Sample Student Evaluations 2012-16
I loved that we were able to gain experience acting on camera and learn different techniques to enhance our performances. The commercial auditions were great exercises to get us used to being on camera and helping us relax. Going back and watching our auditions during class really helped also because we were able to see our performances ourselves and see what we needed to work on.
The course had a lot to offer to all majors and was very applicable to life as well as acting. I felt it was what each student made it. There were so many great resources available and Professor Contini was great!!!
I love how enthusiastic and encouraging our teacher was. He not only made the class enjoyable, but he taught me a lot about the acting industry that I, otherwise, would have been oblivious to.
The great advice about how to survive in the acting world.
What a knowledgeable teacher. A VERY strong asset for the department.
I really enjoyed how he taught in a loose way. It made going to class fun. It was always like a discussion.
The teacher really knows how to liven up the class and the examples given are really hands-on
The teacher was very engaging, knowledgable, and helpful with any assignments or questions. It was pretty clear that he 100% cares about his students!
He is so enthusiastic and it is contagious. He is also very compassionate and caring toward his students.
As a queer person, I am thrilled to have a class like this available on a regular basis.
Best teacher. Enthusiatic and dedicated. He made this course compelling and he had so many first person experiences that were invaluable.
George has so much enthusiasm and knowledge about queer history. This class required a lot of work but it never really felt like work because of the manner in which our opinions were heard
George's enthusiasm for this subject is palpable and contagious. He is well-versed in a wide range of queer films, plays, television, and other forms of media created throughout the 20th century and through the modern day. It was great to be introduced to such a wide variety of genres that had queer representation including silent films, comedy, suspense/mystery, and drama. The course was designed in a way that nicely balanced lecture with opportunities for students to share their thoughts about the readings and course viewings. It was helpful that George provided links to online versions of the viewings (when such links were publicly available) in the event students were able to attend the scheduled in-class viewings. The incorporation of public performances (i.e., the grad student readings and optional visit to Actors Express) added an additional layer of engagement and experience to the class. I also appreciated how George expected students to submit topics for papers in advance and provided feedback on these topics to guide/support our future work.
So, when I signed up for this class, I received a lot of warning that the course would not encompass all of the queer community. However, clearly, George Contini has worked very hard to adapt and edit his class to go more in-depth with multiple sexualities and genders and how they are portrayed throughout history. His clear intention and openness to change and adapt appeal to me very much, for I believe the best teacher knows their own learning is never truly over.
The fact that George also does not shy away from hard-hitting topics is also very refreshing. We laugh and mourn openly in this class, and I am so grateful to be closing my undergrad experience with someone who is as dedicated as him.
Also, from an academic point of view, George practically floods the class with resources. Though we obviously cannot cover every example of queer representation, George provides a list of suggested reading and viewing which is literally pages long. I have always hungered for this sort of knowledge, and George gave it in full.
As a film production student who generally stays behind the camera, I really appreciated this chance to spend some time on the other side. I also really love that the whole class (fairly evenly split between actors and production students) was able to fulfill both roles- a great opportunity for anyone interested in the industry.
I learned more about acting and shows in this semester than I have in my entire life. George explains the method and theory behind acting exceptionally, and keeps it relevant to the class.
I thoroughly enjoyed going to this class everyday. I think it was a lovely blend of all foundation aspects of acting even for those who may not want to pursue performance.
I enjoyed the real world application of the lessons and the numerous speakers in different fields.
The teacher was fantastic and could really draw from personal experience to get his messages across. Brought in several professionals and career guides, provided articles, and was there for any and all questions.
This was my favorite class of our graduate core. It's extremely beneficial to have a class that really explains the acting market. I appreciate the flexibility of this class and also the enthusiasm for helping each other as needed. George was always available to check websites and the components within them, at anytime. He is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to agents, auditions and what each are looking for. Thanks George!
Contini is extremely enthusiastic and eager to hear and help students with their ideas. His encouragement made writing a significantly less laborious process than it ever has been for me before.
He is so enthusiastic and makes students want to come to class. I never missed a class because I would be sad to have missed it.
I loved the freedom we had in this class. We were able to express our creative abilities and write with no limits
Mr. G Contini, is very relaxed and easy to talk to. He also provides good feedback and talks to us. He is very lenient about certain situations and I really appreciate that. Literally ALL of my other teachers should be more like him! He is also very funny and should sing Tomorrow from Annie using his broadway voice.
This course has been the favorite I've taken in college. In my career I've never had a professor as energetic, entertaining or informed as George. I have learned and been challenged in this course, and I appreciate the instructor's ability to facilitate helpful discussion and provide critical commentary in a helpful, nurturing way. I loved each play we read and discussed and genuinely feel that the course has drastically increased my abilities as a performer. I enjoyed the requirement to watch each major play presented.
