PHIL211 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Nathan Lauffer PHIL211 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/15/2026	Amazing professor, and I'll be real he genuinely cares about what he's teaching, including what the students think too. He's very thoughtful with his responses, and he makes sure that everyone is heard in the class. Assignments, projects, exams are all do able, though I will say can take up some time. Every 2 weeks you have these questions you need to answer thoughtfully based on the readings and bringing up stuff from the lecture. There's a midterm where you write an in-class essay, but it wasn't that bad and the grading was very lenient (literally just try and you should get a decent grade). Instead of a final, you have to submit a video presentation. Just make sure you attend the classes since he randomly hosts a poll for participation grade, and also make sure to attend every discussion to avoid losing participation grade (TA does take attendance). The instructions for each assignments are very clear and thoughtfully written. The professor and TA are very approachable so feel free to ask them about any concerns or questions you have. The topic of this class is about the AI ethics, and I do recommend any students in CS or technical areas take this course. You will explore a lot of fascinating concepts and you will learn a lot from it. It was a little unstructured when I took it, but it should definitely get better over time.
Susan Dwyer PHIL211 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2025	Awesome professor. Highly recommend this class if you are coming from a CS/engineering background. Lectures and discussion sections were very engaging. Our TA, Leo, was great. Dr. Dwyer is super open to feedback. Grading consists of 3 essays (~3 pages each), a few discussion posts, and participation. Overall she made me super interested in philosophy and I am going to take another philosophy class next semester.
Susan Dwyer PHIL211 Anonymous 01/28/2025	Pros: Dr. Dwyer is an incredibly engaging professor. She is able to explain topics eloquently and in a manner that is easy to understand. The content is interesting. You go over topics such as automated influence(recommender systems), LAWS, algorithmic bias/opacity, and moral machines. She has a great sense of humor. Cons: The grading is challenging. There were 6 quizzes, worth a total of 70% of your grade. Each quiz has about 4-5 questions. The questions are not multiple choice; you have to write out your answers in sentences. However, in lecture, Dr. Dwyer will give out “quiz highlights” i.e. “Here’s what's on the quiz”, which is incredibly helpful. Also, the quizzes tend to quiz main ideas, and not random facts. The other 30% is an essay where you illustrate how your views on various ethical issues regarding AI have formed, and then defend said views. Getting an A is perfectly doable and should not be very time consuming, as long as you pay attention in lecture.
Susan Dwyer PHIL211 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/21/2025	Pros: - Dr. Dwyer is an incredibly engaging professor. She is able to explain topics eloquently and in a manner that is easy to understand. - The content is interesting. You go over topics such as automated influence(recommender systems), LAWS, algorithmic bias/opacity, and moral machines. She has a great sense of humor. Cons: - The grading is challenging. There were 6 quizzes, worth a total of 70% of your grade. Each quiz has about 4-5 questions. The questions are not multiple choice; you have to write out your answers in sentences. However, in lecture, Dr. Dwyer will give out “quiz highlights” which are incredibly helpful. Also, the quizzes tend to quiz main ideas, and not random facts. The other 30% is an essay where you illustrate how your views on various ethical issues regarding AI have formed, and then defend said views. Getting an A is perfectly doable and should not be very time consuming, as long as you pay attention in lecture.

Nathan Lauffer
PHIL211

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/15/2026

Amazing professor, and I'll be real he genuinely cares about what he's teaching, including what the students think too. He's very thoughtful with his responses, and he makes sure that everyone is heard in the class. Assignments, projects, exams are all do able, though I will say can take up some time. Every 2 weeks you have these questions you need to answer thoughtfully based on the readings and bringing up stuff from the lecture. There's a midterm where you write an in-class essay, but it wasn't that bad and the grading was very lenient (literally just try and you should get a decent grade). Instead of a final, you have to submit a video presentation. Just make sure you attend the classes since he randomly hosts a poll for participation grade, and also make sure to attend every discussion to avoid losing participation grade (TA does take attendance). The instructions for each assignments are very clear and thoughtfully written. The professor and TA are very approachable so feel free to ask them about any concerns or questions you have. The topic of this class is about the AI ethics, and I do recommend any students in CS or technical areas take this course. You will explore a lot of fascinating concepts and you will learn a lot from it. It was a little unstructured when I took it, but it should definitely get better over time.

Susan Dwyer
PHIL211

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/09/2025

Awesome professor. Highly recommend this class if you are coming from a CS/engineering background. Lectures and discussion sections were very engaging. Our TA, Leo, was great. Dr. Dwyer is super open to feedback. Grading consists of 3 essays (~3 pages each), a few discussion posts, and participation. Overall she made me super interested in philosophy and I am going to take another philosophy class next semester.

Susan Dwyer
PHIL211

Anonymous
01/28/2025

Pros: Dr. Dwyer is an incredibly engaging professor. She is able to explain topics eloquently and in a manner that is easy to understand. The content is interesting. You go over topics such as automated influence(recommender systems), LAWS, algorithmic bias/opacity, and moral machines. She has a great sense of humor. Cons: The grading is challenging. There were 6 quizzes, worth a total of 70% of your grade. Each quiz has about 4-5 questions. The questions are not multiple choice; you have to write out your answers in sentences. However, in lecture, Dr. Dwyer will give out “quiz highlights” i.e. “Here’s what's on the quiz”, which is incredibly helpful. Also, the quizzes tend to quiz main ideas, and not random facts. The other 30% is an essay where you illustrate how your views on various ethical issues regarding AI have formed, and then defend said views. Getting an A is perfectly doable and should not be very time consuming, as long as you pay attention in lecture.

Susan Dwyer
PHIL211

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/21/2025

Pros: - Dr. Dwyer is an incredibly engaging professor. She is able to explain topics eloquently and in a manner that is easy to understand. - The content is interesting. You go over topics such as automated influence(recommender systems), LAWS, algorithmic bias/opacity, and moral machines. She has a great sense of humor. Cons: - The grading is challenging. There were 6 quizzes, worth a total of 70% of your grade. Each quiz has about 4-5 questions. The questions are not multiple choice; you have to write out your answers in sentences. However, in lecture, Dr. Dwyer will give out “quiz highlights” which are incredibly helpful. Also, the quizzes tend to quiz main ideas, and not random facts. The other 30% is an essay where you illustrate how your views on various ethical issues regarding AI have formed, and then defend said views. Getting an A is perfectly doable and should not be very time consuming, as long as you pay attention in lecture.

Reviews for PHIL211