Heather Botting - University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Professor: Heather Botting

Department: Anthropology

College: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ANTH308
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Amazing professor; I was sad to see her retire. She knows her political anthropology. Her classes were ALL interesting from folklore to circumpolar anthropology. I learned so much!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ANTH316
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Professor Botting is a really nice woman, and she's really eager to help if you contact her. BUT, she teaches her classes like online courses. I know many people who did not attend her classes but somehow managed an A+, even barely touching the textbook. She posts all examinable material online, or it's available in the library. Easy MC tests.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ANTH308
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Hmm. She's a nice lady. And you have to be seriously uninterested to get anything below a B+. But she's really just an activist dismayed at the state of the world (especially anything Harper-related. I'm with her, but could do without the overkill). Really weirdly worded multiple choice exams. Could challenge students more without being difficult.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ANTH312ANTH316
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

All her classes are laid out the same, the tests are very clear, all multiple choice questions based on the slides she posts online. Assignments are simple and not too long. Attendance isn't mandatory because she reads off the slides, and the slides are online.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ANTH323
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This wasn't the first class I have taken with her, but they're all laid out the same. Texts are useless, so borrow them from the library if you want to do the readings. MC exams based on lectures, short, easy assignments. Reads off powerpoints during lectures; just stay home and read them yourself. BUT easy marks and interesting subject matter.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ANTH310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I was excited to take her anthropology of religion class until I found that the course was filled with inaccuracies due to her excessive use of Wikipedia. Her class lectures were poorly constructed and presented, making attendance worthless. Don't waste your time and money by taking one of her courses.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ANTH306
• 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:

A fantastic professor. She is a master at designing courses, they are easy/straightforward to digest and you always know what is expected of you when you come to the exam. Her course on Contemporary Folklore is inspiring and very interesting no matter what your background. People should seriously lay off with the negative comments!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ANTH312
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Super cool lady, a wealth of knowledge, but has better things to be doing than teaching it seems. Very very easy to get an A with Botting if you read the powerpoints. I just resent that we have to buy the supplementary texts and she never seems to test on them.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ANTH306
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Yes, she has her biases; if you've taken a class with her before her spin on terms and concepts will be familiar. Botting has a tendency to read straight off her powerpoints but I've never found her monotonous. Her take on folklore gave the subject new life. Sometimes felt like a meditation class. Easy A if you do the work.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ANTH312
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Just bad. Just really really bad. Monotone voice, lack of interest in the material, spelling and grammar errors in lectures and assignment guides. For the one assignment we had to do she put 4 photocopied pages of a book on reserve. Seriously, just pay a bit of money so you can post that info online for students!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ANTH311
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Nice lady but so monotone and boring it sucks the life out of you. Coursepack full of errors, openly doesn't care about attendance, material, accuracy, student interest, lectures straight from inaccurate coursepak. Avoid if you want to like school, otherwise an easy A with no need to attend. Textbook material is at least good for those who read it.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Nice woman, obviously smart, but I couldnt understand her choice of topics to discuss. Most of her time was spent talking about corporations and the evil world. Her classes were actually kind of depressing. I dont think this topic is really her thing, I understand she does a lot better with discussing religion.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Seriously: if you do not need this class DO NOT TAKE IT. Prof Botting is the most biased and incompetent prof I have ever had. Lectures consist of half facts, half anti-corporate rants. I could feel myself getting dumber in this class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I took this class in the spring of 2010. The course material is interesting but not when she's teaching. She was so quiet and I could barely hear her even when sitting up front. She speaks in monotone which makes the class increadibly hard to not zone out in. She posts all her lecture notes and slides online so don't go.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr Botting put me off anthropology. As others have said, she teaches her own opinions and ideology, rather than facts. It's as if she thinks her students can't think for themselves. Here is a one-sentence summary of the course: Western culture, corporations, and progress are evil, and we would all be better off if we were more like the Yanomamo.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Watching her fight with the projector was the highlight of my Tuesdays. Course material is more interesting than her lectures. Don't bother taking notes during lecture because everything you need to know is already given to you. Does not respond to email, but very nice in person.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Horrible teacher! She's a nice person, but can't teach to save her life. She doesn't test on facts, or information from the text, but on her own feminist, anti capitalist views. Her class is very boring, and it's frusterating to listen to her preech about subject matter seeminly irrelevant to the class, but somehow still on all the tests

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

The one good part about her class is that you don't have to attend it. She just recites her lecture notes which are posted online so going to class is just a waste of 2 hours. Her tests are pretty easy but the material is really boring and she gets really preachy about the "evils of corporations".

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ANTH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Botting is an eccentric lady but passionate about what she does and a person just has to keep in mind their own perspective. Altogether very thought-provoking, whether you agree with her views or not, and a great class for anybody to take, anthro major or not. Never email her, go visit her instead and she's super helpful.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ANTH310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Not engaging in anyway during lectures, can't be bothered to proof-read the course packs she assigns, they are riddled with spelling mistakes and inconsistencies, doesn't respond to emails, and just overall doesn't seem to care whatsoever. Arguably one of the worst profs I've had at UVic.