extremely helpful!!

Her reviews are the best. Extremely helpful. Can't wait to have her myself.

One of they best teachers I've ever had. Extremely helpful and interesting

Very passionate about teaching - best kind of professor. She offers unlimited rewrites to improve students' writing and grades only on the last draft.

She is very helpful, kind and very considerate! Highly reccomended for any class she is teaching!

An awesome prof! Wants to help you do well in class. New state requirements have added enough material to the class that it should probably be 2 semesters long; that's why I rated this class as kinda hard. The prof is worth it though!

So animated and passionate about teaching! Almost always a crowd outside her office waiting to talk.

very kind and caring professor. i would definitely recommend her....

I had her in Spring 2003. She's very passionate about teaching, and she tries hard to be articulate. Very warm person also.

Very sweet professor, nice to talk to and very knowlegable. Highly recommended.

Very warm personality. Course work isn't too tough since she allows unlimited rewrites in the pursuit of teaching proper writing skills. A shame that the semester I had her, my classmates did not take full advantage of her incredible knowledge, mistaking her enthusiastic teaching style as quaint lunacy. The course suffered from the class's mistake.

I have had prof R for hum2b art history, business ethics, philosophy of science, History of England and Humanities senior seminar. If you get a chance to talk to this woman, take it. She is an insight into what an ideal human would be like.

VERY kind and intelligent. Will help you if you ask (especially for late work). She has some ideas that are not necessarily mainstream, but she does not ask you to agree with them, just listen to them. PARTICIPATE!! It will help. She also likes modern rock music, so talk about it.

Cynthia is the most knowlegable teachers i've had. Her love of teaching and learning is evident every letcture. Every lecture i have learned something new, or thought of things in a new way. This is what a teacher should be like. If you don't want to think, don't take her courses, they aren't for the weak minded. She grades fairly and is more

She's demanding, but if you follow her instructions you'll do well!

I had Professor Rostankowski for my first semester Hum Hnrs class freshmen year and was having a difficult time adjusting to college life. She is very understanding, allows for multiple rewrites of papers, and is happy if you comprehend the material than simply a grade. Her final and midterm review sessions are a lifesafer ! Highly reccomended.

She is a very nice and interesting teacher. Attendance is not mandatory, but it definitely helps to go to class. The first half of the class is philosophy and the second is literature. Go to ask for help in this class because it will allow her to get to know you. Try to bring your book to class everyday (even if you don’t think it is necessary)

One of my best professors. Lectures give you context for everything you read, plus society, history and art. Bring your books when asked and TAKE NOTES, exams are mostly from lecture but open book for essays. Rewrites ok for papers. Helpful. She loves her students, excited about subject.

Prof Rostankowski is one of the most interesting and caring professors I've had at SJSU. She will give you much of her time in office ours and outside class to make sure course material is both clear and meaningful. For example, in addition to providing a study guide for the final, she also held an extra final study session. Highly recommended!

Her assignments are often unclear, and she expects the BEST out of them. There is NO chance you'll be able to BS anything. On the other hand, if you go to her office hours she walks you through EVERY LITTLE STEP. So if you have to take this class MAKE SURE you go to her office hours...otherwise I wouldn't recommend her.

Prof. Rostankowski is awesome. I hated Hum 1A cause I did so horribly in it and I thought I wouldn't do any better in this class. I was also very scared of her in a way cause she's intimidating. But when I visited her office hours, she was so nice and helpful. As long as you do put in the hard work and go to her office hours, you will pass the clas

Very educated professor. One of the best in the department. Work can be difficult at times, and sometimes she expects too much from her students, but overall a good teacher.

Most helpful & caring professor I met at SJSU. Her class was extremely interesting and she's so passionate about teaching. Most importantly, she does whatever is in her power to help students succeed. Go to office hours to ask for help whenever you are trying to understand any abstract concepts. Her class is challenging, but many people get A's.

Very intelligent professor, and very well- equipped to teach humanities. However, doesn't like hearing any opinions different from hers. Very particular in how you word things and hard grader. Extremely condescending and uptight. Disrespectful to students who don't share her views. Not recommended.

Has an amazing breadth & depth of knowledge combined with compassionate nature. There is often a wait to speak to her during office hours because she is so helpful to students. Challenged me to rethink material I thought I'd already mastered, with great results. If you love learning, you must take her upper division HUM coursework -- she's great.