George, George, George. What to say? I feel like this man is one of the strongest assets our department has to offer in terms of the sheer scope of his knowledge and experience. This course only reaffirmed my belief in that. I look forward to keeping in touch with him long after I've graduated, as he is both an invaluable resource and a friend that I'd be a fool not to cherish.
I probably got the most out of this class than any other. I feel like I am more prepared for life after graduation.
The strongest part of this course has to be the professor. He has such knowledge of the world after college for a person pursuing a career in the arts, and he shared so much of it with the class. He really forced me to think about my future in many different ways and to start preparing myself for the future now. After taking this course with Professor Contini, I really feel that I can handle life after college
This class was genuinely life-changing for two reasons. The first was Professor Contini’s dedication to his subject matter and his students’ academic progress. On the first day of the course, he provided the class with a twelve page syllabus—two and a half of which were a single-spaced list of books, films, and articles for further reading. This reference list did not include the further suggested reading and viewing sections he provided for each class lecture. The wealth of resources was staggering. I still have his syllabus today, in fact, and have frequently referenced it for my own personal research on lesbian identity and queer womanhood. Professor Contini’s class prepared me for the rigor of graduate school due to this reading load and encouraged further inquiry, as well as his encouragement to research what interested me. Professor Contini promoted strong self-authorship by allowing us to focus our research papers on the topics which fascinated us, fostering us to grow as individual scholars, rather than carbon copies of his own area of study.
Along with his written curriculum, Professor Contini came every day with prepared notes, slideshows, and clips from various pieces of art, theatre, and film. However, despite his preparation, Professor Contini was not opposed to going off course if the conversation was appropriate and we caught up to the rest of the material later on (which we always did). I believe this willingness to be organic is, again, linked to Professor Contini’s philosophy of promoting individual scholars. To him, his students’ inquiry and personal interests were more important than maintaining rigid, dominating structure, and this allowed for not only a collegial learning environment, but a growing personal academic progression within all of us.
During the course, George varied assigned texts to provide students with a multimodal approach. We read plays, screened films, watched commercials, listened to music, and the list could go on. This approach ensured a thoughtful and intersectional approach to the topic that allowed us to consider the ways that queer identities matter, for example, for people of color and for women. The intersectionality pushed us students and George to examine the ways that our own subjectivities shaped our understandings of and assumption of terms such as “queer” and “sexualities.”
The course had a lot to offer to all majors and was very applicable to life as well as acting. I felt it was what each student made it. There were so many great resources available and Professor Contini was great!!!
I love how enthusiastic and encouraging our teacher was. He not only made the class enjoyable, but he taught me a lot about the acting industry that I, otherwise, would have been oblivious to.
The great advice about how to survive in the acting world.
What a knowledgeable teacher. A VERY strong asset for the department.
I really enjoyed how he taught in a loose way. It made going to class fun. It was always like a discussion.
The teacher really knows how to liven up the class and the examples given are really hands-on
The teacher was very engaging, knowledgable, and helpful with any assignments or questions. It was pretty clear that he 100% cares about his students!
He is so enthusiastic and it is contagious. He is also very compassionate and caring toward his students.
As a queer person, I am thrilled to have a class like this available on a regular basis.
Best teacher. Enthusiatic and dedicated. He made this course compelling and he had so many first person experiences that were invaluable.
George has so much enthusiasm and knowledge about queer history. This class required a lot of work but it never really felt like work because of the manner in which our opinions were heard
George's enthusiasm for this subject is palpable and contagious. He is well-versed in a wide range of queer films, plays, television, and other forms of media created throughout the 20th century and through the modern day. It was great to be introduced to such a wide variety of genres that had queer representation including silent films, comedy, suspense/mystery, and drama. The course was designed in a way that nicely balanced lecture with opportunities for students to share their thoughts about the readings and course viewings. It was helpful that George provided links to online versions of the viewings (when such links were publicly available) in the event students were able to attend the scheduled in-class viewings. The incorporation of public performances (i.e., the grad student readings and optional visit to Actors Express) added an additional layer of engagement and experience to the class. I also appreciated how George expected students to submit topics for papers in advance and provided feedback on these topics to guide/support our future work.
So, when I signed up for this class, I received a lot of warning that the course would not encompass all of the queer community. However, clearly, George Contini has worked very hard to adapt and edit his class to go more in-depth with multiple sexualities and genders and how they are portrayed throughout history. His clear intention and openness to change and adapt appeal to me very much, for I believe the best teacher knows their own learning is never truly over.
