2.1
Quality3.5
Difficulty14%
Would Retake84
Reviews14%
Would Retake
84
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
8
4
9
3
9
2
26
1
32
What Students Say
“prof is not 100% sure about what she is talking about”
POLS2090 - 1.0 rating“the lecture notes we take are scattered”
POLS3230 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.60 avg changeRatings by Course
POLS4905
5.0
(1)2920
3.0
(2)POLS4215
3.0
(2)POL4000
3.0
(1)POLS6000
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
CAN
5.0
POLISCI2920
5.0
POLS8
5.0
2920
4.5
2210POLS
4.0
Reviews (84)
cute, but if i wanted scripted lectures i would stay home
she kinda reads off the page, and talks to fast
it sucks, monotone reading
No Comments
No Comments
very approachable but lectures were very hard to follow
Reads from notes of previous profs, doesn't know how to teach. no point of class
No Comments
SHE IS THE WORST PROFESSOR ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH....
She's doesn't know how to teach- a lot of complaints were made bout her.
Her classes were well thought out and structured and politically right on.
Fun lecturer. Happy, and helpful.
worst prof, worst class, worst TA's i hate everything about this class, its about international relations from the stone age
She's horrible. Expectations too high, instructions vague. Lectures = summaries of articles. No point of view.
No Comments
No Comments
Professor Short was one of the most helpful and inspring teachers I ever had. Plus, she's hot as hell.
Shes a prof? god! what a horrible class. 1st time teaching. bad lecturing,boring,lost, disorganized, lots complained about her, not what i expected a foreign policy course to be.
She doesn't know how to teach, is very disorganized and was afraid of the students
She sucks! Boring Lectures! Too many writing assignments
This women talks like the text book...the choice of book make no sense, and then when she talks, she makes no sense..cannot talk, and has the most vauge assignment ever...I cannot believe that she is a prof.
Lecture's are too fast and based mostly on the readings, good TA's!!
spent years getting her phd.. for what ???- to regurgitate the text book.. plz. anyone literate could do that. Maybe she seek new employment
Perhaps because I took 3220 with the excellent Ed Dosman, 3230 really is a disappointment. The subject matter is good, but the professor is both incoherent and seemingly timid, relying heavily on videos and note-regurgitation. Avoid.
She doesn't give a final but is not clear on her assignments. hard marker. 30% on participation which is good for those who can talk.
Prof. Short was very helpful in terms of gathering information for the debate. I took foreign policy last year and found the debate fun and interesting!
No Comments
She can't get past the books she used for her thesis. Really, some of them are truly outdated. Her notes are horrible, as they contain useless info. Avoid any class with her.
If I had to say one good thing about this prof it would be that she's a very good reader, cause that's all she does... Avoid her at all costs!
You are a terrible teacher. The highest mark you ever gave was a 54! you should be ashamed of yourself!!!! you should be fired!!!! and... dont' be a professor if you don't know how to be one! and get yourself a life!
When I wasn't sleeping in her class I was eating. When I wasn't eating, I was on my way out of the class. She is SOOOO boring and I've had her twice (unfortunately). When will her reign of evil end? Thank God for my wonderful TA, I love him.
essentially, she sucks, and we note that she is terrible. lol readings outdated and dense, lectures boring, unorganized, frustrating. thank god for my TA! AVOID THIS CLASS! will make you want to claw your eyes out.
I think we should NOTE that ESSENTIALLY..umm...uhh.. um...the ESSENTIAL aspects of Short's teachings are ESSENTIALLY uh...umm...pretty much ESSENTIAL crap VIS-A-VIS her lectures. Essentially.
Well judging by some of the other comments you would think this professor is horrible, and I would have to agree. Not a bad person at all, but when it comes to structuring a course, there is mistake after mistake. I would say "avoid."
Good prof, understanding, approachable and friendly. Although she stumbles from time to time, she does give a good synopsis of the ambiguous reading.
RUN, RUN FAST!!!!
No Comments
For those willing to pay attention, there is a method to her not always award-winning style (although some do enjoy her style too). And that method is solid & instructive. Those who want instruction that don't require thought should not take classes with Prof. Short. Otherwise, she's a great Prof.
Prof does a good job of outlining and condensing the important parts of a certain topic.She's not as bad as ppl are making her out to be, she seems like a very knowledgeable, organized professor.
This is the fourth time I've had Prof. Short and I don't think her low ratings are justified at all. The workload she gives is awesome and I love that she doesn't give exams. And ya she used to say essentially a lot but I think she may have read these ratings b/c that seems to have stopped!!!
I don't think it's possible for her to talk without saying; "um", "ahh", etc.. She has to learn how to teach before she get's back up to lecture us. Warning: MUST TEACH SELF COURSE!--or get a good TA.
