Took this in Fall 2025, Professor Harold is one of the best professors I've ever had. She is a representation of how all professors should be—welcoming, understanding, knowledgeable, and passionate. Black Fire itself is a fascinating class, that you never once will be stressed about but instead will constantly faced with gripping material. The class and Harold's teachings make this class very worth it, and one of my favorite classes I've taken in my life. She creates a genuine community in the class, and I looked forward to it every day. Can't recommend it enough. #tCFfall25

*NOTE TAKEN IN FALL 2025 BUT WOULD NOT LET ME SELECT AS AN OPTION

-I Highly recommend this class! Though it has a reputation for being an easy A and I took it to fulfill a college requirement, I genuinely feel like I walked away learning something and having a better understanding of the complexity of UVA’s history. Prof. Harold is SUPER passionate about this course, and is a great lecturer who can sometimes even be hilarious. In terms of content, you delve into key decades in UVA’s history and African American figures who played pivotal roles in shaping the university to what it is today. Along with this, she also provides context on what is happening in the US and the World at the same time these events are unfolding at UVA. I really appreciate how she was able to connect what we learned in class to super recent times. It really made the material we learned feel real. The class consists of Attendance/Participation, 2 Reflection papers, 5 quizzes, a Midterm exam, and a final project. Prof. Harold always provides a study guide in advance for the quizzes and exam, so you are equipped to perform well. The final project is somewhat comprehensive, but allows for you to really delve into complexities of history at UVA and the Black experience. My only gripe with this course is it is very disorganized. Prof. Harolds lectures can be a little all over the place, she really does not utilize Canvas to its full potential and sometimes even had us turn assignments in on paper. She just really doesn’t utilize technology for her class, like for example would still pass out a physical sheet for attendance everyday. That being said, I definitely recommend this class it is a great way to fulfill a requirement, an easy A, and honestly a super meaningful class.

TAKE THIS COURSE. Claudrena Harold is a very knowledgeable professor and much of the material you will cover in class is based on her own research. It is a wonderful overview of Black student life and activism at UVA, and really challenges your perceptions of the school. It is also a relatively easy A class if you put in about an hour a week (at most) to memorize concepts for her vocab. quizzes and she is a lenient grader on the in-class exams. Please do yourself a favor and take this class.

I literally could not have better things to say about this course! I ended up taking it pretty randomly because I thought it sounded interesting. This class uncovered so much about UVA and really opened my eyes to so many niche things about the school. Professor Harold is so passionate, an awesome lecturer and very kind. The class was at 9:30 at McLeod when I took it, but I didn't even mind because I was genuinely excited for this class. She always shares really interesting anecdotes about specific people at UVA, or her own experiences, which I personally liked. We also had a frequent guest speaker (black alum from UVA) who was so awesome as well. I also really loved how the class wasn't all negative -- we talked a lot about the black struggles at UVA, but professor Harold also did a great job of highlighting black culture and joy.

On top of all the positives I have to say about the content, this class is SO EASY. If you show up and take decent notes, you will get an A. There are quizzes at the beginning of some classes (5 a semester I think), but she gives you a terms sheet and its extremely easy (good grade boost). She also offers extra credit. Attendance is taken into account, though. The midterm was like the quizzes (fill in the blank) and then an in-class essay. She gives you the essay question at the beginning of the semester, and before the test she held a review session where she word for word tells you what to write basically -- almost a guarantee A. The final is super easy, you just write an article relating to blackness at UVA. She encourages you to interview alums and the projects end up being super interesting, and almost impossible to fail. For homework, it's all just readings, which you don't have to do if you go to class.

Overall, Professor Harold is amazing, the content is interesting, and its super easy. 20/10 recommend.

Amazing class! Professor Harold is the best lecturer. Also very low key for a history class. Weekly readings are mainly just cav daily articles. Quizzes every now and then on key terms so just some easy memorization. In class closed book midterm, so you have to study, but you get the essay question ahead of time. Only thing for a final is a big group project to make a magazine issue. Highly recommend.

The reviews on here make it seem like the easiest class in the world. I had a 3.7 GPA the semester I took it, and got a B+ in the course so I was a bit disappointed by that. She might have made the class more difficult than previous years, or maybe I'm just not that smart lol. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the class - you learn a lot of super important and cool things - I recommend it!

This is one of the easiest A's offered by UVA. Professor Harold is a young and energetic professor who engages with the class and makes lectures fun. The quizzes and tests are pretty easy whether or not you pay attention in class. I never did any of the readings and still did well.

This class is an easy A and really fun too, highly recommend. Professor Harold is a great lecturer and teaches things about UVA you won't get in any class. Midterm and final are graded very leniently, the only downside to the class is an oral history project which is a pain.

This class was amazing. I loved every moment of it. It is not only eye opening about UVA's roll in integration and race relations, but about higher education in general. The class is very easy, with fun, short readings each class, a few writing responses, and a few quizzes and tests. There is a big group project at the end, though she said she might be changing that in the future. Although this class fills up quickly, I would recommend taking any of Professor Harold's classes; she is an extremely intelligent and well-spoken woman.

Professor Harold is the best! She cares so much about what you learn and what you then apply to the university to create change. It was an extremely interesting course for people of any race and something that I'm so glad I took. She is generous with extra points if you put in the work, and is willing to work with you to raise your grade. There were 3 quizzes that totaled 10%, a final group project (interview 1 alum and 1 student and present it to the class along with a paper) worth 15%, attendance was counted each day accounting for 10% (2 free unexcused absences), 2 video reaction papers (counted for completion; 2 pages max) 15%, Exam #1 25%, Exam #2 25%. Very cool course that offers you the ability to swing an A with some sort of effort. Claudrena is awesome!