I had Mandy for Interp. Lit and her class was awesome. She picks a wide variety of books, and varries her approach to get everyone interested. She is really funny, and easygoing in class. As a teacher she is knowledgeable, engaging, and accessable. I loved her class so much I signed up for her class next semester. If you get the chance, take her!

Mandy is funny and a great person. Maybe not a morning person though--she didn't show up to class maybe 5 times already, and the sem isn't over. She is a hard grader. When she gets class discussions going that generate an overall better understanding of course topics, her class is engaging and fun--but sometimes she goes off on irrelevant tangents.

Great experience in this course. The professor cares about her students and definitely about the subjects. The books were excellent and fun to read. She's not an easy grader but that's cool. Take her classes, for sure!

This was a good but hard class. The readings were hard. Mandy put a good spin on hard topics, and made me like trhe poems. Always available for help.Great teacher, will take aghain if I can

Her cat was sick so she missed a class after telling us, so what. Nice to animals. Smart, funny, the books she picked were good. She helped me for 2 hours once when I needed it.

Mandy is extremely friendly, helpful, and tries diligently to get people interested in the material - which is admirable for a gen-ed teacher. If I have any complaints, it's that she never says anybody is wrong when they come up with bogus ideas in class.

A great professor, gets to what is important and made me think and runs a good discussion. Take her classes!!!!

Great, I didn't think I could learn from poems. professor was helpful with essay comments.

She is my absolute favorite prof at AU. This is my second class with her and I love every moment. She is engaging, hilarious, and very helpful. She wants you to do your best on papers, but her expectations are realistic. Her classes are always entertaining and interesting. Take her if you can!

Mandy was absolutely hysterical and a lot of fun to work with. Her sarcasam helped me get through a few tough novels (which I read on Sparknotes and did fine with). The three essays were pretty straightforward and she let us submit 90% of the questions on the final. This is great as a gen ed or for lit majors!

She's fun and amusing as all hell. However, if you don't like class discussion that can be a little tangential or don't want to show up to class, think again before you take one of her classes. Her grading expectations are reasonable, though she's really slow at getting work back. She definitely wants everyone to do their best in her class.

Prof. Berry is one of the best professors I have ever had. Her class is funny, interesting, and totally discussion driven. She actually allows for a lot of points of view, and doesn't really require that you arrive at a concrete answer; exploration is what she cares about. I would recommend taking any class she's teaching. She's very helpful.

Her interpreting lit class is awesome. She offers lots of positive comments & good advice on improving your writing. She is open to all ideas & different points of view but not afraid to voice her own either. Good book selection. Can be a difficult grader at times but an A is very possible with effort and participation. Read the books!

She's totally reliable--don't know what that comment was about! She had to go to the hospital for someting one day! Generous with help and the books were good. I learned a lot about better writing and how to get interested in books even if they're not that good to me.

Mandy is good at teaching new ways to approach topics and how to look at difficult questions. She helped me a lot with my writing and how to analyze books. A great class espescially since its just a gen ed. I 'd take her for higher level classes too. I bet she's great.

This was a great gen ed. I learned more than I expected, and she's a hard grader bur fair--my writing and close reading improved way way way..

Fabulous.

one of the most up-beat, wacky, and wonderful literature professors I've had. She makes the dullest poems seem like a ton of fun. So friendly and energetic. Just beware - almost your entire grade rides on two big papers. Overall she's just a lot of fun to listen to. Recommend. Especially if you're reluctant about lit.

Professor Berry took her GEN ED class way too seriously. It's a little ridiculous that we had to read that many books to fulfill a gen ed requirement. She grades pretty hard, and I didn't find her comments helpful, so I'd say take someone else unless your a lit major. Probably a good alternative to college writing, easier &she's pretty funny.

Awful class. Lectures were literally painful. Would not recommend to anyone, although some of the book selections were pretty good. MANY pop quizzes about trivial details rather than main ideas and themes. Disappointing overall.

She is nice enough, but I would avoid her class due to her harsh grading. I would consider myself a decent but not great writer and she gave my papers grades ranging from low C's to low B's.

Berry Rocks my world!

Shes not as funny as she thinks she is but is funny when she laughs at her own jokes. But she is a GREAT teacher and you should take her class. Lots of comments on papers, helped me alot and helped me with another class she wasn't even teaching.

If you're taking a class with Berry beyond the freshman level, you'll love her. Yeah, she swears in class, but she doesn't complicate the readings unnecessarily. I had her for a block, and you really get out of the class what you put into it. Her two specialties are comic books and the Victorian novel - what's not to like?

Summer class so it was intense and fast, she shows more than explained. One guy hated the course and complained a lot, he was not fun to be around in class. I learned tons of stuff. Berry is into theory more than facts, history-so you have to like that. She's smart but not holding your hand.

