Selected Student Feedback

Religion and Violence:
Fantastic course. Ariel is a very effective teacher and challenges you in good ways. She is well prepared and readings though long were very helpful. As a religious studies major, this class ranks up in my favorites at Northwestern. Religion and violence can be such difficult subjects to think through, but this class helped to encourage deep reflection on religion and violence in an academic and productive way.

I absolutely loved this course. Well organized, thought provoking, and interesting. Ariel does an amazing job, and is really invested in your learning as well as hearing your feedback. The reading and grading is definitely manageable/fair for a 300 level course. Definitely take this class!

This was an excellent class. I learned so much and it really made me reconsider the way I think about religion and violence. Ariel is excellent at balancing having high expectations (to motivate students) and bring understanding and reasonable. The assignments were time consuming, but it meant I actually did work and learned in the class. Great class!

Definitely take this class – Ariel is fantastic and easy to talk to, and discussions (which form the bulk of class time) are super interesting. This is not an easy distro, so you’ll need to know your material, but the atmosphere is very welcoming. This kind of class is the reason I came to Northwestern.

Methods of Observing Human Behavior:
Ariel was awesome. She was so helpful in all group work, her comments were realistic, yet constructive, and her grading feedback was very fair. She also led discussions sections as fluidly as the professor. If she teaches a class in the future, I’d sign up for it immediately.

Introduction to Buddhism:
Ariel was one of the best TAs I’ve had at NU. She was super-prepared for class every week and
enthusiastic. She also came up with activities for us to do during discussion (debates, meditation, “show & tell” type things, a drawing game to show how important communication is to Vajrayana Buddhism, etc.), and she also brought us cookies. 🙂

Very kind, invested, liked to help foster actual understanding and interest in the subject.

Introduction to Islam:
Ariel was really open and friendly, and she obviously had a great interest in the
we not only had bullet points to study for the final but had a real understanding of the bigger concepts in the class.

She was incredible! She explained things well and really was able to reinforce the ideas presented in the materials and in lecture and facilitated great discussions.

Ariel was always very prepared and enthusiastic when it came to helping us better understand the lectures. She was very helpful, an awesome TA.

I honestly can’t think of any weaknesses. She was outgoing, caring, showed an interest in us and the course, and was always there to help.

Introduction to Judaism:
Ariel was a really good TA. She made discussion section interesting and helped me learn and understand complicated texts. She was very helpful and knowledgeable.

Ariel was great. Took great notes in class and very helpful in discussion and outside. You can tell she wants to be helpful which she is. So sweet a pleasure to listen to.

Ariel was awesome. She really cared about her students and did an excellent job of explaining difficult concepts. I wish I could have TAs like her in every class.

Ariel is an AWESOME TA. She really wants you to learn and go out of her way to help you and she is amazing

Introduction to Hebrew Bible:
Ariel is incredible, one of the best TAs I’ve had in my four years here.

She was very open to discussing ideas and answering questions and was very knowledgable. She really tried to make discussion interesting and to relate what we were learning about the bible to things outside

Ariel is so knowledgeable and her passion for the subject was clear by her enthusiasm in discussion sections. Occasionally I would leave discussion slightly confused as to the underlying point of the supplementary reading.

Ariel was an awesome TA! I always looked forward to going to discussion sections with her. She mediated the discussion well, and interrupted at key moments to explain some concepts further, which I felt was really helpful. It was clear that she wanted to make sure that her students got as much out of the discussion section as possible.