PHIL100 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Elizabeth Schechter PHIL100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/14/2024	for an introduction course this class is great, get you used to some common concepts in philosophy
Elizabeth Schechter PHIL100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/13/2024	She explains everything really well, both she and the TAs are great to talk to if you are actually into philosophy. There are many options for you to improve your overall grade if you don’t do really well in the exams. Again, if you really are into philosophy, take this class, it’s food for thought.
Elizabeth Schechter PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/30/2024	This professor might honestly be one of the worst professors I have ever come across in all my years. her arrogance and strict policies make me believe that she is teaching this course for the sole purpose of lowering everyone's GPA. The course content is so difficult that even the TAs find some of the content to be difficult. If you are considering taking this class as a gen-ed, don't.
Elizabeth Schechter PHIL100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 10/30/2024	PHIL100 with Professor Schechter is way harder than a 100-level gen-ed should be. She treats it like an upper-level major class. Technology isn’t allowed in class, and she doesn’t let students take their exams back. She guards everything like they’re nuclear codes. I would highly recommend picking a different gened.
Elizabeth Schechter PHIL100 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/28/2024	Class is interesting but not easy if you are not a philosophy major. I would not recommend taking this class as a gen-ed.
Christopher Masciari PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/08/2024	awesome dude. super funny and really knowledgeable
Dan Moller PHIL100 Anonymous 04/21/2024	You have to do the weekly readings and attend lectures because there are weekly quizzes that are based on both. It's not an easy A elective.
Andrew Fyfe PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2023	Very brief but broad overview of all of the branches of philosophy. It was a pretty good overview and presented in an interesting way - he's a good lecturer. Overall I'd recommend the class. It's maybe a bit more difficult than your average Gen-Ed, but really not that bad if you put a bit of effort in.
Andrew Fyfe PHIL100 Expecting a W Anonymous 11/29/2023	Don't take this class if you're looking for easy gen ed, don't take this class period. I thought it would be easy and interesting and instead is convoluted and difficult. The concepts are interesting but not understandable and applicable to the exams. the exam I took before dropping out had an average of 72 and he needed to place a massive curve on it. The homework readings are too long and there's a big paper that the class works up to where you argue about one of the concepts we learned. He expects you to put in the amount of time and effort you would on an upper-level major class. Even the extra credit requires you to write multiple papers about the subjects.
Michael McCourt PHIL100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 08/23/2023	Mike was my favorite professor I've ever had at UMD. He's charismatic and down to earth. Lectures were super interesting and engaging. The class consists of a reading before each lecture, lectures twice a week with a very short quiz on the reading, participation, three writing assignments throughout the semester, a midterm, and a final. The course is super organized. I would definitely recommend going in for office hours if you need any help with a concept or with the writing assignments. I couldn't recommend his class more!
Andrew Fyfe PHIL100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/17/2023	Nice professor who keeps lectures interesting, we even watched a bit of millionaire matchmaker if that gives an idea of his more casual lecturing approach. There's basically no homeworks besides doing the extra readings, and 2 paragraphs the whole semester of review. There's a semester long essay, but attend the discussions and the TA will help you. 1 star off for the weirdly difficult exams that go much farther into depth than his lectures or discussions would ever go into. While you do get a "cheat sheet," it's pretty hard to actually account for everything that could be on the exams. Final is on the class before reading day, (Exam 3) and not during the finals week so study for this class first probably.
Dan Moller PHIL100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2022	Moller is a great guy and seems passionate about philosophy. I definitely suggest him as a professor; however, his lectures can sometimes be difficult staying awake in. Exams are very easy, and a decent understanding of the material will get you an easy A on them. TAs on the other hand are hard graders for the papers and Friday discussion be boring. They think that a good, average paper receives a low B (like what) for an introductory course. If I were to make a strong suggestion about this course, it would be to absolutely invest more effort and time into the papers than the exams because they will be the most difficult.
Dan Moller PHIL100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/13/2022	I took it as a GenEd and it's definitely an interesting class. However, if you're not good at writing essays, I don't recommend taking this class. The class consists of weekly Sunday quizzes&discussion posts, 3 papers, a midterm, and final exam. Dr. Moller is a great lecturer and he's funny and keeps things relevant, however he does NOT post slides online and if you miss even one lecture, it can be difficult to get a hold of missed notes. It also completely depends on which TA you get. I had Michael Court and he was super chill so the class ended up being fine.
Dan Moller PHIL100 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/09/2022	Did not like this class. I took it as a Gened, expecting it to be an easy A. However, the class was boring and difficult. The TA is not a grad student, which makes him a hard grader. I thought my papers deserved A's because I do well in all of my English classes. Nope. I did horribly in this class, yet I am usually a straight-A student. Do not take this class unless you want to major in philosophy.