Great great teacher. So glad I took this course. Smart as hell.

Classes very discussion based, which means that if you dont keep up with the readings there isnt anything to discuss. Quizzes were tough, asked about plot and characters rather than literary devices. Missing a quiz brings grade down drastically.

Good online course. Fast paced and tough assignments-but the assignments were the learning part which was good.

Very friendly and approachable, wants students to do well. Disorganized and sometimes assigns ridiculously long readings, but you don't really have to do all of them to do well in the class.

I got a lot of feedback from Berry and my writing got much better. She's smart and wants students to "get it" so she goes out of her way to make sure things are understood.

Berry is one of the best profs in LIT. She's sneaky--moves discussion from something easy and funny to complicated so skillfully that you learn without knowing you were going to. She's great in office hours--helpful, a friendly person. She will advise you on work for her class or others. If you're a LIT major, you really should work with her.

Professor Berry is very personable. She's always willing to talk before or after class. Class itself often seems unscripted. We had to skip one or two assignments because we were behind. Very slow at getting graded assignments back so you didn't know how to improve. Great person, pretty easy class. Borrow books from library.

Smart, very smart. Moves fast. Cares about your learning. Approachable, serious while also hilarious. I want to teach like she does.

This class was HARD. Tons of reading. I learned a fraction of it and that was A LOT. Berry explained things well.

Very smart and a great speaker. Knows how to explain things several different ways until you get it. Makes you work hard but you learn.

Important and interesting class! though apparently she thinks trigger warnings (read trauma) are frivolous and indicative of some sort of stupidity which as a professor authority figure working within the field of queer theory is extremely worrisome so I to be quiet honest I felt less safe in her class

Berry speaks to students as though we are intelligent adults not kids. It made me and a couple other students bring our A game. She is highly engaging and expects a high level of engagement in return. I will think about what she taught in this course for a long time. She's that good. Looking for another course to take with her.

Berry is one of the best lecturers I've had at American U, but isn't good at the logistical part of being a professor-- she doesn't answer her email or return grades on time or even have a syllabus. Only take if you love to talk about literature.

Really great professor, most engaging professor i've had at american. Most professors at American are uninterested in class but she is very passionate. Gets grades in late.

Haven't met another prof this committed to teaching and teaching students different ways to think. Respectful of students' ideas--shows you how to make them better.

Prof. Berry is so awesome! Very understanding, very very relatable despite teaching a very hoity-toity literature class. Lectures are very conversational and informal. She isn't a fan of grades, and allows for re-writes so long as you show progress! One of my fav profs so far!

Prof Berry is hilarious and really seems to care about her students. Also seems to enjoy the subject matter, which made the class infinitely more fun. Pretty disorganized, though, so if that's going to be a problem for you, I wouldn't take the class.

Super nice, and is very helpful during office hours. Doesn't give a lot of direction, but also allows you the freedom to write about what interests you. If you don't like reading, don't take her LIT-121 class.

Professor Berry is a highly intelligent, kind, and approachable professor. Lots of complaints surface because she's not a super easy grader, but those come from people who don't participate ever or do the readings. You will learn so much from her. She's super lenient and understanding with attendance or extensions. Super approachable.

Amazing Professor. Never met another one like her. Great to talk to and I learned so much in class and talking with her in her office. You Gotta take her .

Among the best profs at AU! Not the hardest grader, but no pushover for sure. She always makes appointments for meeting with students even outside office hours. I learned more from the course than I have learned in many other courses.

She taught so much on the subject and also so much about learning. She's very very smart and also a decent human being--not stuffy or arrogant. Explains hard ideas with hilarious matephors which is great.

Wow. I decided to switch my major to Literature. Nuff said.

If you're a person who doesn't pay attention and can't handle flexibility don't take her. She will change the class as you go and as she understands the class group of people. Butyou will miss out. This was learning for real not robot style. She's very intelligent about many things and willing to spend the time to help you getit

Professor Berry was super cool, and really cared about her students. She was sometimes hard to reach outside of class, but her lectures were great.

I wanna be Professor Berry when I grow up. Type As will be challenged by her flexibility. Just let go and let Berry. I learned so much in this class.

Prof Berry's lectures were really interesting, and I easily participated even when I didn't do readings. She does grade late , but gives bonus points to boost grades when she misses assignments. Overall she's a very charismatic person and a solid choice--was an easy A for a gen ed.

Berry's take on the world changed me in the best way.

Prof. Berry is an incredible professor who brought interesting guest speakers. She's incredibly understanding and one of the sweetest people I've ever taken a class with. She's also hilarious and curses a lot (which I am a fan of). The content of the class is pretty difficult but she explains it well and it's super interesting.

A great prof at AU. Smart--and good at making students smarter. Funny in ways that explain the material.

