3.8
Quality2.7
Difficulty73%
Would Retake111
Reviews73%
Would Retake
111
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
55
4
22
3
13
2
5
1
16
What Students Say
“Very helfpul during office hours and her feedback is great”
HIST100 - 5.0 rating“Stay on top of things, pay attention in class, you'll be great :) She's great”
HIST125 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
82%
Textbook Required
10%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.02 avg changeRatings by Course
HNRS110
5.0
(1)ARTHI110
5.0
(2)HISTORY125
5.0
(2)PROV504
5.0
(1)HIST310
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
HIST310
4.0
300A4
4.0
HIST100
3.4
HIS390
3.4
HIST122
3.3
Reviews (111)
She is awesome!!! and preggers but still cool. So nice and helpful
Her tests aren't that bad, and class was informative. Plus she's super nice and understanding. I remember when I had car trouble and ended up missing an exam, she recreated an alternative electronic exam especially for me- with no hassles. I'm forever grateful for that. You should take her, she's awesome.
So moody and such a horrible professor. She lectures while pacing and looking at the floor. All grades hidden from students unless you go to office hours (doesn't use BB). No tests, but giant papers completely irrelevant to the class and pop quizzes on info not yet covered. Structures the class so it is a competition with us vs. her.
She can be very moody and may give out pop quizes if the class does not participate in the lecture. She gives good feedback on papers and is incredibly generous.
She may be tough, but would prefer you to come away with realizing you need to work to understand history. Understands we are all human with issues that may take away from attending class. Moody, maybe, but, it comes from getting upset if we don't read because she expects us to participate.
By far my favorite class and professor! Always returned work with helpful comments and suggestions for improvement. READ your textbook and Primary Sources. It's important to participate in class discussions. Consider going to office hours-it will show her that you care about your grade and she will share valuable insight on papers and projects.
I enjoyed her lectures, she knows what she's talking about for sure. They didn't always seem to relate back to what we were supposed to be learning, though. The requirements were always very vague and unclear, but she grades easy and wants to help her students learn.
She is extremely passionate about the subject which resonates to the rest of us. She analyzes history critically, so it isn't about memorizing dates and names. I wish she wouldn't have so much content to go through so she could slow down at times but I love her. Very helfpul during office hours and her feedback is great!
Overall, she's very passionate in her class. Her structure of the class is though very odd. She gives random assignments, a few unfair notices, and does not use blackboard. It's great that she does not give out tests or quizzes, but if the class does not participate as much then she will definitely give out quizzes.
She is very passionate about the subject, she makes the class very interesting. There are no tests or quizzes, however, if the class does not participate much then she will give a quiz. She is pretty funny though.
Lectures are engaging & she has many creative assignments. Nightly readings but they aren't necessary. No tests, instead she assigns 2 two page papers and the final is a 5-7 page paper. She is very fair in grading these and gives great feedback. I went into this class hating history and left with a new perspective. I have a lot of respect for her.
Burgress was a wonderful professor and I thought the class was extremely easy. She jumps around in her lectures a lot, though, so some students had trouble keeping up, but I know a lot of history so it didn't bother me. I loved that there were no tests, only papers. However, if you struggle with writing you will struggle in this class.
Take her, with normal work ethic, you'll complete your History Mason core requirement with less work than western civ for sure and with an A or A-. You take away more from the class too. No tests, but 3 papers, online discussion boards, and a final paper. Stay on top of things, pay attention in class, you'll be great :) She's great
This was honestly the easiest class I've ever taken. I put no effort into learning the material but wrote my papers and still got a B+. I attended mostly every class while still being on my laptop on Tumblr. Take this professor if you're interested in finishing your history core with a good grade but you're not interested in history at all.
One of the nicest people I've come across at Mason. Understands, and cares for students. Generous Grader.
