Fred McGinness - Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Professor: Fred McGinness

Department: History

College: Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HST301
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I've taken multiple classes with him. He's clear, funny, and encourages participation. I was always able to approach him with any issues or questions. The classes are small but he's been known to allow extra people to join as long as they show up. The lectures have a lot of reading but it's worthwhile.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HIST203
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He was such a delight. Extremely engaging; always makes his students part of the conversation. He is one professor who values the pursuit of knowledge above all else. Loved the readings, loved the papers, loved his lectures and all the interesting conversations we had in and outside of class.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HIST101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Not as many papers as I thought. He seems to really care about his students.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HIST272
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Took this class on a whim and couldn't be happier! Each lecture was interesting, insightful, and well prepared. In this class, every lecture was basically story time. Remembers everyone's names, would say hi to me outside of class, and even sat down over coffee with me to talk about my final paper. There's a reason he's a legend in the department!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HIST27201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor McGinness is a superb professor who makes classes interesting, educational, and is one of the best professors who I have had the pleasure of studying under.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HIST203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This professor is so passionate about the subject, teaches with complete clarity, and really knows how to get a discussion going. It was an absolute pleasure learning from him.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HIST221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor McGinness is a FANTASTIC professor! He is also my advisor, and is one of the most caring professors at MHC. He is genuinely interested in his students' thoughts and well-being. His lessons were always interesting; beware - he's a hard grader! You will WORK in his class!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HIST221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I was not impressed with his class. He is a very kind and intelligent person, but his classes were bone dry. He engaged the class once in a while but mostly lectured. It felt more like an english class to me than history...we read a lot of renaissance literature and discussed authors and themes. Not at all what i wanted in a history class

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HIST150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Creepily good at remembering names! But really nice, an adorable old man, and super passionate about the subject. He does call on you without you raising your hand in discussion, but you get used to it. Lots of reading but not too many papers. Fair grader who gives excellent feedback. Helpful, funny, and accessible. Really liked him.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HIST221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Wonderfully engaging prof who actively teaches, making sure everyone gets it and tying in modern references to make concepts clearer to the modern perspective. Makes a point to know each student's face and name and make you individual as opposed to one of the crowd. Definitely taking more classes with him in the future.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HST330
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I love Fred! So gracious, so intelligent, so engaging. Definitely take a class with him.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HST301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I love Fred! He's one of the best professors I've ever had. He's very passionate about the material and always makes sure we understand all of his points. Definitely take a class with him!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HIST120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Fred is fantastic!! He is so knowledgeable, and his passion for the subject is contagious!! He is an engaging professor who is compassionate, kind, considerate, and very personable. By far one of my favorite professors at MHC!! I would take any class that he teaches!!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HIST120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

A really nice guy; my only critique is that he does the same thing every class- a lecture outline on the board and a powerpoint to go along with it. Class can get very boring; lots of req. reading, but he's cool. Highly recommend going to talk to him during his office hours.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: COMOR299
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is the bestest professor!!! Very understanding, in touch with the "real world", crystal clear about assignments and lectures. The class is NEVER boring. Reading assignments are very interesting and close to the corporate world. Oh, and he likes dog :)

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HIST120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Mr. Mcginness is so amazing! He is caring, incredibly knowledgeable, highly intelligent + so much fun to talk to. He made the effort to know everyone's names in a class of like 70 ppl. I knew nothing about Ancient Greece and Rome b4 + history was never my strength so taking this class was by far the most rewarding experience. *lots of readings

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HIST120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He would be an excellent professor for an upper level class, but I didn't like his 100 level course. He expected that we already had prior experience in the subject and didnt know how to explain things to students who did not already know the material. But he is really nice and made an effort to get to know everyone's names in a huge lecture class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: HIST120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is way over rated. He's really nice but his class is awful. I'd read the comments about him being so great and was very dissappointed when i took the class. It's very difficult to decipher what he is asking in essay prompts and lectures are structured exactly the same way every day. Definately not my fav class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HIST301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Fred is a great prof! He knows so much and I feel like just being in the same room=osmosis of knowledge. I've taken a 100 level with him which was ok, but his 300s are great! So interesting and almost always engaging. He is accepting of all views and loves critical thinkers which I appreciate so much.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HIST120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is a fair grader, and a nice guy. But he is a bad teacher. He assumes that you have prior knowledge on the subject and assigns a huge amount of reading. Lectures are boring and he clearly chooses favorites. He is so painfully verbose that he doesnt actually communicate anything. Unless you are an expert on Greece and Rome, dont take this class.