Very smart and knows subject matter. She's pretty witty too. Makes me laugh. But she can also be really ****y if you don't do the reading. She's not very clear on paper assignments, and she expects a lot out of you on the tests, for it being a 100 level

She is extremely arrogant, but she makes no apologies and she will teach you what you need to know. Very intelligent.

Lenient grader, loves history, and will help if asked. Essays are not that hard, just know the basic concept.

Gives Questions for Midterm and Final. Two Essays. Easy Grader.

The class is pretty interesting.Barely anyone does the readings. She gets mad if you cant answer her questions. Kinda intimidating...but shes a sweet person and the conversations in the class were fun and not boring!!!

Great teacher, knows what she is talking about. She is kind of mean tho, and if you don't read, answer questions, or watch videos she gets really mad at you. Was pretty scary and intimidating.

Generally fair with students...do the reading or prepared to be ostracized and made to feel like an idiot. Besides that her tests are pretty easy, doesnt give quizzes so reading is useless if u can stand being ****ed at a little.

I am on my fifth Hamdani class. I have learned an incredible amount of history from this woman. She assigns a lot of reading and yes, she is intimidating at first but once you talk to her you will find that she is a very understanding and supportive professor. I love this woman!

Great teacher. Intimidating if you are a dunce, if you're smart she is actually quite funny. Tests are hard but she grades somewhat easy. Often gets frustrated w/students who don't do the reading, but hey, DO THE READING. PhD from Harvard, she knows what she's talking about. Just dont fall asleep..

Hamdani Knits!!!!

Apart from being highly intelligent and innovative, Pr. Hamdani's greatest quality is her desire to connect with and help her students. I believe that she truly cares about her students and the outcome of the Islamic Studies department, this is a rare find at George Mason University.

Get on her good side early. She is tough but fair. Knows her stuff. Ask questions in class, participate, sit in the front row. If you dont come to class she takes it personally. She is a wonderful teacher though! Do your reading or she'll burn you

Hamdani is tough, but if she gets to know you she can be a great help. Great advice and she does seem to care about her students. Her exams are mostly from the lectures, so although the reading won't necessarily give you an advantage in that area, it will save you from being chewed on in class if she finds out you didn't do the assignment.

Great!!!!!

She is so cool. She demands respect and studiousness Do not: talk in class, go to the restroom, or make dumb comments. If you're a slacker or dunce her class is not for you.She has a sharp wit and is hilarious. She seems scary but if she knows you care then she is extremely friendly, kind, and helpful. A kickass professor, one of GMU's best

I'm not doing so well in the class, but I like Hamdani anyway. She expects a lot out of her students, and her knowledge of history is extensive. Overall, good professor.

She's a bit sarcastic- if you can take it then you'll be rewarded, cuz she does know her stuff.

She's not an easy prof, her sense of humor is VERY dry, and she'll drill you for skipping readings, but if you come to class and make an honest effort, she has a lot to teach you. A midterm, a final, and a term paper for 300 level, but she gives comprehensive study guides for the exams. DO THE READINGS, join a study group; you'll be fine.

I'm on my fourth Hamdani class, and plan on signing up for a fifth! She is tough, but fair, and if you do the readings, you won't have any problems. She can be very scary at first, but once you get to know her, she is awesome! She knows her stuff, and expects you to do the same! Hard, but love her! Take her if you want a challenge!

I have taken a ridiculous number of classes with Prof.Hamdani (281, 282, 387 etc.). This woman is among the jewels of George Mason University. Intelligent students all love her and apathetic ones usually don't. She knows her stuff and her approach to understanding Mid East/Islamic history is far more holistic than most others at GMU! TAKE HER COURS

Professor Hamdani is not only very knowledgeable in Islamic history, but she presents everything in a clear timeline. While there are a lot of readings, they truly help understand the material. Most of the reading are priamry sources, so it is not her opinion, but instead the opinions of the people who lived through the time. Highy Recommended!!!!!

Dr. Hamdani is a wonderful teacher! The class was very hard, and we had to read a lot, but it was worth it. The subject matter is interesting, and she is really pretty!

During my undergraduate career at George Mason, I took multiple courses with Professor Hamdani including "HIST 499" and upper-level independent studies. If you really want to learn about the history of the Middle East, her courses are a must. I am in graduate school now at a top NELC department because I had profs like her. She is one of a kind.

WOW... Dr. Hamdani really takes a subject and brings it to you, in ways easy even for non-muslims to understand. That, and she is extremely easy on the eyes... sit in front if you can, she smells good too...