She is a very nice lady who is passionate about History. Only had 2 major papers and 2 major assignments. Only homework is to read the textbook (but no one reads the textbook). Go see her during her office hours if you have any question. Oh yeah, she does not use Blackboard, so no checking your grades LOL. (Go see her during office hours)
She's a great teacher. Also teaches at the University of Mary Washington which is how I had her. It is lecture heavy, but she doesn't give tests or quizzes. Instead, she does papers/projects. She uses her own website, so always check there. Also gives weekly readings. She is sympathetic and does care about her students.
She is very passionate about History and teaching. She is beyond fair! Although there aren't reading quizzes, you need to read. It makes class run smoother and faster. Take her if you really like to understand history and its trends.
I really enjoyed having her as a professor this semester!
Shes a really nice professor. She might get a little too frustrated at times if things dont go as planned. She likes students who ask questions and will grade you nicer if she sees that you ask questions. Come to class because she takes attendance.
very lecture heavy, didn't even use the textbook, if you don't show up you'll fail for sure, grading criteria is unclear
I really enjoyed her class, and I am sincerely thankful for a great experience. I especially like her lecture style, I found the overarching themes she used to teach the specific periods of time a great way to follow history. Hopefully I can take another of her classes next year.
The best History teacher I have ever had.
I really did enjoy the class and I am glad I finally got to take a Western Civilization course through my academic studies with her.
Gretch is so fetch. Taking her class was the absolute best and I loved having her as a professor. Seriously going to take her again!! Not difficult and doing the readings help, but that's common knowledge. Seriously, take her classes, people!! You won't regret it.
Constantly lectures and is very unspecific on assignment criteria.
I had Digital History and had no ideal what the class was when i signed up. It was a bit difficult mainly because of the research aspect but we ended up creating a history archive. Professor Brugess came off a bit strong at first but the good professors do that to weed out the lazy kids. Overall she is a excellent teacher even with hard content.
She is passionate about history, you can tell that she puts effort when she prepares the class, she finds ways for the students to relate to the material in fun ways. Participation matters to her, I would take her class again.
She does not use blackboard and barely keeps track of grades for assignments, half way through the semester she said that our grade up till then would only be based in attendence. This didn't negatively affect me, but it was completely unfair to other students given that we had submitted several assignments already. Grading was extremely unclear.
I managed to get a B+ in this class, which was surprising because I spent most of the fall semester in a state of perpetual confusion. She's very nice, but her assignment instructions are quite vague, which made the class very stressful for me. I came out not really sure what the class had been about. I would not recommend unless you enjoy stress.
Honestly she is one of the worst professors I have ever had. She was consistently late to class, sometimes 15-30 minutes making us wait for her. The grading criteria was unclear and I did not know my grade until it was posted at the end of the semester. She was often very rude to the class and seemed uninterested in teaching us thoroughly.
Professor Gretchen is a good teacher to take if you don't like history, the way she teaches is different but as efficient as any other. She expects you to read before each session to review in class. She is flexible and easy to reach. Do not skip class. She cares a lot about attendance. Go to every class, do her assignments and you be fine.
I just think people are scared of her but if you actually take the time to talk to her/really have questions she is there to help. Read the assignments before class cause if no one answers, extra work. Really show that you are interested and do the work required and you will get a good grade. You NEED to show up to every class, it's your grade.
Definitely avoid taking this class online. Very hard to work with and difficult to understand what she wants from each assignment. Doesn't use Blackboard and at all and definitely isn't empathetic towards her students, especially during the pandemic.
Let's cut Dr. B. a little slack for being able to switch a class that is meant for live instruction to asynchronous learning. I think she did pretty good adjusting the syllabus to help us all out online. She seemed to be on SLACK 24 /7day & held two live workshops a week if we needed her. I would have preferred in person though :(
Dr. Beasley did a *decent* job making the class in an online format. However, all of the classwork conducted was all towards a final project and the skills assessments/weekly assignments weren't self explanatory. She's pretty compassionate if you have issues and communicated through her course website and Slack pretty well!