Jonathan Kendrick PHIL100 Expecting a B- Anonymous 07/26/2022	Professor doesn't really teach and mostly just reads off the slides. I am taking this over the summer and this is a level 100 course, so I thought he would be lenient but he grades this like a level 300 course. If you are interested in finding an easy class to fill up credits, this professor might not be for you.
Casey Enos PHIL100 Anonymous 05/22/2022	Good prof but as the other anonymous user said, he prioritizes who he perceives to be the smarter kids. However if you do go to his office hours, he will take the time to explain things to you. Course wise, some topics are tough to understand but Professor Enos does a good job explaining everything. He's also a fair grader. There are about two quizzes per week. If you went over the readings, you should be fine. There are three papers in total. They are all graded generously and fairly as long as you put in some effort to follow the rubric. However, if you want an A on those papers then you will genuinely have to put in a lot of time and effort into them otherwise you will get a B. I highly recommend going to his office hours and have him look at your papers. Phil 100 is probably the one of the hardest gen eds you could take; Professor Enos does a good job overall with explaining the topics.
Casey Enos PHIL100 Anonymous 05/15/2022	I was stuck on the material, so I asked him after class. Then, he dismissed me and said "Just come to my office hours". When I saw other people ask him questions regarding the material after class, he explained it immediately. He prioritizes smart students over students who are "dummies". I would recommend you take this course with a different professor.
Michael McCourt PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2021	By far the best teacher ever for my first year here. He is engaging and speaks with charisma. Going to office hours helped me a ton with my written assignments. He gives good feedback and cares about us. His quizzes are so easy. Recommend this teacher for your humanities credit.
Aida Roige Mas PHIL100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/18/2020	Just so you know, theres a lot of reading and a bunch of theoretical arguments that are either irrelevant (like "how would it feel to be a bat") or never actually reach a conclusion and just keep going in circles. If arguing about theories and things you really cant prove sounds interesting to you, take the class. Miss Aida is a good teacher however, your definitely not going to fail. Put some effort and you'll get a B easy. Youll have to take notes, read, do a little self study, and pay rapt attention to her lectures to get an A. Like I said, she's good (not really great) but you wont regret taking her if you enjoy the topic. She's mad friendly too
Aida Roige Mas PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2020	Took the course asynchronously. Interesting class, but can be difficult at times to learn all the concepts. Aida was a great teacher though and posted lectures weekly and had an average of 2 prelecture and 2 post lecture exams weekly. Midterm and final was "take-home" so getting a good grade wasn't much of an issue.
Dan Moller PHIL100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/03/2020	Really hard grader but really interesting lecturer. I’m sad he teaches asynchronously. I’m not a philosophy person but he really opened my eyes to it. Not an easy class though.
Daniel Blair PHIL100 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/05/2019	i have no idea why more people haven't reviewed him. good professor, boring lectures, easy exams, easy quiz every week. most people @ lecure watch football and take notes on the side
Daniel Blair PHIL100 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/24/2019	He sets very clear expectations for what will be on the quiz (if you know what i mean lol). His lectures are boring, 90% of people dont pay attention in class, but whenever he goes off task, he is social and funny. If you just show up to the lectures, expect a B-. All of the tests are essays so you should go to office hours if you want to learn what he is looking for. Also, he seems a little crazy, just like every philosophy professor. He opened his first lecture about how he grades finals (just enough Scotch to not get drunk, enough Excedrin to get acetaminophen jitters). He pauses in between sentences to compose his thoughts, but literally every single sentence he says is something very detailed, almost like straight off a dissertation. ALSO: he repeats this in class a lot (easily 5 times): "When I made the test, it seemed like I taught you all nothing, but then I looked back at my notes and I realized I taught you too much." overall, meh class, meh lectures, cool professor, easy grading.
Casey Enos PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/29/2019	he's so helpful and would always like to talk outside of class. If you are even slightly concerned about course material he would help you with out a doubt. Class material is interesting and not difficult.
Jeremy Reid PHIL100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 08/15/2019	Took this course as a humanities elective with no actual interest in philosophy, but ended up finding it pretty enjoyable thanks to Mr. Reid. Some of his jokes are a little bit cringey, but he does successfully give modern and relevant examples to complex issues. He has a policy where about 10% of your grade is just going to see him at two points during the semester, and even though I felt like I didn't really need any help, both times I went we had interesting discussions and he clarified things for me that I didn't realize I was misinterpreting. His only TA was a bit useless, but she got fired halfway through the semester so Mr. Reid started leading discussions as well which quickly made it eventful. Good lecturer, involved with his students, and a really nice guy.
Heather Adair PHIL100 Anonymous 05/23/2019	She does not put grades onto ELMS, and holds her students up to ridiculously high standards for an gen ed. NOT an easy class. Would not recommend her.
Masayuki Tashiro PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/02/2019	Best TA ever. Super helpful and very clear. He'll worry about his accent getting in the way but it doesn't.