Someone can be intelligent but be a very poor professor. Short knows what she is talking about, but cannot convey that very well to her students. Additionally, her class structure is erratic and oftentimes frustrating.
DO NOT have her as a prof. Nice girl, knows a lot...but can't teach at all...unfortunately for US. Does not make her expectations very clear, I didn't like the way the course material was approached, didn't like class structure...frustrating.
Simply incapable of any of the following: addressing student concerns, fair marking, helping students, lecturing on relevant material, answering questions appropriately, giving fair exams and refraining to say the word 'um.
Yes, she may have cut down, but all her ums, uhs, and essentially's etc, so thats good in a way. I mean shes got a phd for goodness sakes, at least she should have a colorful vocabulary! Her assignments, for example this terms paper, is once again really amibiguous, she doesnt even let us email her!
BORING! Thhe material is good but Short is BORING. A waste of $1000 for this course. Better by the books and read them at home if you are interested in the course.
This prof has really changed over the past half a year. She tries to bump people's marks up. She cares what others think of her. She does a great job
Significant improvement from the first term - changed her PowerPoint style and the exam format which really helped (since her first exam was too tough). Needs to make lectures more interesting and show compassion and be friendly towards students - she makes you feel like you're beneath her.
Her first exam was very hard, and she had to bell curve the whole class because most people failed! Lectures were terrible and her powerpoints are not helpful at all, maybe she shuld post her notes online, caz she speaks very quickly. But worst of all was my TA - careful who you get caz TAs make t
This class was the worst I had all year. If it wasn't boredom killing me in this class, it was prof short changing her lecture style 3 times druing the year. If you can avoid it, don't take this course. The only reason I didn't drop it was because my TA was great.
Really boring class. Material interesting yet her lecture style sucks. Constantly says ummm and essentially. She changed her teaching style 3 times during the year which was fustrating. Will NEVER Take a class with her again.
I get the impression that Nicola is a very sincere and passionate person when it comes to her subject matter, of peace research. I think she might one day write a good book or contribute something to the field. But she is too disorganised and simply lacks the eloquence to be a professor. Proceed carefully with this one.
I mean she was nice enough, you know? She had a bit of an interesting accent and used the word "essentially" in every other sentence. Other than that, she tried her best. I mean, she is heck of an intelligent woman. She just needs to realize that not everyone is as smart as her. That's all!
She is a horrible professor!!! She makes the class extra boring. I took the course with her and then dropped it ( she is that bad). If you really need to take this course take it with someone else... NOT HER!!! Its amzaing how come she is still teaching at york.. she should definetly be replaced!
I must admit after looking upon this past year, she really did make an honest attempt to do what the students wanted, eg, made better notes, changed her lecture styles, and overly simplified the final exam. Her "essentially"'s and "ummm"'s did become a bit redundant though. If you can, avoid her. If not, just do the readings and it should be fine.
She is just brutal!!! the lectures were boring, the delivery was poor and her power point sucks. She says umm in every sentence which is extremly distracting. if you get Tim as your T.A you will do great. He knows his stuff, he is a fair marker, and he goes over 3 lectures in a 1 hour tutorial with precision, eloquence and full comprehension.
lack of organization. lacking spelling skills.
UMMM shes not a good prof but ESSENTIALLY u can pass this class if you get TIM as your TA or even skip her lectures and go to his tutorial cause u'll get it all...too bad hes not ta'ing hes a PROF NOW..take his class lol
this class was brutal, boring, and the T.A.'s are the worst
Needs work on her delivery of the lectures. Is trying but comes out as does not know what she is talking about. Reminds me of Belinda Stronach everytime I see her. Lectures seem too compact with no time to explain much, MUST stop UMM in almost every sentence
I did enjoy the class because it was my first seminar. Just a couple of things, the text book for the course was a bit difficult to grasp as it made many references to concepts at the graduate level. I woudl have appreciated her input a bit more in class as it seemed a bit lsot at times in discussion. Her feedback was lacking as well, she needs to
cont...know where they are going wrong and where they can improve, especially sinces its a 4rth year course. Aside from that she is extremely intelligent and can obviously improve. You can learn a lot from her
Students in the class appear to be a bit apprehensive in taking a shot at answering questions or speaking up. But once you get over that, you realize that she's an amazing Prof and can be quite helpful. But you've got to make the attempt to meet her halfway and ask for help. I would definitely take another course by her.
OMG, this prof is um, ah, the most incoherent of teachers ive ever encountered. The lectures use a very sophisticated language, but she is instructing with a variety of students and vocabularies, not having a conversation with peers. Im not boasting, I carry what could be considered a good vocabulary, but even with that, the lectures become boring.
she's a smart lady i can see but her lecture just plainly sucks. her course is a mess. "essentially".."uh...uh...uhmmm"...she needs to get rid of that. u will survive this course if ur ta is good or ok. however, some of the ta's are equally worse then her. it is time for the university to think about putting some good professors in this course...
