EXTREMELY knowledgeable but it was overwhelming because she didn?t stop talking for three hours straight. Her Powerpoints had way too much information that she frequently rushed through. Didn't engage students in her lectures and didn?t address the enormous readings that she assigned. She is a great historian but, not a good teacher at all.

I learned more in this class than most at Ramapo. She is a GREAT teacher (if you care about school and want to do the work). If you want an easy slacker class, this is not your professor. If you want to learn, then take her classes!

I took a 3 hour class with her on the US since 1945. The class and prof were GREAT! of the 3 hours, 1 hour was for student presentations/a quick break. 2 hours was lecture, with a lot of really great youtube clips and student discussion. I don't think she's biased, but we learned a lot of bad things the US gov. did. Those were facts, not bias!

This was one of my favorite classes, I learned so much! Great attention to race, class, and gender (which some people see as bias). I wish more ppl did the reading b/c when the prof tried to talk about it, so few could talk so we had to move on. Very enthusiastic prof, easy to reach/responds to students, and fair grader.

I liked the class. This was a 3-hour night class, which sucks no matter who the prof is. You have to expect a professor to do alot of talking in one of those b/c you meet once a week. The student presentations and break, which took up 45-60 mins (I counted!), where a good way to break stuff up, the youtube clips as well. I'd take her again.

Prof. Taranto is one of the best teachers at Ramapo. The work load is a lot, but fair. This is college! The students who rate this clss poorly are th eones who are not ready for college. Highly recommended!

do not bother to do the readings. gives a study guide for the final and mid- term just work hard on those and the final paper and its an A. Just work hard on those three things and you will do fine. the fourth grade is a journal but is an automatic 100 if completed

She is an extremely good teacher; very enthusiastic about history and explains everything very well. However, if you're looking for a really easy gen. ed. with no work, you might not like the class. It is a lot of work, but I got an A in the class and I definitely learned a lot from her. HIGHLY recommended if you like history!

A great professor and class. Class meets at night, which is tough, but the lectures are interesting (and readings). You really feel like you're in a college class, very high level stuff.

not recommended if you are not a history major, serious amounts of reading, but interesting and thought provoking.

A lot of reading, so if that is not what you're into, don't major in history. Most reading is interesting sources and participation is key. Mid Term, Final, and Paper along with Moodle posts for participation. When the class does the work and participates, she is fantastic.

Good professor- you can tell she's passionate about what she's teaching. It's not hard if you're willing to put in the effort. God forbid you actually feel like you're in a college level class and have to participate. I plan on taking one of her classes again.

US Women's and Gender History. Extremely well-organized class. The professor is knowledgeable and passionate about history in general. This class was very paper-intensive. The midterm and take-home final were both essay tests and expectations don't seem to be too clear. Tests are curved considerably upward. Learned a lot but challenging.

Amazing Professor! Yes her class is alot of reading but she connects everything very well in class. Very helpful with research paper and always responds to email. I would not recommed missing a class because she usually covers alot of material in each class. Down side almost never lets you out early but class goes extremly quick

Because of Taranto I am minoring in history. Winning personality, extremely organized, and class discussions are really interesting. My writing improved tremendously because of her. She is a fair grader and is always willing to help her students. She is excellent in her office hours. If you are a hard worker, you should do well!

She is the toughest, yet best professor I have ever had. This is my 2nd course with her. I have learned so much from her classes. Yes,there is a lot of reading but it is all interesting. She will bend over backwards to help you if you need it. This college needs more professors like her!

Pretty tough n a lot of work.Wld not recommend 4 people who r just looking 2 fulfill their history requirement, however she knows what she is talking about n a great history professor.Hw consists of reading many pgs from the textbook every week.A couple writing assignment,gives a lot of feedback on papers.Hard midterm n final,but she curves them.

She is a great professor! She cares about students' success and I like that she takes things seriously. She is passionate about what she does, and will work with you if you go to office hours. She demands a lot of work, but it's college!

She is my absolute favorite professor! She's always there to help and really wants you to succeed. You will learn so much from her classes. A lot of reading, but she goes over them very thoroughly in class to make sure everyone understands. She is also helpful in teaching good historical writing so you can do well on the paper and in other classes.

