James Harold - Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Professor: James Harold

Department: Philosophy

College: Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHIL103
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: No
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

10% of the class were uninformative powerpoints on the philosophers we read for homework (readings are very short), & the other 90% were for student questions, not really opening a discussion on the reading or helping to digest the material. Projects weren't college level & useless. Easy to not do reading yet attendance is mandatory. Not worth it.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHIL201GREEKS
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Harold is a kind, caring, but firm teacher who you'll learn a lot from. The class was centered around readings and discussions, with several small papers and three big ones. If you go to most of the classes and participate, you'll learn a lot and you'll do well. He's super approachable too so you can always ask for help.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: FYSEM110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He's a really good professor. He's a hard grader, but he lets you do rewrites to bring your grade up. He's also just a sweet person outside of class, and he's really understanding if you need an extension on anything.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: 201PHIL
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really liked the class, easy if you like to read and think. He really wants to be as helpful as he can, and while he won't always agree with your original ideas, he'll usually hear them. Really nice, regardless.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHIL334
• Grade Received: N/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 had a couple classes with James, and on all levels I find him a clear and passionate lecturer who places great value on engaging discussion in and out of class. It's important to show genuine interest & effort and participate a lot in class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHIL226
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took a bioethics course with him which was really interesting and I enjoyed the class. He has a particular way of grading papers (a bit tough), but really approachable and show up to class everyday and participate a lot. nice guy

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHIL201
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I've heard varying things about Professor Harold, but I found him to be very nice and very helpful. He explains things with great clarity, and I found his grading to be fair.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHIL273
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I was so excited about this class at the beginning of the semester. I didn't pay heed to any of the reviews on here. But this man's paper grading is awful. He corrects papers with the assumption that you will do a rewrite. I considered being a Philosophy major before taking this class, as you can guess things changed. Just terrible

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHIL127
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Harold's class was very interesting and introduced me to a subject that I knew nothing about. His readings were a bit too long but very interesting, and the class discussions made it worthwhile. However, sometimes the discussions can go on to random topics that have nothing to do with the class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHIL127
• 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:

He's a really nice and sincere guy. He obviously loves what he does. He did a great job holding discussions in a large lecture setting with a lot of students. He was really great at challeging our ideas and pushing us to think differently.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHIL273
• 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:

I LOVED philosophy before taking his class. I was even a philosophy major. In order to complete my req. i had to take four other classes with him. Philosophy is now my minor- that's how terrible he is (and everybody i know thinks so). Those that do like him, are a minority. Other than Sam, MT. Holyoke lacks great philosophy professors.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHILO273
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Harold is probably my favorite all time professor. The reading material was difficult, but he was really happy to explain concepts to people if they spoke up about what they didn't understand, he knows his crap. The essays he assigned were interesting to write. The class was small (~20 students), so it was very discussion-based. James is amazing!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHIL241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Harold had really complicated readings that he expected us to fully understand and he got really annoyed when you told him you were in the dark about a concept. He basically told me that I was going to fail if I didn't drop the class due to my lack of knowledge about the subject despite the fact that I'm obsessed with moral theory.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHI235
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This was a pretty tough class. We had argument maps due three times during the semester. All were graded toughly. Harold wants papers written a particular way and you must write in such a matter to get a good grade. We discussed interesting topics in class, but I wish there was more debate. We discussed material more in small groups.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHIL201
• 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:

James is great, very clear, very enthusiastic about the material. However, you may be warned--he is very picky about writing and writing assignments.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHIL235
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I was very excited about this class before taking it. Professor Harold soon diminished any enthusiasm I had. It seems to me that his ideas of ethics fit within a neat little box. To him, any ideas outside of that box were utterly wrong. I have never disliked a professor so much!

Rating # 17

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Great class, great prof. Very excited and knowledgeable about his stuff.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: 120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

James is wonderful and enthusiastic. Would take another class with him if I had the time.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHIL103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Loved this class. Im not as excited and enthuzd over phil as he is, but i learned a lot

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: 102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Enthusiastic wonderful dude. Take anything you can there.