Dan Moller PHIL100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2018	Overall the class is great. Only negative thing is that his lectures are boring, I fell asleep alot in his lecture. His grading system is great. His papers are also very easy (even though its long). Its all opinionated paper. He also has 1 midterm and its easy. He curves it if the average is low. Overall the class is great. Also do the readings when it is assigned. I did not, and when I read them before the final they were super interesting. Also learned alot from the class.
Casey Enos PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/18/2018	He's the best professor I've ever had, and this was his first time teaching a face-to-face class! He's an extremely friendly graduate student and teaches the material very well and keeps lecture interesting. There are weekly discussion quizzes that you shouldn't have any trouble with if you read the short readings. There were also three papers throughout the semester, but they are quick and fair. As long as you pay attention and take notes, getting an A is no problem. He's very accessible outside of class and is glad to help you with anything, even other classes! Not only will you learn a lot, you will also make a friend. He made me love philosophy, and everyone should take him if they get the chance!
Dan Moller PHIL100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/23/2013	The lectures are the best part. He makes it into a discussion, and asks students questions on the topics at hand. He also goes over the readings quite thoroughly. There's a problem with that, though. In going over the readings during lecture, there is nothing to talk about in the discussion section. My TA was absolutely horrid. Even though she had a deep understanding of the material, any time she attempted to create an example for us to analyze using what we learned in lecture, she'd get confused and it would only get more and more convoluted as other people attempted to make sense of what she was saying. It was bad. However, Professor Moller is an excellent speaker. He makes jokes about the topic every once in a while, and he's very down to earth. He encourages people to ask him any questions they might have if they're struggling with anything, but he's not a mind reader. You have to take responsibility and ask for help.
Paul Pietroski PHIL100 Expecting an A asianzero 05/27/2012	This class requires you to do the readings, and understand them too, which takes a lot of time. The grade breakdown is 10% each for 2 quizzes, 25% each for 2 papers, and 30% for the final. The quizzes are based on the readings, and they're tricky at first. The secret is to write a good paragraph for each answer, even if you can answer some questions with just 1 sentence. The papers are just analyzing some philosopher's ideas, but you have to go into deep thinking mode for an A. The TA's are pretty nice with the grading, and even let you rewrite your first paper after they give it back. Lecture is boring, but it's important to go to understand the concepts. Also, professor focuses on certain parts of the readings and tells you what's important, so you don't have to get every single bit when studying. I had a C+ at the beginning of the year, but managed to get an A- through a lot of work. Decent class, but it's not for everyone. Requires a lot of work, but you do learn a lot about philosophy.
Dan Moller PHIL100 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/08/2011	This class is much harder than what you would expect from a 100 level course (the easy philosophy cource is 140), and Moller definitely makes it more challenging. There's a lot of assigned readings, and they are really hard to comprehend. You don't have to understand them, or even read them, just go to class and take notes. He covers whatever he thinks is important and that's exactly what he's gonna test you on. Even though Moller isn't what you would call a "fun teacher" (it'd be hard to find one in philosophy), he does try to engage the class. But if philosophy isn't something that really interests you, don't take it with MOller, cuz his monotone voice will drive you to sleep in 5 minutes. But if you are interested, Moller will prepare you for higher level courses. Like I said, the tests are tough (you have to memorize a lot of different theories and arguments) and people tend to run out of time, but they aren't tricky. The essays are probably the most challenging part; if you can't write well, don't take this class. You'll want to kill yourself.
Dan Moller PHIL100 Anonymous 05/03/2011	Going class for the first time, if you decide to sit in the back, Moller does not speak very loud and is very difficult to hear him at first. The TA i had was not very engaging and made discussions boring. The exams are short answers but if you do not answer them very thoroughly you could possibly get 0 pts for them. When i was struggling in the class, he barely gave any feedback or advice on what to do, so I dropped the class.
Paul Pietroski PHIL100 Expecting a B TerpGuide 06/08/2010	I came into the class thinking it was going to be super awesome. It wasn't what I thought. The class is all about the history of philosophy and if you're just looking for an elective/core, take something else. The class isn't necessarily hard, but even having it at 11 it was hard to stay up. MMH1400 is fairly warm and Pietroski pretty much just talks. We were allowed to use our notes for the exams. The exams aren't that hard, but they get harder as the semester goes. If you come to class, you'll be fine; I didn't read any of the stuff. The papers are kinda hard to push to 6 pages if you're not interested in the material, so keep that as a heads up. Overall, the workload isn't too bad.
Paul Pietroski PHIL100 Expecting a B+ terp2013 01/25/2010	Got a B+ in the course and was expecting an A, kinda blew off studying for the final. Lectures are extremely boring and I could only pay attention for 3-5 minutes at a time. He tends to just talk "at" the class rather than trying to engage them or make the material interesting. Skipped lectures from a week before Thanksgiving break until the final. Papers are very easy, basically just read sparknotes for the section of reading and it's straightforward from there, no extra thinking required. Midterm and final required a bit of studying but TA's, sparknotes or actually doing the reading, and review sheets make an A on them obtainable.

