. The reading is dense and the listening is heavy and you are expected to know the artist, genre, and time period of each listening example - which he plays clips of during the midterm and final one time and expects you to know all of the distinctions necessary. It is doable, but too much for a GE. Additionally, you are required to go to 2 concerts; there are cheap ones but only one or 2 and most others are 40 dollars or more. If you can't go to the cheap ones, you are kind of screwed. Furthermore, he is very arrogant and speaks and teaches with an atmosphere akin to someone who feels superior to his students as well as trying to push his agenda onto you. If you go to office hours, expect to kind of be talked down to. He is not very lenient in terms of taking tests on alternate dates if needed or posting his powerpoints online after he presents them, so it is hard to review the material if you don't take super comprehensive notes. For me, I didn't vibe with his way of teaching and it made it hard for me to focus and respect his class. I did well in the class but if you are looking for a super easy A or a chill teacher, look elsewhere.

You may walk into this class believing it is about "popular music" but in reality you have probably only heard about five of the 300 songs you will need to memorize. I have never met a more narcissistic and unintelligent man in my life! He has said "I love (insert musician or topic) and they love me" more times than any other human alive. For being a musician he is quite tone deaf, and a horrible singer, which he will demonstrate to you over the quarter. Expect to be offended if you are not a white male, even though he is not one. DO NOT DO THE READING! Be prepared to spend at least $100 going to various concerts that make tears stream from your eyes out of self pity, they all suck. The lectures are incredibly boring and you rarely listen to any actual music. I once witnessed this man slightly damage baby grand piano. If you MUST take this class, make sure and take it with a friend. If you were blocked into this class, you will survive, but you need to either make friends or get comfortable missing class at least twice a week (this class is only twice a week). He is an easy grader on the essays (I think he can't read, but thats a personal opinion), I wrote my essay while I was extremely high and received a 100%. I rarely paid attention in class and crammed the day before and got 86% on both the midterm and final. You will survive, but you will want to die at many points. Also, you will NEVER need to know what an ethnomusicologist does.

Dr. Habib is a very interesting lecturer. He doesn't post any of his notes online so you do need to show up to every lecture, but he keeps you pretty engaged. The class is truly a history of USA music class, because the majority of what you learn about is from the 20s-50s (the end of the class focuses on rock from 50s-80s). There is one midterm and a final, both 50 MC questions. There are 15 "listening questions" on each directly from a list of songs you need to know (these are easy if you just listen to the songs a few times). There is one "argumentative research essay", which you can literally write on anything and he will grade very easily as long as you meet his requirements (like # of sources, etc.). Finally, you get 100% for 10% of your grade if you just attend 2 concerts, super easy. Overall a decent professor who is good at engaging his class; his only annoying trait to me was that he seemed very full of himself.

this guy kinda sucks. thinks everyone in the rooms live passion is music. class is pretty boring but the performances you have to go to were pretty cool. definetly has an ego problem just from the snobby way he talks. The final you have like 100 songs to memorize wayyy harder then a GE should be

This class was pretty straightforward but more difficult than I thought it would be. Habib’s lectures are really long and detailed- take good notes because most of the exam questions come straight from the lectures. If you study the lectures really well for the exams, you’ll do fine.

I'm honestly surprised at how many good comments there are about this professor. He's an insanely boring lecturer, it's continuously unclear what information we actually need to know for exams, and overall the class is just more work than it should be for a GE. Habib is mind numbingly boring to listen to other than when he makes his occasional offensive comment. You also need to go to 2 concerts for this class which is a massive pain in the butt and expensive.

THE most condescending professor I've had at Cal Poly. He pretends like he cares about you in lecture but when you talk to him directly (about the essay specifically) he just rips it to shreds - at least all of the 20 kids in office hours anyway. Don't walk into this GE thinking it's easy because if you don't know music it's not. He signs off his emails with a list of his accomplishments, really tries to make himself feel validated by emphasizing that he's an "ethnomusicologist," and constantly over teaches the course. Felt more like a history course than a music course.

Habib obviously loves teaching and he knows a ton about World Musics, but he really failed to teach the class in a way that made it interesting. His lectures are pretty boring and he sticks really firmly to the textbook, so make sure you buy it (he makes you bring it to every class and refers to it often). He would randomly make us sing in class, which is awkward....but I think he just makes us do it so he can sing and show off his musical abilities. He would regularly go off on tangents about random stuff , and would always beg people to ask questions and never be able to answer them. This could be a really interesting class, but it wasn\'t. I wouldn\'t recommend taking this class with Habib (unless you\'re a Music major-they seem to love him). I just thought Habib came off as a bit arrogant.

Habib is a great teacher, very knowledgeable in his field. I had him for Music and Conflict in the Middle East; he presented the material in an unbiased manner, easy to understand. A lot of reading, but it is all discussed in class. 1 Midterm and a final, each with written portions, 1 research paper that wasn\'t bad at all.

Research paper on any world music-related topic you are interested in -- a lot of flexibility in that. 2 exams -- extremely fair. Make sure you do the listening and are able to recognize the song examples. Multiple choice on topics given on the study guide. There is an essay portion so I would focus my studying on the chapters he indicated the essay would be about. Overall, he is a really nice person and not a hard class to take at all.

After taking MU 121, which is a World Musics class, I took MU 324 with him. Habib is an incredible lecturer. His classes are all music history and get you to think critically. He is very fair with his grading policies and is willing to look over rough drafts for essays written in the class. MU 121 is required for music majors, but is relatively harder than 324, just because there quite a lot of material to memorize. He is a great person to talk to and reminds me of a professor I once had at UC Berkeley. Take him

if you want to listen to ignorant music majors gloat about how they shoved their newest instrument up their tight little asses than take mu 326.

Fine teacher, but a little dry in the presentation. I wouldnt suggest having her at 8:00 in the morning, might be difficult staying awake.