It's not that she is snobby - she simply makes you explain and defend every statement you make. That offends and scares many students. Also, if you ask a stupid question, she'll call you out on it. As long as you have a backbone and aren't think skinned, you'll do fine. She is a good professor.

Professor Hamdani is a very knowledgeable and intellectual individual. If you truly want to learn and enlighten yourself then Hamdani is a must. Since this is a university course evidently there will be textbook readings, so I do not know why there are individuals complaining...Overall this course is useful and will expand your horizons :)

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This is probably the hardest class I've taken at Mason, and if Hamdani weren't such a good professor I'd have no idea what was going on. There's a lot of reading, but it is upper-level history. I would suggest taking her for something OTHER than History of Central Asia. She's a great professor.

She is comprehensive and very helpful if you ask for it.

Professor Hamdani explained the historical timeline extremely well with clear terms and definitions as to why these events in history have happened. She forces everyone to participate which kept me awake and reading the chapters...which were helpful for the tests.

Best professor I ever had at Mason. Once you get to know her, she is extremely helpful. She also knows her stuff. Lazy students beware: You won't survive her classes.

Excellent professor. The last person should have done the readings instead of moaning about being called out for not doing the work.

Nice lady. Knows her stuff, lectures are not boring. Great professor. Tests are really hard, she gives a study guide, but it's not very helpful.

i took the summer term with her. she is a good professor, knows the material and explains it well. i learned alot in her class and developed interest in world histor. she is cute and has a nice personality. lots of reading, dont forget to write down dates when taking exams. she is helpful especially during office hours, and very friendly.

I took two courses with Prof. Hamdani. She is brilliant, entertaining, and utilizes a mix of Socratic method and lecture. She is an excellent professor for those who actually want to read, study, and learn. The fact that she's charming, witty, and good-looking is just icing on the cake.

very smart! heavy reading (as should be expected for a history course)She will not hestitate in asking you to defend your answers so pay attention! the first thing that struck about her was her intelligence and being extremely well spoken... i strongly recommend her

Dr. Hamdani was one of the most interesting professor's I've had during my three years at Mason. She is very intelligent and can answer pretty much any question that you have about Middle Eastern history. Doing the readings are a must and if you don't participate in class it will effect your grade.

She's friendly and tries to be funny/entertaining in class sometimes but honestly, the lectures are very very dull. Lots of textbook reading. If I didn't have her TA for the recitation section, I would have died having it with her. The material is easy, super simple to get an A, but staying awake during lecture is the toughest!

She is a straight-forward professor when it comes to grading and exams - I got an "B+" overall. However the way she conveys the information and the books she uses are pretty dull and can make you disinterested in the class. Additionally, she's not one of those professors who frequents her email. In short - Take her if your other classes are easy.

This teacher is somewhat hard. there is ALOT ALOT ALOT of reading and if you dont do it then don't go to class. She will call you out. But have funn and there is not really anything to turn in but we had to read 3 novels as well as the textbooks.

She's a very sweet professor, But there is ALOT of reading in this class. If you dont read before class dont show up because she calls on people. 2 papers and 3 novels at least an hour of reading before each class.

WAY TOO MUCH READING for a gen ed class! History can be quite interesting, but not when forced to read an entire textbook cover to cover, on top of another required book of separate readings, on top of three separate novels. As if this is our only class! We're not historians! Ultimately, great professor, but don't take her course.

Hamdani is awesome. Take her class but be prepared to work and do your readings. You will LEARN a ton if you take this class.

Good teacher she knows her stuff and makes history somewhat interesting. SO MUCH READING. 2 text books 3 novels and its a 100 gen ed. not worth the effort

Shes definitely tough & intimidating, but if you know your stuff its a breeze. You NEED the textbook, but can get away just reading the summaries for the chapters; however, if youre wrong, she WILL embarrass you. Her TA was AMAZING; and I'd definitely recommend taking the TA for recitation. She gives study guides but theyre not helpful. Easy grader

Brilliant professor, really knows the material. Not the most respectful of the students's emotional state (shames people in class for not reading the book), but really does want everyone to learn. She's a hard teacher, and her jokes aren't always spot-on, but her understanding of the big-picture world history is fantastic. Lot of reading!

Hard class, lots of reading yes, but for the texbook you can get away with just the summaries. Her study guides are somewhat long but theres never anything on the exam not on the study guides. You can use the ID questions to answer the essay question.