IMO, this class was too much work for a course that can be taken as a Core class. Lots of reading and writing that seemed like it was irrelevant. Make sure you have a good computer if taking this class online. Dr. B was definitely accessible outside of class through office hours and Slack (like business Discord) if you had any trouble though.
She didnt set clear expectations and had the entire class lost. She has favorites and if she didnt like you she would roast you in front of the class. She didn't respond to emails, and was difficult to get in touch with. She also didn't put in any grades untill two weeks before the semester ended. This is not her main job so she doesnt care.
This class was very interesting but the professor is very passive aggressive. She's helpful SOMETIMES when you don't understand. She has a habit of publicly shading her student in front of the class. She doesn't understand family emergencies and considers it an excuse when you tell her. Many of us had to teach each other in order to pass with A's
Dr. B has a hands-off style that works great if you can keep yourself accountable for your work. This is a higher-level history course, so don't take it if you don't have experience doing more complicated projects. Fairly accessible outside of class. Sometimes passive aggressive. If you put in effort, she will return your energy.
Dr. Beasley is really nice! The class is pretty easy all you have to do is show up to class and do a bit of classwork (you finish before class ends almost every time. The work of this class is mainly reading journals (you read an assigned article and you answer the questions. You can finish these reading journals in an hour.
She was very relatable and real with her students. Grades go in super slow, which is frustrating sometimes. Overall really helpful and considerate for the most part. You have to be in class to understand stuff though
Your success in the class essentially relies on your class/table mates. In response to your regular questions, Professor Beasley would tell you to refer to the website or ask someone else. She never hesitated to call people out for any and everything. Though her passion for the subject is clear, I would not recommend this class for the IT credit.
Give too much homework. She acts like this is the only course that you take and expect you to do tons of assignments. Don't take her if you can.
Don't get me wrong, Dr. Beasley is great, and I respect her work as both an educator and a curator, however it was clear that this class was not a priority to her. If you have little to no knowledge of web design, you are guaranteed to get lost. I felt that she simply had too much going on to dedicate enough time to a course as challenging as this.
I was not too fond of her style of teaching. She did not have clear instructions for the loads of homework that were assigned each week. (Some are from Khan Academy) Also, she will not respond to questions, so I had to figure things out myself. I would say that this class is not horrible, as my grades were fine, but I would avoid taking this class.
What could be a very difficult class was made rather easy by Professor Beasley. She broke things down well and was willing (most of the time) to answer questions. She was easily upset and that made it difficult to continue with lectures sometimes. Regardless, it's an easy class if you make the effort and stay on her good side.
Dr. Beasley created a collaborative class where it was important for each of us to feel comfortable with one another, so we spent time getting to know each other. She allowed us to explore our own interests and guided us through the technology. I learned a lot from her, the assignments and my classmates. Late once but communicated in Slack.
Not a traditional history class where you learn about history - learn how to take a topic and turn it into a website. She provides resources for our own topics she approves. Provides lots of tutorials. Doesn't have standard office hrs, but open calendar to make appts. We were accountable for our own grades - don't like that style, drop the class!
As long as you do the assignments, which there are many, you will get an A. She is a fair grader.
Grades on rolling basis up to midterms then again at finals - tries to have you meet with her to talk about grades one-on-one so if you want grades quickly, oh well. Easy grader. If you do your work, you will get an A. Averages 4 assignments per week - not hard ones but more than I thought for asynchronous class. Nice when you get to talk with her.
Do not take if you like free reign in asynchronous work. Stays with a weekly schedule of content release and submissions. Offers two make-up work periods, though, so if you miss some work it's easy to make it up. Uses Slack to communicate.
Easiest. A. Ever.
She has office hours a drop ins. If you meet with her she's gives great feedback and is understanding when life gets in the way.
I was on my way to fail, but I took a chance on meeting with Dr. Beasley. We worked on a plan and I finished the semester with a grade much higher than I thought I could get!
