2.8
Quality3.4
Difficulty8%
Would Retake93
Reviews8%
Would Retake
93
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
21
4
16
3
19
2
13
1
24
What Students Say
“You can't understand the guy”
HIST3015 - 1.0 rating“VERY vague study guides and not that helpful”
HISTORY3020 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
35%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.59 avg changeRatings by Course
HIST4680
5.0
(1)HIST400
5.0
(2)HIST4000
4.4
(11)HISTO3000
4.0
(1)HIST300
3.8
(6)Difficulty by Course
HIST468
5.0
HISTORY3020
5.0
HIST2020
4.1
HIST3600
4.0
HIST3000
3.8
Reviews (93)
Hard to understand. Tests were very hard and the study guides, when given, didn't help much. Some questions were only one sentence in the text book. He knows the information well but talks a lot unimportant things.
Great sense of humor. I don't really know why people say they can't understand him. He's from Italy, so I guess if you can't understand accented English you might have trouble. One of my best professors. Don't expect any special treatment though, EVER.
Attendance is mandatory, but the readings are cool. If you get less than B, you must be dumb
Nice professor. If you do not want to do presentations, do not take this class
OK teacher. If you do the readings, it is not difficult to get a good grade
Smart guy. The class is not difficult, but sometimes boring
112 out of 120 people failed mid term. tests were ridiculous
the strongest accent ever....i didnt understand a word he said...test are exactly study guides.
He has an accent, but he knows his stuff. The class is not super easy. If you do the readings, it is not difficult to get a good grade
He knows his stuff and is helpful.
if you do the reading, and go to class, the course will be interesting, but if you don't, you'll get in trouble.
he knows what he is talking about and is always available
He knows the subject and is a decent teacher
I do not recommend taking this class unless you have to. The format of the tests changed with each one, and they got harder every time. The first test was almost all mulitple choice and you could answer 10/14 or something like that. The last test is almost all essays. Class is out of 100 points with all tests and 2 book reports.
Ok course and quite good professor
Tests are not hard and the study guides are really useful. He is very very clear and and always helpful.
Mandatory attendance. Interesting readings. The professor knows his stuff. Lectures are clear and engaging. Take his courses!
Worst. Class. Ever.
Ok class
The class is not too bad. He know his stuff. If you do the readings, it is not hard to get a good grade
the course is not very easy, but the the readings are great and he is an OK teacher
He has an accent, but he really knows his stuff. If you need help, he will help you.
Not too bad class. He is not a hard prof, and he really cares about his students.
You wont be able to understand a single thing this guy says but his TA was helpful.The only reason I'm passing is through his extensive study guides for tests which are long but really helpful.
OK class. If you do the readings, it is not difficult to get a good grade. He is not American, but you must be dumb if you do not understand him
Might as well bring a translator to class if you take this guy. I don't know how someone who can barely speak English can be a professor. Won't go back on notes either. Got out as soon as I could.
Not bad prof. If you do the readings, it is not difficult to get a decent grade
OK prof and great materials. If you do the readings, it is not difficult to get a decent grade
Smart guy and interesting class. Participation is very important
Interesting class, but if you do not like doing presentations, do not take this class
Pretty interesting class. He knows his stuff
his accent is extremely thick which makes it hard to stay focused...he only shows movies in italian with english subtitles. His TA sends out a review for every movie so it is a complete waste of time to go to class. I would reccommend not taking this class, or taking it with a different professor.
He has an accent, but he knows his stuff. Movies are great, but if you like only American movies, take another class. If you do the readings and you attend, it is not difficult to get a good grade
Professor Berto is a decent professor. If you attend class and take notes and do the readings you should do fine in his class. My only problem was he had us buy a whole bunch of books and we only used them for a couple of classes. It seemed like we were wasting money when he could have a coursepack maded.
Smart professor. The class is interesting and not difficult.
Stay away for your own sake, Berto does not teach each class period was 2 students presenting on chapter and watching a film, he does not give out rubrics and is a difficult grader, every student in class reported him to department chair, this class and berto is basically a scam, this comes from a history major
Unfortunately it is very hard to understand him because his accent is so thick, you HAVE to pay very close attention to what he's saying or you are guaranteed to miss something. Berto's T.A. should be getting the credit for teaching this class, considering he does all of the work.
It is not a easy pass, but he is fair grader and the course is very interesting
If you take notes, it is not a difficult class. Do not take it if you do not like doing presentations
It is not a very easy class, but it is very interesting. Nobody teaches this kind of courses
My only complaint about this class was he stopped the movie every 5 minutes and explained what just happened. He also picked a lot of foreign films so if I had to do it again I would have picked another professor. The work was pretty easy, just attend class and take notes and do the work and you should have no trouble passing this class.
