Very fair marker and and an engaging lecturer. Too much gender history, though.

Good teacher

Smart and competent lecturer. Serious, but engaging.

Knows her stuff, good overhead slides.

interesting and helpfull

good at answering questions but very ambiguous term paper topics

Very Intelligent. Well-planned classes

Tough marker, but nice lady and well organized.

I agree, not very good at lecturing. She needs to work on organization and have a purpose to her lectures. But she is a very nice person and will probably get better with more experience.

Harder marker than my 400 level Poli Sci proffs. I'v never seen so many people got below 60% on a 200 level December exam. Shocking. Helpful in office hours, but even if you follow her advice exactly there remains no guarantee of a good mark.

When she taught my class she was very organized. Each lecture had a topic, and a handout which was directly relevant to the final. I specifically look for classes she teaches so I can take them. I dislike history, but love her teaching style.

Tough. She is a good prof though. Make sure you keep up with the readings.

She is always willing to talk about any problems or papers.

I really like her...I don't find her snotty at all. Sometimes it seems like she focusses on France too much. But she is a French historian so that makse sense. She's a really hard marker, but if you keep up with the readings, you shouldn't have a problem.

Love her class. Very fair marker and her lectures are organized. She really gets into her lectures and the material.

Absolutely amazing prof. Her passion for history really comes across. Very organized. Make sure to go to class and keep up with readings and you'll be fine. I'd take another course taught by her for sure!!

Very organized, but the class has LOTS of info to take in so watch yourselves and don't get behind on those readings kids!! Marking is fair. I'd recommend her for sure.

Good, interesting, clever but tough. Pretty approachable; not stuck up at all...maybe shy?

Awesome teacher! VERY organised and clear: each day an outline is put up on the overhead and you expand it in your notes. She seems to know everything and makes class super interesting. Very nice and approachable as well.

Beam is a really pretty good prof. She's clear in class, always has maps or photos for clarification, and helpful if you ask for it. Her midterm was sketchy; she chose obscure identification terms and 5 of 12 had to do with Italy. Expects class participation; speak up and always do the readings!

This course is way too details driven. The exams are just guessing what random terms she will choose.

Dr. Beam is great! Always incredibly helpful, and incredibly into her lectures. I always felt like she wanted to be there teaching more than anything else, so it was a definite class where I felt welcome. Her marking is detailed and fair. She gets two thumbs up!

too planned out lectures

Early Modern France...sounds pretty damn boring...but not when you take it with Dr. Beam! Sure, she's hard...and the readings are plentiful and boring as hell...but the lectures are a PURE JOY to sit through. Good job Dr. Beam!

Her lectures are extremely well structured especially for a survey course that covers so much. The tests are demanding but attending class and studying will get you through the class without the textbook. She is slow to hand work back but in the end is a very fair marker. A bit hard to approach but is willing to help if you can get to her.

Great prof. Dedicates, amusing, and always totally helpful. She expects a lot, but she also gives a lot.

Love her! One of the best profs at UVic. Tough, but you will learn a lot.

Love her! One of the best profs at UVic. Tough, but you will learn a lot.

Great prof! She made a class that I was dreading turn out to be amazing. 480 is not easy, but she makes it very worthwhile and enjoyable. She's a fair marker, not easy but not super hard. Gives really good advice and is very approachable. Definitely recommend her!

Good Prof, but the amount of readings is ridiculous. For example, for a reading discussion be prepared to read at least 150 pages, theres 4 of these per year... combined with the readings per day to prep for her pop quizess, per week its about 250-350 worth of pages - ridiculous

Not sure why anyone expects a history class to be a breeze. Dr. Beam expects her students to work, and as well she should. I absolutely loved her. You really get what you put in with her. Part of being a student is learning how to adapt to different professor's expectations - rising to high expectations is the most rewarding part of the game.

Dr. Beam is an excellent professor and a lovely person. She has a great sense of humour and is full of interesting insight. If you are lazy or don't know how to read, avoid her classes.

Compelling lectures. Wonderful person. I have so much respect for Dr. Beam, and so will you if you take her classes. She is a beacon of light in this hazy disaster of a department.

Dr. Beam is quite passionate about human rights! She is a bit of a stickler when it comes to marking but her expectations for assignments are clear and her review for the final was helpful. Do the readings/come prepared for Friday's seminars in order to enhance your learning and increase your chance of success in the class (participation marks)!

Dr. Beam is an amazing and very organized lecturer. However, she expected a lot of research and dense weekly reading for a first year class. On top of that her TAs marked very inconsistently. Overall, she was amazing and her class was my favourite last semester.