Did not enjoy this class at all. She was very snobbish and stuck up. She would get mad if you were on your phone for even a second. The work load is a lot. This is certainly not the class to take if you are interested in history and just trying to fulfill a requirement.

I really liked this professor. She's great! I am not a history major and just took this class for a Gen Ed requirement, but I learned a ton. Yes, it is a lot of work, but not un-manageable and she is very helpful on email and in office hours. But only take if you are willing to work.

Wonderful professor. It is a lot of work, a lot of reading, and a lot of information, but Prof. Taranto gives you a great education. If you are in good standing with her, she is a very helpful person. If you email a question, she gets back to you with a great deal of info to help you and further explain. Would take her again in a heartbeat.

Professor gives an unbelievable amount of work for a gen ed, up to 80 pages a week on top of multiple long papers. She basically wants nothing to do with you unless your a history fanatic ad majoring in history and tells you this the first day of class. DO NOT TAKE UNLESS YOU WANT AN UNREASONABLE AMOUNT OF WORK!!!

Definitely requires effort but it's actually worth it. Opened my eyes to how America really is and what I've been missing in bs hist. classes. A lot of papers but she gives a take home midterm and final and thoroughly goes over everything you need to know for them in class. I thought her lectures were extremely interesting, SO worth all the work.

Honestly, she seems like she'd be a wonderful person outside of the classroom. On the other hand, she expects you to write and read like it's a 300s-400s level history course. Very tough grader, would not recommend for a general education teacher because it's not worth the stress over back to back papers and reading.

She's an amazing professor! Really knows her stuff & is VERY clear about what she wants. Don't be afraid of the hard work & effort she demands bc it's worth it. I learned so much from her in 1 semester. Not a history major otherwise I would take her again without a doubt. Take good notes in class bc you need them! All papersexams are take-home.

Taranto's lectures are deadly boring and you need to take notes because everything she says in class is fair game for the midterm and final take home essays. She gives you 3 questions and 2 weeks to do the midterm and final, and believe me you will need the two weeks. Overall, tough teacher who expects way too much from a 100 level course.

A great professor. I wish I weren't in a class with people who didn't do the readings. She tried hard to stimulate discussion, but it was just a handful of us who did the work and talked. Well-rounded view of history. Yes, she talks about gender, race, and class from all angles, including marginalized groups like women--that's not bias, it's fact.

She is very passionate about what she teaches and extremely knowledgeable. Her lectures were not necessarily biased, but her opinions were clear. This was a hard class - nightly readings, long papers including the midterm and final. This class is NOT for somebody who wants an easy A but it is a very worthwhile class!

Taranto is a tough teacher. Would highly recommend for History Majors, not as much for others.

She's a great professor, but she grades kind of harshly. She also assigns a ton of readings which you HAVE to read, BUT it is manageable. Nevertheless, I'd take her again if I had to.

I'm not a history major and this class was a giant uncontrollable attack on my conservative sensibilities. Three hours a day of this indoctrination, I'm more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton--and I don't really mind.

Great Professor, very insightful, but difficult. This felt like a 400 level course for HIST majors, and it was an intro course. All assignments (midterm, final, etc) are papers, and they're very time-consuming. Gives generous curves too. I imagine HIST majors will love this course and professor; otherwise, avoid.

While this isn't a super easy class, it is super manageable if you do the work. And you should do the work because you will learn a ton and better understand America today (especially our polarized politics). Take the class for GenEd.

I learned so much in her HIST 102. I highly recommend taking this course for Gen Ed. The work isn't too much, but do it and you will understand this world so much better!

I learned so much and also learned what history is really about. It's not facts and dates, but argument. Take the class for gen Ed. You will understand America so much better. It's not bad if you follow directions on syllabus.

Take this for Gen Ed. She knows her stuff. It was interesting, a new look at history. yes, you have to read. But it's to be expected in college. It's manageable and she tells you how to read effectively. You will learn a ton.

I'm going to major in history because of her. She taught me how to read sources, what they say and what they tell us about a time period. Real history is not writing down "facts" and memorizing dates, it is learning how to ask questions and make arguments. If you hated HS history, you will love this!