I didnt think her class was that bad. She is a knowledgeable prof and she knows her stuff but just has a hard time conveying it and thus her lectures sometimes become a bit unclear. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this class, and if you can write/type fast, have a decent attention span and do your readings, the course can be quite interesting
I I had 2 classes with this Prof. True her lectures can be boring, and sometimes she can be all over the place. But when you need help, this professors is there. She really knows her stuff and is always willing to help you. I did not find her hard to understand. The TA's were the only issue for me. Give her a chance.
There is a reason why this Prof has so many ratings on this website, and it is because students deserve a warning in advance. Though I received an A in her course, her teaching methods were quite poor in comparison to most other Profs, and her speaking needs work - it is not that she has a speech impediment per se, but she lacks confidence.
A very decent prof who tries hard though she is a bit unclear and scattered when she speaks. One can get the impression that either she doesn't know what she's talking about or that she's really smart but has a hard time toning down her intellect to lecture to us. I'll take the latter. Overall I liked her class and it went well for me.
I really feel bad giving her a bad mark, but she is unable to teach properly. She heavily overuses words such as "essentially", which make her look like she does not understand the material. It is unfortunate because she is a smart woman, she is just very poorly spoken. She has no control whatsoever over the class. Consider it an extended lunch.
This peace research course was not that helpful. The weekly assignments were just brutal and pointless - they were exercises to keep us busy more than to teach us anything. If she wants to make sure that we are doing the readings, there are better ways than these terrible assignments. Also, she is somewhat smart, but a poor speaker. Smoking hot!
Her lectures were confusing and scattered; her exams were ridiculous. I knew the material but her multiple choice exam had so many tricky options & the class average was terrible for it. She doesnt care if you know the material inside and out, her exams are about knowing specific minute details she considers "essential" (her favorite word).
Really BORING!!!!
She is a really great prof. She is always willing to help you if u need it. I have taken more than 1 class with her (both at 4th year level) and she is amazing. Please give her a chance as she is an excellent prof who cares about your grade!
Long live the great Italian communist, Antonio Gramci!
Prof. Short comes across as silently intimidating but it is all part of her teaching style. She expects you to do your work and be able to defend your stance against her (sometimes harsh) critiques. Yes, this may seem unappealing, but she is super nice and intelligent. You can and will learn a lot from her if you don't shy away from a challenge.
I worked hard in Nicola's class but it was in vain. I am very disappointed with her course.
I had professor Short for a graduate course last fall and I'm thankful that I did. The class was really enlightening, professor Short's reading were very helpful in providing a solid base from which to build on. She was also extremely patient when sometimes we got off point and very gently nudged us back into focus without making one feel dumb.
I took this professor's graduate level class, Neoliberlism. The readings were irrelevant. The class discussions subsequently were irrelevant. The history of social struggles that emerged as a result of the neoliberal agenda was entirely absent from the syllabus. I am thoroughly disgusted by this prof's ivory tower approach to the study of politics.
prof is not 100% sure about what she is talking about. She says um and uh and essentially in every sentence making it difficult to take notes off of what she is saying when she pauses and says um and makes us forget the first part of the sentence. She doesnt get straight to the point quick enough & does not post slides until before an exam
the lecture notes we take are scattered. The prof covers many concepts often w/o getting straight to the point. basically, there are holes in the notes that i have to google myself. MC questions are ridiculous as they are incredibly detailed & ask about more than 1 thing w/ answers that don't make sense. Prof does not prepare us well for tests
Stay away from this class. The exams are brutal, 100+ m/c with no real guidance on topic. No clear marking scheme for weekly questions. Lots of readings which are expected, but the exams are still a guessing game for random facts. Not worth the time or effort for a 3 credit course. She's smart but the other reviews on here are right, she cant teach
I have never had a course this bad. Very tough grader and doesn't tell you why you got low marks. 25% of the final grade of the course is based on weekly group presentations that she marks like they are your PhD thesis. Get ready to be mentally and emotionally abused for a semester. don't take this course if you dont have too.
Useless teacher. Gave ambiguous assignments and did not allow for any comments or questions. Repeatedly shut down students and muted students. DO NOT TAKE ANY COURSE WITH THIS TEACHER.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.60 avg changeRatings by Course
POLS4905
5.0
(1)2920
3.0
(2)POLS4215
3.0
(2)POL4000
3.0
(1)POLS6000
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
CAN
5.0
POLISCI2920
5.0
POLS8
5.0
2920
4.5
2210POLS
4.0