Harry Vandervlist - University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Professor: Harry Vandervlist

Department: English

College: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGL201
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I'm in business and I took Harry's ENGL 201 class as my required junior English and I couldn't be happier with it. Compared to some of my friend's ENGL 201 workload, Harry's is significantly lower. Attendance isn't mandatory but I enjoyed his lectures. He's also pretty funny and very kind to his students. Exams were decently easy if you study a bit

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL201
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

If you are dreading English, take it with this man. His lectures are incredibly insightful and he's incredibly funny. He doesn't mark extremely hard, and he provides rubrics for papers so you know how to get high marks. Attendance isn't mandatory, since his exams are straightforward, but if you do attend you have a great chance to get a good grade.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGL529
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Such a chill prof for a 500 level class. Gives funny and entertaining lectures. Relatively easy marker and will give you a good mark despite a few errors. Could be better at explaining a few assignments though, he wouldn't tell students or provide criteria of what he expected from presentations until asked.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGL201
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Vandervlist is an incredible prof. I hate poetry with a passion but every one of his lectures were enjoyable. He gives out easy marks so you'll have no problem passing the course so long as you put in a little effort. He realizes poetry is subjective and will never shoot down your ideas. Awesome prof and even better person.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENGL201
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Easy section compared to other ones. Harry is an engaging speaker and tries his best to make poetry exciting. But, I mean, it's poetry.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENGL340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's v nice, cares about students, very likeable and funny and tries to keep the classes attention. Also posts his notes, however, his notes aren't very useful(slides tend to be paragraph points). While he's an interesting person, I feel like I learned nothing from the class. Not sure if the class is too compounded or if he never delved deep enough

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENGL340B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Vandervlist is a charming prof, he had to take over our Part B - 340 class, and he made the most out of it. His lectures are clear, yet full of terms you have to be able to distinguish on your own. I've never had such a quickly responsive prof when it came to emails. His assignments are a bit ambiguous. However, I am taking another class with him!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENGL340B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He taught one semester of this full year course and in the process confused me in its purpose. The goal of lecture is unclear and just comments on what he thought was interesting about the literature. I was never sure of what I was supposed to learn skill wise or historically. Assignments also have unclear directions and are not discussed in class

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENGL453
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I found this course to be challenging because I'm not a big fan of really abstract concepts in literature, and Vandervlist is. Lectures were not structured at all and were largely based on discussion rather than explicitly being taught about the content and context of the works. Tangents occur often. Readings included Beckett, Orwell, and Burgess.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGL302
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Hard to believe that anyone can lecture about theory in such a riveting manner. Lectures are always interesting and humorous, slides are detailed and made available to students on D2L after every class, a list of key terms is provided before exams - he basically sets you up to succeed in every way possible. Highly recommend this prof.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENGL302
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Very approachable, and down to earth. Don't have to be afraid to ask him anything about course material

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENGL201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Vandervlist is such a nice guy. He is very clear and the most approachable prof I have had. I would recommend him.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGL201
• 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:

Dr. Vandervlist is the best prof I have had yet at UofC. He is so helpful, and really cares about each individual student. Lectures are quite boring, but I enjoyed his enthusiasm for the course. Very organized and passionate about his teachings. Course load was very small, and you only have to write one essay in english 201!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGL231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Vandervlist is a good lecturer however I hated his selection of novels and short stories and every one who was in my seminar felt the same. To get a good mark on his tests you literally need to memorize every single sentence from his slides. Saying that, I think that other english 231 courses were probably worse.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGL231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Personally, I find this prof insufferable in lectures. I dont even know why i went to class at all - he just blabbers on about completely irrelevant information for hours. I found it much more time efficient to just read his notes online. Easy course, but this prof and the TA's were below par

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENGL231
• 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:

He is a very intelligent prof that can provide lots of insight into the novels and short stories he picked, however, His lectures often dragged on way longer than they should have to the point where I was almost falling asleep. The seminars with the TA's were much more useful than the actual lectures.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENGL231
• 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:

I really liked his class, he is such a good professor and I had a really nice TA too. English has never been my strong point so I struggled with the essays, but the he and my TA always helped out. I find his lectures really interesting, I just wish my class was more responsive. He's really funny, nice, organized, enthusiastic and a fantastic prof!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Awful class if you don't like English. Dr. Vandervlist is a good prof, however, the TA I had marked extremely hard. Most of the course is based on essays so if you are not good at those you probably shouldn't take this course.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENGL231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

BEST TEACHER EVER! so chill, understanding, funny, respectful, kind, and knows what hes talking about. tests are easy, and can get a very good mark if you put in some effort

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENGL383
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Loves what he's teaching, very helpful. However, this what the most pointless class I have ever taken. Not interesting at all.