The classes are easy to understand, there are videos made by the professor explaining what the assignment will be and she provides plenty of time to complete them. She expects all assignments to be complete and full participation. It really helps that she looks good on camera, and she is engaging. She also makes herself available for one on ones.
She is a good professor and will help you with any questions you may have. I will say I took this as an online course and the amount of work we had to do at times felt over whelming, but I ended up getting most of it done. She allows for extra make up time for around 10 assignments in the semester. She is not a hard grader.
Takes the time to work with you to get the best grade you can. Seems like a lot of assignments, but I came out actually learning some new things!!!
professor beasley was alright. coursework was released once a week, and we had the full week to submit the assignments for that week. the majority of this class is busywork, which can definitely be tedious at times. she is a fair grader, and there are 2 make up work periods where you can submit a certain number of assignments with no late penalty.
If you don't do your work each week, it's easy to fall behind BUT if you do the work every week you are all set for the final project. Appreciates when you reach out outside of class... that boosted my grade!
She outlines everything we do in class in a resources section on the website and if you still don't get something she is happy to meet you one on one to review. Wasn't expecting so much history for an IT class, but now that the semester is over it all fits together!
Wants you to succeed. Takes the time to reach out if she sees you falling a bit behind!
I do not understand how Dr. Beasley has any good ratings. I am writing this in class where she is showing us an irrelevant Netflix documentary following a ridiculous and immature comedian. When I pay too much money to get a degree I expect to come to class and learn something. She picks favorites and doesn't seem to care about the class.
Dr. Beasley is a fun, and outgoing professor. Her work keeps you busy, but isn't too tedious. She does lots of group assignments, but almost always also gives students the option to work alone if they prefer. Personally, I thought the Leguizamo comedy special was hilarious, and insightful about the slave trade, and the origins of the Americas. :)
So many assignments given each week, including weekly readings due before class. Not easy, do not take.
Dr. Beasley is funny and sweet, but taking HIST125 with her will not bring you much new knowledge. No exams/quizzes-- only readings, exercises, and "assessments" (projects). It is a pretty easy A but there is always a lack of feedback on assignments that don't receive a 100. I can confidently say I learned nothing from this class, unfortunately.
I really enjoyed the class. I appreciate that everything is detailed from day one on her website so there are no surprises. She teaches in a way that is dynamic and different than other professors, for example she uses black panther to related to colonialism which was unexpected but great. Group work is great to get my work done faster.
This class was pretty easy, show up, participate and you get an easy A. Unlike other professors she is good to look at.
The professor's grading is largely based on readings done pre-class, projects (usually really easy projects), and other group-based classwork. She's hilarious, and you get to learn a lot if you actually immerse yourself in the class. Highly recommend taking this class with Dr. Beasley if you get the chance.
Of all the professors I have, she is by far my favorite teacher: she is funny and she is trying her best to get us engage. Anyone who says otherwise is definitely failing the class. The one thing I do not like about the class is she assigns too much, there are usually three readings do on the same day- but it is not too hard to complete.
A very silly menace who grades very generously and gives great feedback
This class is pretty cool, very respectful and fun teacher imo :3
It was a very disappointing experience. Based on my own struggles throughout the semester, I would never ever recommend this professor. The professor's teaching style felt disorganized. Lectures often lacked structure. I felt the class could have benefited from more examples or clearer explanations, but that wasn't provided.
The class itself wasn't too difficult, and lectures are also easy to keep up with. On the other hand, the professor herself is extremely rude and passive aggressive for no reason. Although her class was pretty easy, she was disrespectful, so it was a bit disappointing.
I was on my phone 90% of time and when I did look up once in a while whatever she was talking about was suprisingly really interesting because she was more of a storyteller than a lecturer. Wouldnt recommend to an introvert. Good amount of busy work and when she calls people out it is the funniest thing in the world. Would take again.
Haha, the negative ratings are hilarious. She called us out for using AI and clearly there's some disgruntled people rating her on the day they got caught. Her lectures are like stories with check-ins along the way. Very easy A.