Course on "Women in Islam," HNRS course which is the same as a HIST 400 lvl course she teaches. So for a 200 lvl course, yes it was hard. LOTS of readings which were sometimes hard to take in, but go to class-lectures are VERY helpful. She seems a lot more intimidating than she really is. She really knows her stuff and is extremely smart.

Intelligent, well-spoken, and easy to understand. She really knows the material. However, she wastes a lot of class time by calling on students who look like they're not paying attention, and by going off on tangents. Many times we didn't cover the entire chapter in lecture and had to finish in recitation. Doesn't use Blackboard or Powerpoint.

Great professor, and knows her subject matter WELL! Come to class prepared you have nothing to worry about.If you're the type who doesn't raise their hand in class, make sure to be extra prepared because she will call on you. Enjoyed her class a lot, and her grading is very fair.

Very clear expectations and she clearly understands the course material. However she can be very nasty to students especially those who don't come prepared - can make attending class very uncomfortable and needlessly stressful.

Professor Hamdani was a good professor. She was intimidating and annoying at times but a good teacher. Her midterm exam was so easy and final was a take-home test because of date problems so I loved the class. Wish I had gotten an A though :(

She is a phenomenal teacher and very professional and expects the class to be professional as well. Do the readings prior to class and be respectful and you will do well. She truly enjoys teaching the material and is a joy to listen to. Highly recommend for this class.

Hamdani is an excellent professor and very knowledgable. Attendance is MANDATORY and come to class prepared to participate. She has no problem calling students out on being unprepared for class. Exams are very straightforward, but the class is reading-intensive.

Prof Hamdani is absolutely brilliant. She knows the material exceptionally well. Be prepared to work. You'll need to put in a lot of hours reading the textbook. If you can, form a study group, divvy up the readings, and then go over them before class. If class gets dull she'll call you out, so stay engaged and know your stuff. Overall a great class

She is brilliant and her lectures are very interesting. She gives reading assignments that are more on the interesting side. She gives you the exact topics for the exam so I don't know whats easier than that. She is very lenient on the term paper.

I took her for Summer so the readings were so time consuming. However, I managed to get away with just reading the book's summaries online. She's really knowledgeable, sometimes I enjoyed her class and sometimes i was just bored. She's trying her best to make the class more interesting and she ask students for feed back. The study guide is the exam

I loved her as a teacher, and as a person!

DO NOT USE YOUR CELLPHONE. Respect class time and always come prepared. Show interest in her lectures and participate often. She will be much more lenient to you if you participate. Attendance is a grade. Make a good impression on her and you will get better grades.

Make sure you come to class and participate every single class. Just say at least one thing per class and make sure you are there because attendance is a grade. Also, pay attention to what she expects on her exams. She is very nice and surprisingly makes history pretty interesting.

She is very nice and knows her stuff. Plan on attending class, reading the textbook and 3 other books(One book was 500+ pages), writing one paper(on one of the 3 extra books), midterm and final. She checks attendance and knows your name after just a few classes. A small % of the grade is based on class participation. Heavy workload-learned alot.

Lecture style class with no PP/etc and no BB component. Lectures supplemented the book readings but a lot of context was given in-class, so probably attend. Learns who people are very quickly and calls on everyone. Really enjoyed her class, but she gets very political (liberal) and is not afraid to argue with students. Respect her and she's great.

Prof. Hamdani is really knowledgeable, but she is not an easy grader at all. Although she gives extra credits which is kind of helpful.

Hamdani demands respect & effort, but always returns it. She is bold & outspoken about her personal beliefs, but extremely knowledgeable & able to explain her claims. I really enjoyed how engaged & interactive classes were, & really appreciate her attentive care to each student.

I don't know why she gets a bad reputation, but Prof. Hamdani is an excellent professor. She gives a lot of readings and some homework, but the lectures are extremely interesting and she does involve her students. She is very smart and a tough grader when it comes to papers but just go to her office hours if you want help.

I dont know why Prof. Hamdani gets a bad rep. She is an amazing professor who is very knowledgeable & helpful when you need it. She assigns many readings and will call you out if you dont read because its necessary so you can understand what she is talking about in class. Her class is interactive and she makes it enjoyable. Participation matters

Good professor with somewhat easy to follow lectures. Assignments are not too hard, just dont push them to the last minute. She has fairly clear course guidelines and is not intimidating to the point that you dont want to ask for help.. Would take again

Professor Hamdani is a great individual but ends up to treat her students its like middle school again. Students have to ask to use the restroom during lectures and constantly said shes dissapointed in us when we didnt complete 50 page readings every single week. Pay atrention in lectures and use the study guides a ton and youll pass easy.