Course Evaluations
Last semester’s course evaluations are in for my course on ancient political philosophy — which I call “Justice and the Good Life” — and I thought I’d post some of the highlights. As is the case every semester, students reported that they were overworked but that — by and large — they enjoyed themselves. And, as in previous semesters, every time one student made a suggestion for improvement, three or four students said the exact opposite:
- “More feminist perspectives if possible.”
- “I joined this course thinking it was about the Nebraskan justice system … I did enjoy it though.”
- “I was surprised at how much I applied [the material] to my actual life.”
- “Don’t assume we know anything about ancient Greece or Rome. This is your area of expertise, we don’t care. If not for this class we would have never cared.”
- “[Kohen] gets very opinionated when talking about racists on his blog.”
- “[Kohen] is very passionate and excited about the course material, or [he] pretends to be very well.”
- “As respectful and tolerant as the Dutch.”
- “He’s a cutie.”
- “Dr. Kohen is hilarious. I think he teaches this class the only way it can be taught, through question & answer & discussion — he makes people defend themselves.”
- “Needs to stop voicing opinions in class.”
Of course, modesty required that I leave out all the ones that said I was brilliant, charming, and that celebrated all of the choices I made with the assignments. But, then, see #8 again.