Kershaw made for an excellent lecturer, but that's really all he did as the TA's run the discussion portion of the class. The material itself was particularly interesting, but difficult to understand at times. What was nice is that the topics that were discussed in the discussion section of the class were fairly intriguing, which kept it fresh. Good class overall, even if it required a decent amount of work.

Kershaw is one of, if not the most entertaining lecturers at the university, hands down. That being said, most of the primary sources for this class are pretty dull and difficult to sit through. The time period and complimentary textbook readings, however, are interesting and bring the class to life. The class itself is not difficult and the participation/paper grades will balance your grade if you demonstrate some interest in the course to your TA. Sorber is a great TA.

DO NOT be fooled by the good reviews of this class. I would imagine the only people who would like this class are people who LOVE European History and know a decent amount already so they aren't bothered by all Kershaw leaves out and how much he skips around. He is an entertaining lecturer, I'll give him that. But this class is ridiculous. It is far too difficult for the level of class it is. This isn't because I don't like hard classes, I do, but this class was impossible because of the expectations. For papers you are expected to answer one simple question with a very detailed and specific answer that Kershaw wants, but you have no idea what he wants from the question. Same is true for the exams. Very knit picky. Far too much reading that is too spread out. Kershaw's lectures are ALL over the place. Each class has a slideshow of about 60 slides filled with text. You have no idea what is important and whats not. I really wanted to like this class, but I wish I'd dropped it when I had the chance. Kershaw is also condescending and stuck up in person. I'll do fine in this class mainly because I worked my ass off, but its just a ridiculous class and the expectations are way too unreasonable. Also, do the papers EARLY cause they creep up on you and you find yourself needing to write on weekly at the end of the semester if you're not careful.

worst class ever, i hate my life

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU ARE NOT EXTREMELY INTERESTED IN EUROPEAN HISTORY. I took this class to get a requirement out of the way and completely regret it. It is extremely boring in the lectures and impossible to follow- Kershaw talks extremely fast, using vague themes & jumps back and forth between topics making taking hand-written notes almost impossible. Discussions are hard to participate in if you do not completely understand the readings, which are EXTENSIVE each week. Primary sources that are hard to follow and require a lot of concentration to get through.

This class was definitely a challenge at first, but got easier throughout the semester. You have to interpret difficult primary sources and write 4-5 page papers on them (four throughout the semester). The grading is done by TAs. I had D.H. Dilbeck- I highly recommend him! The midterm and final are all about memorizing a list of about 35-40 terms and being able to write their importance on the exam. The exams also include passage IDs that are fairly easy on the midterm, but get a little tricky for the final. The final also has an added medium length essay that is not too difficult if you study. Overall, this class is worth taking if you have somewhat of an interest in European history.

You have to be really interested in early European History to take this class. It covers the mainly the Middle Ages (roughly from 200 - 1200 AD). Lectures are very random and jump around a lot. Profesor Kershaw is extremely funny and personable, but it is very difficult to follow along during discussion. Halfway through the semester, he banned laptops from the lecture hall, which made it difficult to take notes. You have to write 2 essays per semester, which aren't too bad, but require you to analyze an extreme amount of reading for the week.

Professor Kershaw is the best! He's very interactive and funny, especially during his lectures and his accent and humor makes the lectures more interesting. On the other hand, his lectures can sometimes be a bit random or not pertain to the material on the exam. The lectures also become difficult to sit through as the year progresses. You need to write 4 papers total (2 before the midterm). Those are the worst part (along with the amount of reading) because you're expected to do quite a bit of reading a week and then contribute to discussion. I'd recommend it though because it's still a good class.

I love love love the class! Definitely my favorite class during this semester, being a pre-comm student. Kershaw really enjoys teaching it, so you're more likely to listen yourself. He makes jokes and tries to portray the subject as interesting as possible. I would recommend some interest in history though, because there are 4 essays required throughout the semester.
I definitely encourage everyone to take it!

Kershaw is a very enthusiastic, knowledgeable lecturer and he makes sometimes tedious topics interesting. There's a lot of reading and four papers due over the semester, but it is definitely manageable. If you like European history, I'd recommend this class.