Lectures are really straightforward and pretty easy to take notes for, but she moves quickly and doesn't post her slides. Heavy reading for the weekly discussions and the tests are pretty difficult. The class was one of the toughest I've taken so far but it was really interesting (worth it). Beam is quite nice, also helpful during office hours.

She is a great lecturer and if you're paying attention you will get all the information you need in her lectures. She voice recorded her lectures this semester which was really helpful if you missed a class. She's a tough marker and don't expect to get a great grade in this class, it will not be a GPA booster unless you work for it. Lots of reading

Sara's lectures were extremely engaging and the course content was so interesting. There are 2 written assignments, 5 quizzes, and a final in this course. Lots of reading and a lot of content to get through, but it is very interesting and ended up being one of my favourite courses. Sara was always willing to help in her office hours!

I did not think I would like her at first, Professor Beam came across very intense in our first week of classes and I knew we wouldn't get along. I was wrong. She was incredibly helpful in course work, and would give very good feedback which helped me improve through the course. The effort she put in to her feedback made me want to do better.

Dr. Beam was absolutely fantastic. She was incredibly knowledgeable and I loved her class. It is quite reading heavy - but the readings were interesting so it wasn't too bad. A solid set of notes and heavy studying is needed to do well on the final, but the content is not difficult and is interesting. I would definitely take another class with her!

Although incredibly reading-heavy and with tough grading, I can easily say Sara Beam was one of my favourite professors of my university career. She's incredibly knowledgeable about the subject areas she teaches and is incredibly easy to talk to if you're struggling with an assignment.

Dr. Beam is a great professor who really wants her students to succeed. A LOT of reading is required to engage in class discussions, with marks also being given for Perusall comments. Dr. Beam is a critical marker, however if you take the time to ask for help she is more than happy to give it. If you put in the required effort you will do well.

Super underrated professor on here. I've never enjoyed being in a classroom so much, great format. Dr. Beam is very engaging and she is a fair marker. Tons of reading tho and make sure you go to class, cant really get by without it. All things considered probably my favourite professor in all of university.

Dr Beam's class was engaging, challenging, and totally worthwhile. It's heavy on readings, but I learned a ton from them and they are relevant to the course. The seminars sounded scary but they're in smaller groups than I thought. One thing I'd note was that the midterm was way harder than she made it out to be, but everything else was doable.

Dr. Beam is so kind and helpful when you approach her for help. You need to attend class and do the readings if u want to succeed but that's also how the vast majority of classes work. I found her grading very fair and her lectures super interesting

Dr.Beam is the most caring professor I've had at Uvic. She treats students as equals and is passionate about course material. Lots of readings and info-dense lectures, but if you are motivated, you will do fine. I would recommend going to office hours for help, even if you are confident. I did better on assignments when I went to office hours.

Dr Beam is a very kind and approachable person, its definitely the quality I appreciated most of her. She makes it clear that students mental health and wellbeing is her primary concern, which is comforting and helps reduce stress. She is super heavy on readings (~20 pages per lecture) and they are included in the quizzes, so get ready to read fr

Beam is an excellent professor. She is thoughtful and very fair, she gives generous feedback, and she seems to genuinely want her students to succeed. Assignments are divided between quizzes, two short essays, a research essay, and a summative exam.

Dr Beam is the best! Her classes are well organized, and she is very kind to students. Expect to read 30-50 pages a week for 337a, sometimes a bit more. It seems like a lot but the readings are interesting and informative

HSTR 442 is a fourth year seminar, so there's a lot of reading, usually 100-200 pages per week. Beam assigns engaging and thought provoking readings and gives great feedback on assignments. Hard work but an awesome course.

Dr. Beam is amazing! She is very caring and goes to great lengths to help her students succeed. She does assign quite heavy readings, which matter for quizzes, but they are paired well with the content so they feel worthwhile. Her lectures are fantastic--well structured and really engaging. Most of all she is kind, encouraging, and supportive.

Beam is fantastic! I really appreciate how much effort she puts into supporting students and making sure that you are as well-set to succeed as possible. She has high standards but will help you meet them, and in my experience her grading is very fair. Her lectures are really great! Do be ready to read a fair bit... Would absolutely recommend!!

Dr. Beam is by far my favourite professor in the department!! 442 is a high-level seminar so don't expect an easy class- she has high expectations but she is always available for extra help and the way that she structured the class means that no one project can tank your grade. I could not recommend Dr. Beam enough, she's a gem.