Elizabeth Schechter
PHIL100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/14/2024

for an introduction course this class is great, get you used to some common concepts in philosophy

Elizabeth Schechter
PHIL100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/13/2024

She explains everything really well, both she and the TAs are great to talk to if you are actually into philosophy. There are many options for you to improve your overall grade if you don’t do really well in the exams. Again, if you really are into philosophy, take this class, it’s food for thought.

Elizabeth Schechter
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/30/2024

This professor might honestly be one of the worst professors I have ever come across in all my years. her arrogance and strict policies make me believe that she is teaching this course for the sole purpose of lowering everyone's GPA. The course content is so difficult that even the TAs find some of the content to be difficult. If you are considering taking this class as a gen-ed, don't.

Elizabeth Schechter
PHIL100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
10/30/2024

PHIL100 with Professor Schechter is way harder than a 100-level gen-ed should be. She treats it like an upper-level major class. Technology isn’t allowed in class, and she doesn’t let students take their exams back. She guards everything like they’re nuclear codes. I would highly recommend picking a different gened.

Elizabeth Schechter
PHIL100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/28/2024

Class is interesting but not easy if you are not a philosophy major. I would not recommend taking this class as a gen-ed.

Christopher Masciari
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/08/2024

awesome dude. super funny and really knowledgeable

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Anonymous
04/21/2024

You have to do the weekly readings and attend lectures because there are weekly quizzes that are based on both. It's not an easy A elective.

Andrew Fyfe
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2023

Very brief but broad overview of all of the branches of philosophy. It was a pretty good overview and presented in an interesting way - he's a good lecturer. Overall I'd recommend the class. It's maybe a bit more difficult than your average Gen-Ed, but really not that bad if you put a bit of effort in.