Dr. Beasley takes time to adjust classwork/ lectures to match what we want. Today's lecture was fantastic - she brought us back to beginning of thevsemester & explained how everything's connected. Sometimes she seemsdetached, but, I get it, I would to if 1/2 the class didn't do prep work. Do the work & I promise you'll get a lot out of her class
She really puts in effort to keep us interested. Workload felt intense @ beginning of sem., w/ many readings due on same day, but she adjusted things as we progressed - huge relief. What really stands out is how she incorporates prompts into her lectures to keep us engaged and thinking critically. Overall, she's one of the best professors I've had.
The reviews from 11/19 are so funny—they probably used AI and now have Fs! That's actually when she called us out for relying on it too much. From the start, she made it clear her class isn't about tests but critical thinking. She knows her stuff, funny, and genuinely wants you to succeed if you put in the work.
I thought that class was easy if you listen to the lectures and do the work. I like that she uses current events and even movies to explain things.
I love Dr. Beasley, but I found it hard to follow along with the topics because I didn't have much prior insight into history. There are group assignments, readings and questions, and movies that we watched. She does an amazing job at teaching history in different formats to make it more appealing. Participating matters and group discussions!
Dr.Beasley was a great professor. The amount of assignments was easy and light. She doesn't do tests or exams but does projects which are easy if you follow the rubric. Overall she was great and the lectures weren't boring at all. Would definitely take her again! Attendance matter!
As a freshman taking this class its been a pretty lackluster course. It's just a very generic course, not much more to say honestly. Very easy A if you lock in but a massive snooze at the same time. Dr. Beasley's teaching style is very interesting nevertheless the course has been "fun" but if you're looking for an Easy A take this class trust me.
She was very nice & cared deeply about the material she taught. But the structuring of assignments on Slack & her website was chaotic and disorganized. Compared to the ease of Canvas & Blackboard, keeping up with work & grades was difficult. She offers 2 periods to submit late work, but still difficult to keep up with the disorganized system.
I am actually sad the semester is over. Def suggest setting up office hours to get to talk to her outside of class. Teaches a gen ed course in ways that tries to give fresh eyes to information that we probably learned in highschool.
Dr. Beasley tries to meet all kinds of students' styles. Put in a little effort. Maybe even pretend you're interested. It'll go a long way and get you a good grade. No tests, no quizzes. In class exercises so you have to come to class...
absolutely not.
Absolutely yes 😉! So much fun seeing the reviews of people failing such an easy class.
Dr. Beasley is an amazing professor. There is a lot of homework but it is very easy and she kind of spoon-feeds you the answers. There are no tests and quizzes which makes learning history fun because you're not stressed out trying to remember every name, date, and event. Attendance is important though! You will struggle if you don't go to class!
This class was pretty easy, showing up is mostly what's required, the assignments are easy, clearly explained and always related to what the lecture was that week. I will miss attending here classes, she always has cute outfits on.
Kind teacher, interesting topics. However I do believe the structuing of her assignments and grades is very limited in accomidation. She doesn't use Canvas or Blackboard, rather Slack and her own website. Which aren't inheritly difficult to use, just chaotic. The overall disorganziation made it hard to keep up, an area I normally have no issue.
My biggest complaint isn't even her, its the TA's that do not put any sort of feedback on graded work. Most of my work will be graded with 3-4% missing with 0 feedback or notes. The prof herself is easy but attendance matters. Less awkward presenting projects and tedious readings would be nice. No tests or quizzes, very easy A. Take her, super easy
Dr. Beasley wasn't bad. I didn't know how to feel at first but ended up liking her. Her class structure is confusing and she gives a good amount of homework, however, I feel as if she is a good prof and as long as you show up and participate you'll be fine
She is cool. She has a good personality. She assigns a lot of homework and her in-class assignments are unique. Make sure you keep up with her assignments and you should be good. There are no test or quizzes just assignments. Make sure to attend class.
prof is nice, but she can't teach. class materials are difficult to follow whether you attend class or not. The online instructions & syllabus are unclear & not fully uploaded at the beginning of the year like other course professors do. expects us to know non-basic info & does not give clear updates on anything. uses confusing non-uni platforms.
