First time class offering

[burge104]

I found a class that seemed very interesting and very related to my course of study, so I emailed the professor to ask about the expectations and material covered. She replied that the class was brand new and it was the first time it will be offered at our institution. She said that the syllabus and was to be complete by the end of the week, but advised that there would be some kinks in the course since it is the first time.

I am a first semester graduate student and was hoping for advice and positive/negatives on taking a class such as this from a group of people that have experience, aka: GRADCAFE!

Thanks in advance!

[rising_star]

If it's in your area of interest, take it. Look over the syllabus first to make sure the readings and discussions will help you. If they will, sign up. ALL courses have kinks in them, so don't let that keep you from taking something.

[runonsentence]

Agreed. The prof and whether or not the material lines up with your interests matters more than whether the course has been taught before.

[PastHistory]

If the course interests you, take it. Due to cuts, not every class I have taken is directly related to my topic/interest area but I have found that each class has improved my writing and research. Also, it helps to take a step away from my topic and see other similar interactions in different historical periods/contexts.

[Guimauvaise]

I tend to agree with those above. If you are interested in the course, go ahead and take it. However, if you're hesitant to take a new course, ask the instructor if the course will be offered again while you're in the program. Assuming the course is offered at least once per academic year, then you probably won't hurt anything by waiting to take it. The risk you'd take in waiting, though, is having a conflict between this course and a required course. Regardless, I'd talk to your adviser before making your final decision.

[TMP]

Half of my seminars in my MA coursework were first time offerings (largely because the faculty was new to the university and it was their first semesters teaching grad-level). Just learn to go with the flow and give feedback... my professors constantly asked for it so they could tweak the syllabus if necessary. Sometimes there will be a week where they didn't realize that they gave SO much reading that they may half the reading the following week.

Go for it. Have fun!

[Sigaba]

I recommend that before you make a decision, try to find out how familiar the professor is with the course subject. That is, is she a SME or is the topic one of secondary or tertiary interest?

If she's a SME, I recommend that you take it with the expectation that the reading will be more challenging than advertised.

If she's not, I recommend you let others be plankholders and that you look to take the class after it has had a proper shake down. As a first year student, the last thing you need is a journey down the wrong rabbit holes. (There will be plenty of time for that later when you're reading for your qualifying exams.)

My $0.02.

Edited November 16, 2011 by Sigaba