Andrew Fyfe
PHIL100

Expecting a W
Anonymous
11/29/2023

Don't take this class if you're looking for easy gen ed, don't take this class period. I thought it would be easy and interesting and instead is convoluted and difficult. The concepts are interesting but not understandable and applicable to the exams. the exam I took before dropping out had an average of 72 and he needed to place a massive curve on it. The homework readings are too long and there's a big paper that the class works up to where you argue about one of the concepts we learned. He expects you to put in the amount of time and effort you would on an upper-level major class. Even the extra credit requires you to write multiple papers about the subjects.

Michael McCourt
PHIL100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
08/23/2023

Mike was my favorite professor I've ever had at UMD. He's charismatic and down to earth. Lectures were super interesting and engaging. The class consists of a reading before each lecture, lectures twice a week with a very short quiz on the reading, participation, three writing assignments throughout the semester, a midterm, and a final. The course is super organized. I would definitely recommend going in for office hours if you need any help with a concept or with the writing assignments. I couldn't recommend his class more!

Andrew Fyfe
PHIL100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/17/2023

Nice professor who keeps lectures interesting, we even watched a bit of millionaire matchmaker if that gives an idea of his more casual lecturing approach. There's basically no homeworks besides doing the extra readings, and 2 paragraphs the whole semester of review. There's a semester long essay, but attend the discussions and the TA will help you. 1 star off for the weirdly difficult exams that go much farther into depth than his lectures or discussions would ever go into. While you do get a "cheat sheet," it's pretty hard to actually account for everything that could be on the exams. Final is on the class before reading day, (Exam 3) and not during the finals week so study for this class first probably.

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/20/2022

Moller is a great guy and seems passionate about philosophy. I definitely suggest him as a professor; however, his lectures can sometimes be difficult staying awake in. Exams are very easy, and a decent understanding of the material will get you an easy A on them. TAs on the other hand are hard graders for the papers and Friday discussion be boring. They think that a good, average paper receives a low B (like what) for an introductory course. If I were to make a strong suggestion about this course, it would be to absolutely invest more effort and time into the papers than the exams because they will be the most difficult.

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/13/2022

I took it as a GenEd and it's definitely an interesting class. However, if you're not good at writing essays, I don't recommend taking this class. The class consists of weekly Sunday quizzes&discussion posts, 3 papers, a midterm, and final exam. Dr. Moller is a great lecturer and he's funny and keeps things relevant, however he does NOT post slides online and if you miss even one lecture, it can be difficult to get a hold of missed notes. It also completely depends on which TA you get. I had Michael Court and he was super chill so the class ended up being fine.

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/09/2022

Did not like this class. I took it as a Gened, expecting it to be an easy A. However, the class was boring and difficult. The TA is not a grad student, which makes him a hard grader. I thought my papers deserved A's because I do well in all of my English classes. Nope. I did horribly in this class, yet I am usually a straight-A student. Do not take this class unless you want to major in philosophy.

Jonathan Kendrick
PHIL100

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
07/26/2022

Professor doesn't really teach and mostly just reads off the slides. I am taking this over the summer and this is a level 100 course, so I thought he would be lenient but he grades this like a level 300 course. If you are interested in finding an easy class to fill up credits, this professor might not be for you.

Casey Enos
PHIL100

Anonymous
05/22/2022

Good prof but as the other anonymous user said, he prioritizes who he perceives to be the smarter kids. However if you do go to his office hours, he will take the time to explain things to you. Course wise, some topics are tough to understand but Professor Enos does a good job explaining everything. He's also a fair grader. There are about two quizzes per week. If you went over the readings, you should be fine. There are three papers in total. They are all graded generously and fairly as long as you put in some effort to follow the rubric. However, if you want an A on those papers then you will genuinely have to put in a lot of time and effort into them otherwise you will get a B. I highly recommend going to his office hours and have him look at your papers. Phil 100 is probably the one of the hardest gen eds you could take; Professor Enos does a good job overall with explaining the topics.

Casey Enos
PHIL100

Anonymous
05/15/2022

I was stuck on the material, so I asked him after class. Then, he dismissed me and said "Just come to my office hours". When I saw other people ask him questions regarding the material after class, he explained it immediately. He prioritizes smart students over students who are "dummies". I would recommend you take this course with a different professor.

Michael McCourt
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2021

By far the best teacher ever for my first year here. He is engaging and speaks with charisma. Going to office hours helped me a ton with my written assignments. He gives good feedback and cares about us. His quizzes are so easy. Recommend this teacher for your humanities credit.