Professor Berry is both a good teacher and person. Her classes are always engaging and interesting and she really respects her students. The concepts can be hard to grasp at points but Professor Berry really helps you work through them.

Each class was conversational and very relaxed. Professor Berry focused the material around current events, so if anything big in pop culture happened she would switch the lesson to that. The only downside was unclear deadlines and how long she takes to grade assignments.

Prof. Berry is an absolute delight. She is funny, and explains complex topics in ways that just make sense. I will say that she is scattered and not the best at responding to emails, but seems to know this about herself and never makes it the students' problem. She's an easy grader and I always left her class in a good mood, I love her.

Prof Berry is very engaging, and enthusiastic. We watched a lot of movies and were assigned a lot of readings. Not a lot of graded assignments though; only 2, and prompts were vague. If you participate and meet with her for papers, she will grade kindly.

The best way to fulfill the cultural inquiry HOB but you won't gain much from the class. Very funny and sweet prof. Class grade is based on an easy midterm and final. Will give extensions if needed. Not hard and all! BUT she will not reply to your emails in a timely manner and takes forever to grade assignments.

Excellent teacher fr

Excellent professor. Her feedback on my work helped improve my writing a lot. Funny, understanding, a great course.

Wrote a recommendation letter for me when I needed it badly. Gave great, personalized feedback on even short assignments. A.I. what? Nah the feedback was too personal with private jokes etc. Isn't an easy grader but that's why I learnedf a lot. Great professor but stuck with a lot of students who want required courses to be guts.

haha don't know why ppl complain about the reading when they don't do it anyway. Great professor, used her personal time at home to meet via Zoom with me whenever I asked (4 times!). I learned a lot about capitalism and culture industry

Berry cares about the subject matter and what students think. I switched into LIT as a major because of this class--loved thinking/talking about big philosophical questions about literature and politics. As a HOM course you have to deal with a bunch of students who don't care at all which is not great.

When I got kicked out of my apartment, this prof helped me find a place to live. Did not expect that from a prof

Best HOM at AU. She's great, lots to do but fair grador

More reading than writing in this class. The class discussion made me want to read though. Lots of films to watch which was cool

Yes it's a HOM and no it is not an easy A. You will learn if you do the reading. Berry is a fan of participation so stay awake

This is the only way to get your HOM in-studying and reading about pop culture. Something for everyone including Swifties. A very caring prof who goes out of her way to help with anything.

This class is a home run. The prof is great, kind of funny and seems to really care for students. A lot of reading but it's college so...Great for HOM req.

I respect this professor's point of view and ability to run a discussion.

Berry is what I imagine a liberal arts prof was back in the day when everyone had life-changing discussions and read big ancient books together. She refers casually to ancient greeks and poets which can seem kinda old fashioned but then is cool. Refreshing to take a class with someone who cares a lot about education and making it work for students.

Great prof, good topics for discussion.

The professor was amazing and really funny during lectures. However, the class itself was pretty boring and the lectures were not engaging at all. You are graded by 10 assignments worth 5 points each, and then only 2 papers (the midterm and final). So unless you plan to ace those essays, you definitely need to do well on all the short assignments.

Prof. Berry is a goofy professor who gives an intriguing variety of material relating to pop culture. We read an academic article on Harry Potter fanfiction and watched a documentary about furries. If that sounds up your alley, this is the class for you. Grade based on weekly 500-word responses, midterm essay, and final essay, so very manageable.

Good material, readingsm films. The prof is good at explaining the readings which can be difficult. Long (8pp) final essay, but not too bad overall in terms of workload. Berry is a nice and smart.

Professor Berry is an incredible teacher and is one of my personal favorites at American University. She is incredibly caring, a tough but fair grader, and tons of fun when it comes to the subjects she teaches. If you want to learn more about media and culture, I would HIGHLY recommend taking her LIT-281 course. You won't regret it.

Solid, real class. I read a lot and learned a lot. Feedback is direct and helpful. It's a great class almost old school.

a mother. somehow the best amalgam of liberal thought & the desire for her students to speak freely. amazing woman; do not let her hilarity fool you, she is an insanely smart cookie. highly recommend.

Professor Berry is definitely worth taking if you're looking for a chill class that's both fun and insightful. We did no more than two readings each week and a few short essay assignments, plus a midterm and final paper. She's not a tough grader and will give you credit if she can tell you've tried.

She cares about her students deeply. Simply communicate if you're having trouble & there'll be no issue. Not a lot of reading either! Note: she doesn't post on canvas except for occasional assignments that require submission. Write down what she asks you to watch and check her drive folder to stay on top of things.

Professor Berry is great, one of those professors who will assign hard readings but that can change your perspective on a lot of things. Her teaching style is good and eye opening. I recommend her!