She was a great professor, dislikes the use of ai with a passion, but her passion for teaching is even greater/
worst professor ever. doesn't listen to students. is no help with anything. very rude and disrespectful to students. does not put grades in until week of finals. is not easy to reach if help is needed. does not help even when asked. DO NOT TAKE HER. worst class ever in my 4 years of college.
Awesome professor. Canvas was a mess but she kept us in the loop and helped with any tech problems. Easy to reach during virtual office hours and actually cares about students. Super fair with grading too. Would definitely take her again!
Honestly really fair and patient. She's super chill if you actually show up and try. Always helps with tech, explains stuff clearly, and gives you chances to fix things if you mess up. People that won't go well just didn't put in the effort. Would definitely take again!
If you show up to class and pay attention, the class is fairly easy. The professor spoon feeds you the material and is very accessible to help students that fall behind or need help. The stuff you learn is pretty interesting and you learn a lot of cool stuff. The professor has a good personality and cares about what she teaches.
Dr. Beasley is great. I love history but I'm an engineering major with a job and a family and I don't want to spend my limited time with a lot of reading and papers and memorizing dates and names. Instead we learn the different perspectives and contexts of different historical events and periods. Love this class, the discussions and the workload.
Come to class, get an A.
Doesn't care about grades, just that you get it done and try.
A lot of work but was pretty easy. Very hard to fail because gives many opportunities to resubmit work. Not very content heavy, lectures were not about dates and names but more about perspectives and concepts. No tests.
She is a nice professor; there is no test in this class, just group projects and essays. She can get moody sometimes, don't ask stupid questions. The only bad thing about her is that she takes a long time to grade assignments. It's 3-4 weeks before the semester ends, and she hasn't graded like 12 assignments.
I enjoyed taking Dr. Beasleys class. The work is time consuming but pretty easy if you read the instructions. Take advantage of her website!! She created tons of resources to help and every assignment has very detailed guidelines. Grading does take a while though. Overall a good professor and an easy A, just keep up with the work and go to class.
no tests just assignments and projects. her canvas page and instructions are a bit difficult to navigate. there are readings w/ questions and some projects here and there. her lectures are all over the place but if you need the credit just take the class, its manageable and an easy A.
Good professor for just getting credit. No tests, 2-3 group projects, average of 2-3 reading/watching videos and responding to questions a week. She has random attendance meaning some days she takes it and other she doesn't. Compared to other professors her class is an easy A. She takes a while to grade assignments though but she does it thoroughly
Easiest A ever—but don't expect to learn. Canvas is a mess, lectures are disorganized and improvised, and there's excessive busywork. Grading is pushed to the final week. She's anti-AI, yet assignments seem to be graded by it. This course could be interesting; unfortunately, it feels like a class designed to check boxes rather than teach material.
I wasn't sure what to think at first but mostly good. Canvas and grading is confusing and grades take forever. But grades leniently. I think she may sometimes have a bit of a tone. I like that there are no exams, but instead, lots of creativity and smaller assignments. She's super knowledgable and I've learned a lot and I like her lectures/writing
My woke queen 🥹 Super easy class and an easy A. She's a really easy grader but slow to actually grade things. She's pretty lenient on late work as well and doesn't usually take off any points for them. She's really heavy on attendance/participation, so try to attend every lecture - your grade will most likely reflect that.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
82%
Textbook Required
10%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.02 avg changeRatings by Course
HNRS110
5.0
(1)ARTHI110
5.0
(2)HISTORY125
5.0
(2)PROV504
5.0
(1)HIST310
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
HIST310
4.0
300A4
4.0
HIST100
3.4
HIS390
3.4
HIST122
3.3