Aida Roige Mas
PHIL100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/18/2020

Just so you know, theres a lot of reading and a bunch of theoretical arguments that are either irrelevant (like "how would it feel to be a bat") or never actually reach a conclusion and just keep going in circles. If arguing about theories and things you really cant prove sounds interesting to you, take the class. Miss Aida is a good teacher however, your definitely not going to fail. Put some effort and you'll get a B easy. Youll have to take notes, read, do a little self study, and pay rapt attention to her lectures to get an A. Like I said, she's good (not really great) but you wont regret taking her if you enjoy the topic. She's mad friendly too

Aida Roige Mas
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2020

Took the course asynchronously. Interesting class, but can be difficult at times to learn all the concepts. Aida was a great teacher though and posted lectures weekly and had an average of 2 prelecture and 2 post lecture exams weekly. Midterm and final was "take-home" so getting a good grade wasn't much of an issue.

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/03/2020

Really hard grader but really interesting lecturer. I’m sad he teaches asynchronously. I’m not a philosophy person but he really opened my eyes to it. Not an easy class though.

Daniel Blair
PHIL100

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/05/2019

i have no idea why more people haven't reviewed him. good professor, boring lectures, easy exams, easy quiz every week. most people @ lecure watch football and take notes on the side

Daniel Blair
PHIL100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/24/2019

He sets very clear expectations for what will be on the quiz (if you know what i mean lol). His lectures are boring, 90% of people dont pay attention in class, but whenever he goes off task, he is social and funny. If you just show up to the lectures, expect a B-. All of the tests are essays so you should go to office hours if you want to learn what he is looking for. Also, he seems a little crazy, just like every philosophy professor. He opened his first lecture about how he grades finals (just enough Scotch to not get drunk, enough Excedrin to get acetaminophen jitters). He pauses in between sentences to compose his thoughts, but literally every single sentence he says is something very detailed, almost like straight off a dissertation. ALSO: he repeats this in class a lot (easily 5 times): "When I made the test, it seemed like I taught you all nothing, but then I looked back at my notes and I realized I taught you too much." overall, meh class, meh lectures, cool professor, easy grading.

Casey Enos
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/29/2019

he's so helpful and would always like to talk outside of class. If you are even slightly concerned about course material he would help you with out a doubt. Class material is interesting and not difficult.

Jeremy Reid
PHIL100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
08/15/2019

Took this course as a humanities elective with no actual interest in philosophy, but ended up finding it pretty enjoyable thanks to Mr. Reid. Some of his jokes are a little bit cringey, but he does successfully give modern and relevant examples to complex issues. He has a policy where about 10% of your grade is just going to see him at two points during the semester, and even though I felt like I didn't really need any help, both times I went we had interesting discussions and he clarified things for me that I didn't realize I was misinterpreting. His only TA was a bit useless, but she got fired halfway through the semester so Mr. Reid started leading discussions as well which quickly made it eventful. Good lecturer, involved with his students, and a really nice guy.

Heather Adair
PHIL100

Anonymous
05/23/2019

She does not put grades onto ELMS, and holds her students up to ridiculously high standards for an gen ed. NOT an easy class. Would not recommend her.

Masayuki Tashiro
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/02/2019

Best TA ever. Super helpful and very clear. He'll worry about his accent getting in the way but it doesn't.

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/13/2018

Overall the class is great. Only negative thing is that his lectures are boring, I fell asleep alot in his lecture. His grading system is great. His papers are also very easy (even though its long). Its all opinionated paper. He also has 1 midterm and its easy. He curves it if the average is low. Overall the class is great. Also do the readings when it is assigned. I did not, and when I read them before the final they were super interesting. Also learned alot from the class.

Casey Enos
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/18/2018

He's the best professor I've ever had, and this was his first time teaching a face-to-face class! He's an extremely friendly graduate student and teaches the material very well and keeps lecture interesting. There are weekly discussion quizzes that you shouldn't have any trouble with if you read the short readings. There were also three papers throughout the semester, but they are quick and fair. As long as you pay attention and take notes, getting an A is no problem. He's very accessible outside of class and is glad to help you with anything, even other classes! Not only will you learn a lot, you will also make a friend. He made me love philosophy, and everyone should take him if they get the chance!