The fact that George also does not shy away from hard-hitting topics is also very refreshing. We laugh and mourn openly in this class, and I am so grateful to be closing my undergrad experience with someone who is as dedicated as him.
Also, from an academic point of view, George practically floods the class with resources. Though we obviously cannot cover every example of queer representation, George provides a list of suggested reading and viewing which is literally pages long. I have always hungered for this sort of knowledge, and George gave it in full.
As a film production student who generally stays behind the camera, I really appreciated this chance to spend some time on the other side. I also really love that the whole class (fairly evenly split between actors and production students) was able to fulfill both roles- a great opportunity for anyone interested in the industry.
I learned more about acting and shows in this semester than I have in my entire life. George explains the method and theory behind acting exceptionally, and keeps it relevant to the class.
I thoroughly enjoyed going to this class everyday. I think it was a lovely blend of all foundation aspects of acting even for those who may not want to pursue performance.
I enjoyed the real world application of the lessons and the numerous speakers in different fields.
The teacher was fantastic and could really draw from personal experience to get his messages across. Brought in several professionals and career guides, provided articles, and was there for any and all questions.
This was my favorite class of our graduate core. It's extremely beneficial to have a class that really explains the acting market. I appreciate the flexibility of this class and also the enthusiasm for helping each other as needed. George was always available to check websites and the components within them, at anytime. He is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to agents, auditions and what each are looking for. Thanks George!
Contini is extremely enthusiastic and eager to hear and help students with their ideas. His encouragement made writing a significantly less laborious process than it ever has been for me before.
He is so enthusiastic and makes students want to come to class. I never missed a class because I would be sad to have missed it.
I loved the freedom we had in this class. We were able to express our creative abilities and write with no limits
Mr. G Contini, is very relaxed and easy to talk to. He also provides good feedback and talks to us. He is very lenient about certain situations and I really appreciate that. Literally ALL of my other teachers should be more like him! He is also very funny and should sing Tomorrow from Annie using his broadway voice.
This course has been the favorite I've taken in college. In my career I've never had a professor as energetic, entertaining or informed as George. I have learned and been challenged in this course, and I appreciate the instructor's ability to facilitate helpful discussion and provide critical commentary in a helpful, nurturing way. I loved each play we read and discussed and genuinely feel that the course has drastically increased my abilities as a performer. I enjoyed the requirement to watch each major play presented.
George, George, George. What to say? I feel like this man is one of the strongest assets our department has to offer in terms of the sheer scope of his knowledge and experience. This course only reaffirmed my belief in that. I look forward to keeping in touch with him long after I've graduated, as he is both an invaluable resource and a friend that I'd be a fool not to cherish.
I probably got the most out of this class than any other. I feel like I am more prepared for life after graduation.
The strongest part of this course has to be the professor. He has such knowledge of the world after college for a person pursuing a career in the arts, and he shared so much of it with the class. He really forced me to think about my future in many different ways and to start preparing myself for the future now. After taking this course with Professor Contini, I really feel that I can handle life after college
This class was genuinely life-changing for two reasons. The first was Professor Contini’s dedication to his subject matter and his students’ academic progress. On the first day of the course, he provided the class with a twelve page syllabus—two and a half of which were a single-spaced list of books, films, and articles for further reading. This reference list did not include the further suggested reading and viewing sections he provided for each class lecture. The wealth of resources was staggering. I still have his syllabus today, in fact, and have frequently referenced it for my own personal research on lesbian identity and queer womanhood. Professor Contini’s class prepared me for the rigor of graduate school due to this reading load and encouraged further inquiry, as well as his encouragement to research what interested me. Professor Contini promoted strong self-authorship by allowing us to focus our research papers on the topics which fascinated us, fostering us to grow as individual scholars, rather than carbon copies of his own area of study.
Along with his written curriculum, Professor Contini came every day with prepared notes, slideshows, and clips from various pieces of art, theatre, and film. However, despite his preparation, Professor Contini was not opposed to going off course if the conversation was appropriate and we caught up to the rest of the material later on (which we always did). I believe this willingness to be organic is, again, linked to Professor Contini’s philosophy of promoting individual scholars. To him, his students’ inquiry and personal interests were more important than maintaining rigid, dominating structure, and this allowed for not only a collegial learning environment, but a growing personal academic progression within all of us.
During the course, George varied assigned texts to provide students with a multimodal approach. We read plays, screened films, watched commercials, listened to music, and the list could go on. This approach ensured a thoughtful and intersectional approach to the topic that allowed us to consider the ways that queer identities matter, for example, for people of color and for women. The intersectionality pushed us students and George to examine the ways that our own subjectivities shaped our understandings of and assumption of terms such as “queer” and “sexualities.”