Yes, it's a lot of reading, but only maybe compared to high school. I expected it in college. This class (a Gen Ed) really changed my opinion of history and I might minor in history as a result. Really helped me understand today's complicated world of politics better. Take her for Gen Ed, if you do the work she is easier on grading you.

absolutely loved her, was sad when the semester ended. would take her again 10000%, her lectures are so interesting & you are only graded on the few papers you have to write. take home midterm and final, given ahead of time. genuinely a great professor

she is one of my all time favorites professors at Ramapo, honestly. her class is not hard, you don't do tedious work, it is purposeful & you actually learn from it. I refuse to take any other history professor besides her. she made me really interested in history, I have taken her class multiple times now and I still would continue too. she's great

Professor Taranto is an incredible professor. The subjects she teaches is interesting and her lectures are good. However, she is a bit pushy when it comes to participation. There are tons of readings and she is a very strict grader. But she gives big curves. Wish there were more directions of what she wanted us to write about on midterm/final.

This class was good! It was a lecture based class but Professor Taranto asks questions to get you involved to participate. Discussion posts and participation matter for this class. If you are not a writer, I would not take this class because essays are worth a big portion of your grade.

Such a great professor! If you take notes, pay attention, and attend class, you'll be fine. There are three papers and discussion posts. Provides good feedback to use for future writing assignments.

This was a manageable class but you HAVE to write five discussion board posts. There's a total of five essays and if you take notes and pay attention during the lectures you'll do fine with the essays. She does curve the first and last essays and gives good feedback. She also has everything set up for the entire semester.

I loved her Modern History class because of how she exposed more information on history that wasn't previously known. Her class is treated as a lecture, so it seems long but very interesting. Definitely consider participating in class discussions, she likes to hear from the class. She was very personable and considerate to her students.

Professor Taranto teaches students what the study of history truly is, and if you do the work and pay attention, you will do well. It's frustrating to be in a class with students who don't work hard, I could never handle it as well as she does. It's college, you should be open to learning new things and doing reading!

Very responsive on email. If you put the work in and ask questions, your effort will be rewarded.

She lectures the entire class, which gets pretty boring, always 5-15 mins late, gives okay directions for papers, if you don't understand something she'll respond to email, put in the effort in her class, or else your grade will be affected by it. The discussion posts are hard to get the hang of so I recommend doing it in the first few classes.

I really like her. She respects effort in class and dislikes those who slack. I think that's admirable. Very interesting, really showed me what history was all about!

While this isn't the class (HIST 150) if you want to completely do no work, she is interesting and nice. She showed us what history really is, and I liked that! I'd take her again!

I really liked her class (HIST 150). Very kind to students and understanding if you have personal issues. You have to pay attention in class and she wants class participation (asks a lot of questions in class). Super interesting lectures. I'd take her for an elective.

This class showed me what American history really is and how to work like a historian. She has a cool assignment where she shows you how ChatGPT analyzed a primary source we read in class and then you write a paper on how/why the chatbot didn't analyze it well. It really showed the pitfalls of AI! Professor is interesting and kind,

If you're not sure history is your thing but need to take a history Gen Ed, I'd take her 150. Shows you what history really is, kind and interesting. It's not super easy, but if you pay attention and pass things in, you'll do well. All essays, but that is history. She says historians don't do T/F and multiple choice, so students shouldn't.

I think she's a fabulous professor and I learned so much. I wish I could have been in a class with more engaged students. If you do the work, it's a great class, but it would be far better if it weren't just a handful of students putting in effort! She really shows you what history is!

Taranto was a really kind professor who is really passionate about what she does. She expects class to participate through the lecture SO READ!! Awkward when no one participates. Readings that were 20+ pages due for every class but we had a week to get it done. No tests. She rewards you with a good grade if she sees you put work in and improve.

So passionate during her lectures and she was always so much fun. Absolutely loved her class despite not being super interested in history in general.

One of the best professors I've had. She is very lecture based and will help if needed. Make sure to participate in her class, even just a few remarks, and you can mark pretty high. 10/10 would take again.