Smart guy. The class is not difficult and quite interesting.
He is very smart and knows his stuff, but he can be very tough. Do not take him, if you do not like doing presentations and going to class
It is not an easy pass. Stay away from him if you do not work vey hard
Decent teacher, but he has a thick accent and is a little bit crazy. Avoid him. It is not easy to get a good grade
he know his stuff, but it is not a easy class. Avoid like the plague if you want to get a good grade easily
He is a decent teacher and knows his stuff, but his class is too difficult. Avoid like the plague
I agree. He knows his stuff but he has an accent and his class is not easy
smart guy, but can be very tough. Do not take him, if you do not like doing presentations
He has a very thick accent so you have to spend a rather lot of your attention to understanding him. But he is very knowledgeable and he/his TA gives you all the possible exam questions ahead of time to study so his exams were very easy. He only assigned two 5 page papers throughout the whole semester.
Thick accent and a lot of presentations. He certainly knows whst he talks about but avoid him like the plague if you do not want to work hard
He knows his subject well, but you better take easier IW courses with other professors
Go to class. You can't understand the guy. He sounds exactly like Father Guido Sarducci. He constantly stops the movie to warble incoherently. No idea at any time what he's saying. Don't go to class. The notes are emailed, but they don't make sense. The tests are a bust. The two papers might save you. There's one extra credit opportunity. TAKE IT.
Could only understand about a quarter of what he said on account of his thick accent. Stopped the movie so frequently I'd forget what was going on. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
Yes he does have an accent but if you don't sit all the way at the back you will be ok. The test questions are all emailed to you prior to the test but the grading scale for the course is harsh. Take a 5 hour energy because you will fall asleep at lecture!
it is not a super easy pass, but you learn a lot and the professor sends the list of the possible questions a week before the exams
This class was horrible. I sat in the 3rd row in a big auditorium class and still couldnt understand him. So far the worst class I have taken at wmu. Exams are graded pretty tuff he does give a good review sheet though. Watching the movies in his class were the worst would stop the movie every 5 min and talk about it for 25 min.
His classes are interesting, but he is very demanding and has a very thick accent. If you can, take the writing courses with another History professor
some of the lectures are very interesting. he has an accent but you can get used to it very easily.
VERY vague study guides and not that helpful. He also had a very heavy accent which makes it difficult to pay attention in his class. All of this on top of a very harsh grading scale of 100 for whole semester. WMU couldn't pay me to take another one of his courses.
he has an accent but his class is very interesting. Not a easy pass
Not an easy pass but some of the lectures are very interesting. You can get used to his accent after a while
It is not an easy pass. Stay away from him if you do not work a little bit
Ok teacher, and interesting class, but not very easy
He's a nice guys & tries really hard I'll give him that. He can be kind of hard to understand. I also found the information in class to be very interesting, however it's presented in a redundant way. He stops the movies to analyze them & the big picture of his analysis is great, but what could be said in one or two sentences is said in like 15.
First the class wasn't was I was expecting at all. He was a good teacher if you listen to when he lectures you will do pretty well in the class, it's just actually trying to listen to his lectures. His voice will put you to sleep. But he will pretty much give you all the answers to the exams if you just listen when he talks between movies.
This class was tough. Studied the review and notes, even wrote out the questions and answers to the exam exactly how he had presented the information (plus some extra) and still didn't do well on his exams. He has a super thick accent, and no one around me even knew what he was saying. I wouldn't take his class. He's a nice guy but never again.
A very knowledgeable teacher, with an accent. Found the class interesting but you need to make an effort -but not too big. Some might find that though, others interesting and rewarding!
If you think this will be an easy class, think again. The tests are very hard and exclusively based on the professor's personal analysis of the films. Paired with his thick, hard to understand accent, the tests are even harder. One Positive is that the tests were all take home. Overall, a very difficult class that one should avoid
Be prepared for a heavy accent. You will not get enough information in the lectures, and during the movies he stops every 5 minutes or so and over explains the point. His lectures could cover a lot more if he got to the point faster. Tests are almost impossible to do well on. Grades hard, and uses his personal reflection as the test answers.
Professor Berto runs a terrible class, with only three grades for the entirety of the semester. Each grade is a subjectively graded essay that is nearly impossible to prepare for. He makes you buy close to $400 worth of books (mainly his own) that you never use for the class simply so he can make money off of college students. Steer away from him!