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/23/2013

The lectures are the best part. He makes it into a discussion, and asks students questions on the topics at hand. He also goes over the readings quite thoroughly. There's a problem with that, though. In going over the readings during lecture, there is nothing to talk about in the discussion section. My TA was absolutely horrid. Even though she had a deep understanding of the material, any time she attempted to create an example for us to analyze using what we learned in lecture, she'd get confused and it would only get more and more convoluted as other people attempted to make sense of what she was saying. It was bad. However, Professor Moller is an excellent speaker. He makes jokes about the topic every once in a while, and he's very down to earth. He encourages people to ask him any questions they might have if they're struggling with anything, but he's not a mind reader. You have to take responsibility and ask for help.

Paul Pietroski
PHIL100

Expecting an A
asianzero
05/27/2012

This class requires you to do the readings, and understand them too, which takes a lot of time. The grade breakdown is 10% each for 2 quizzes, 25% each for 2 papers, and 30% for the final. The quizzes are based on the readings, and they're tricky at first. The secret is to write a good paragraph for each answer, even if you can answer some questions with just 1 sentence. The papers are just analyzing some philosopher's ideas, but you have to go into deep thinking mode for an A. The TA's are pretty nice with the grading, and even let you rewrite your first paper after they give it back. Lecture is boring, but it's important to go to understand the concepts. Also, professor focuses on certain parts of the readings and tells you what's important, so you don't have to get every single bit when studying. I had a C+ at the beginning of the year, but managed to get an A- through a lot of work. Decent class, but it's not for everyone. Requires a lot of work, but you do learn a lot about philosophy.

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/08/2011

This class is much harder than what you would expect from a 100 level course (the easy philosophy cource is 140), and Moller definitely makes it more challenging. There's a lot of assigned readings, and they are really hard to comprehend. You don't have to understand them, or even read them, just go to class and take notes. He covers whatever he thinks is important and that's exactly what he's gonna test you on. Even though Moller isn't what you would call a "fun teacher" (it'd be hard to find one in philosophy), he does try to engage the class. But if philosophy isn't something that really interests you, don't take it with MOller, cuz his monotone voice will drive you to sleep in 5 minutes. But if you are interested, Moller will prepare you for higher level courses. Like I said, the tests are tough (you have to memorize a lot of different theories and arguments) and people tend to run out of time, but they aren't tricky. The essays are probably the most challenging part; if you can't write well, don't take this class. You'll want to kill yourself.

Dan Moller
PHIL100

Anonymous
05/03/2011

Going class for the first time, if you decide to sit in the back, Moller does not speak very loud and is very difficult to hear him at first. The TA i had was not very engaging and made discussions boring. The exams are short answers but if you do not answer them very thoroughly you could possibly get 0 pts for them. When i was struggling in the class, he barely gave any feedback or advice on what to do, so I dropped the class.

Paul Pietroski
PHIL100

Expecting a B
TerpGuide
06/08/2010

I came into the class thinking it was going to be super awesome. It wasn't what I thought. The class is all about the history of philosophy and if you're just looking for an elective/core, take something else. The class isn't necessarily hard, but even having it at 11 it was hard to stay up. MMH1400 is fairly warm and Pietroski pretty much just talks. We were allowed to use our notes for the exams. The exams aren't that hard, but they get harder as the semester goes. If you come to class, you'll be fine; I didn't read any of the stuff. The papers are kinda hard to push to 6 pages if you're not interested in the material, so keep that as a heads up. Overall, the workload isn't too bad.

Paul Pietroski
PHIL100

Expecting a B+
terp2013
01/25/2010

Got a B+ in the course and was expecting an A, kinda blew off studying for the final. Lectures are extremely boring and I could only pay attention for 3-5 minutes at a time. He tends to just talk "at" the class rather than trying to engage them or make the material interesting. Skipped lectures from a week before Thanksgiving break until the final. Papers are very easy, basically just read sparknotes for the section of reading and it's straightforward from there, no extra thinking required. Midterm and final required a bit of studying but TA's, sparknotes or actually doing the reading, and review sheets make an A on them obtainable.

Reviews for PHIL100