She may be scatter-brained at times but she's truly one of the most brilliant and caring professors at SJSU. Go into her office hours! She's extremely helpful and really wants you to succeed.

Very passionate professor and very willing to help you. I think she can seem intimidating compared to the other Humanities professors, but she's a lot different than I expected. I love how much she knows, it's really impressive. If you listen and ask the right questions, you'll learn a lot from her.

At first, she seems very strict about assignments and intimidating, but it turns out she's an easy grader. She is very helpful and nice during her office hours (and she has many different hours as well). She is very slow at grading and returning assignments, but that's understandable as she's very busy.

Always has an open office door (literally and figuratively) even when well outside of her posted hours. Never be scared to ask for help as you will find she will give you way more than you have expected. Rewrites are allowed and encouraged for all essays. Students' success and growth are the utmost importance for her.

AWESOME! She's super sweet, always willing to help, and great to talk to. Very flexible with deadlines, she's more worried about the quality of your work than getting it in on time. Very passionate about her subject and teaching her students.

Very helpful professor and she knows the subject material like no other. Flexable on deadlines, just put your best foot forward, read, and work hard and you'll be fine. Lectures are long put she can really open your eyes to some remarkable concepts

One of the best professors you will ever have. Her lectures are influential. The reading material can be difficult, but she breaks it all down clearly. Group Speech, 2 exams (essay and short answer), Group Project, 2 essays, tons of reading (7 required books and numerous short readings). Be sure to understand how the readings all connect.

Professor Rostankowsi is amazing her office is always open. She has high standards and expects you to reach them, but she will support you.

Her honors class is no joke. If you decide to take this class, be prepared to do a ton of reading. There aren't that many assignments but they mostly difficult papers that require previous readings and research. She is a fair grader and her office is always open. Ask questions! Also be prepared to the midterms/finals as they are quite difficult.

Rostankowski is a nice professor. Unless you're into the social sciences (philosophy, ethics, science), then take this class. There's 2 exams (essay & long answers), 3 papers (she has to approve your thesis) and a group presentation. Readings are very sophisticated. I strongly suggest that you create a group to keep up in this class.

Being an honors-level course, HUM177A's standards are set higher. If yours are also set high, you will receive the grade you EARN. More than that, you will gain much knowledge that you can apply in many other courses and in life. Dr. R. teaches students to look deeply at the world in which they live. I feel privileged to have taken her class.

Professor Rostankowski has decent philosophy lectures, but her seminars are mostly her answering questions we have. She is lenient on deadlines for papers as she expects a high quality paper. Beware it may take at least a month to receive feedback on papers as she has many university responsibilities, but that aside she is very kind and helpful!

Her lectures are super packed with information that she's basically throwing at you. Seminar is the time to ask any and all questions you can possibly think of. She's a VERY FAIR GRADER. You get what you deserve. If you learn the content and can make connections -- no matter how small -- you'll succeed greatly.

It was intimidating in finding out that she's the head of the Hum department but honestly, she's super lenient/understanding when it comes to assignment deadlines. Very slow grader as she has a lot of activities outside of class. Believes and cares for her students. Her lectures tend to be more inspirational than the other hum honors professors.

Very passionate prof. who is very knowledgeable about the topics in this class. Very lenient with accepting classwork as well as a lenient grader. Class is challenging but if you are willing to work, you should be able to pass. Was able to do so without the textbook (though I wouldnt suggest it). PARTICIPATE. If she knows you, shell grade nicer.

Very understanding professor and was lenient, which is great especially during a pandemic! She knows her stuff and offers great feedback. She understood some of the struggles we had during an online semester and was very willing to help us out to make things easier.

Cool teacher, Cynthia is very understanding and extremely knowledgeable. Will help you if needed. Did not attend office hours as her after class discussion was enough. Very bright lady with quick responses and witty replies. Even when students say some outlandish things she is able to comprehend and break it down. Great.

Not sure why she has so many awful reviews. She is caring, respectful, and I learned so much. She does take a while to grade assignments but (for our class) she accepted any late work because she doesnt believe in taking away points from a students hard work just for submitting past the deadline. I thought that was really sweet.

The honors program is a great way to get rid of the R-S-V reqs needed to graduate. The class is well thought out and organized. If you watch the lectures you can pass the tests. There is a huge review before the midterm and finals and that gives you everything you need to get high marks. Take a while to grade, but is willing to extend time 4 you.