Only grades three items, if you get below a 60% on the first exam, you have no chance of passing the class. Berto does not care if you learn, or pass the class. Accent is somewhat difficult to understand at times. 2 hours of non stop notes each class. Does not tell/help you how to do better in the class when it comes to exams. Do not take this prof
Only graded on tests with super specific questions. Expensive textbooks written by him that are required and make for very dry reading. Accent.
Makes you spend more money than usual on book that he only requires you read like a chapter or 2. What a waste..
The online version has been rough. I spent hundreds on books and only read 1-2 Ch. Grades based on exams are intense20 mins for 20 random questions from a vast range of material. If you are not in it to win, you will struggle and suffer.
I took this class online (don't do it). Unfortunately, I did not put in the time required for this course (a lot). The material itself is extensive. The tests are challenging and timed (one min per question). Don't take this class unless you are fascinated by medieval Christians and Muslims.
Online class with pricey textbooks, did required reading, watched films, took extensive notes from lectures and still struggled with timed exams. Twenty minutes is not enough time to answer 20 questions on multitudes of reading. Questions are specific and based on opinion. Sent msgs to professor for feedback with no response. Not worth the anxiety!
Was never available, never gave assignments to actually understand the subject, had quizzes with ridiculous questions, quizzes were irritating because you could be so confident and still get an F... I am retaking this class with a DIFFERENT professor...
DO NOT take this Prof! Lots of useless reading - NOT on tests. Brutal, TIMED exams with bizarre questions. Prof unavailable to contact; no returned emails. Phone mail box full so you can't leave a message. You're on your own with this one! Expensive textbooks to only read ONE chapter. Bring a life jacket, you're GPA is going to take a dive!
This guy is awful. Truly the worst professor Western Michigan University has. Expensive books to read 1 chapter and they are HIS BOOKS he wrote. He is unavailable and there is no way of contacting him. His quizzes are set up for you to fail and thats what it seems he wants. 3.8 GPA student and I struggled with this class. DO NOT TAKE HIM!
He is the worst professor I've ever had. You have 9 exams and that's all that is graded. If you don't need to take him DONT. He won't let you email him without taking 5 points off your final grade each time. Worst professor ever.
Don't ever take this professor
All of the textbooks that we needed for exams he wrote and we had to purchase each one (at least 5 books). Exams were than 1 min per question so it was very hard to not feel rushed, exams were based on what was in the books and had little to nothing to do with the lecture, and it should be the history of Venice and Italy, not the world. Nor recomen
Worst class I have ever taken in my four years of college. Was supposed to be WORLD HISTORY, instead we got four lectures on anything even remotely outside of Europe or more specifically Italy. Five of the required readings were written by himself and the majority of the exams are not based on what you were supposed to read for said exam.
This professor does not care about students. Demands that you be professional in emails, but he doesn't reply in a professional way. Required $400 of textbooks for 15 points worth of exam questions. Makes you buy $100 worth of Amazon articles written by him (probably) with a pen name. Avoid if you can.
Randomly specific questions, spent most money on books, graded on exams only, limited time, only posts slides or video of him just reading them. No context or story.
Class is a waste of money buying over 15 $10-20 books that are 8 pages long
This is supposed to be a film class. Very little film was watched mostly him playing the movie for 30 seconds and then stopping and talking for 20 minutes then playing another 30 second clip. Wants us to buy 4 books (that he wrote) to only ready about 30-40 pages from each.
Only 7 exams that you are graded on that are basically his own thoughts. Please do not take this professor
DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASSES. He only has 4 exams in the class and they're all worth 40 points at max. also offers no extra credit and no other opportunities to earn points.
Only had 4 tests to make up the ENTIRE grade for the semester NO OTHER ASSIGNMENTS. Struggled to pass based on statistics alone.
I've never had an enemy before until I met this man. Whole course grade is based on 6 exams (only given 20 mins to do them, so very rushed). Spent over 200 on books just to read 1-3 chapters and some were his own books. I attended every single lecture and still struggled so bad. I cannot stress enough how badly this guy teaches. DO NOT TAKE! AVOID!
Do not take this class. Six exams, one bonus exam, and no assignments. The lectures are helpful, but for only about half of the exams. Slides are not posted so write down everything. There are textbooks, but you will barely use them. If you want a high GPA look somewhere else.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
35%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.59 avg changeRatings by Course
HIST4680
5.0
(1)HIST400
5.0
(2)HIST4000
4.4
(11)HISTO3000
4.0
(1)HIST300
3.8
(6)Difficulty by Course
HIST468
5.0
HISTORY3020
5.0
HIST2020
4.1
HIST3600
4.0
HIST3000
3.8