Marlene Briggs - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Marlene Briggs

Department: English

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGL100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Briggs is a nice prof and tries her best to engage students. Don't be fooled though, her tests and exams are hard and you need to be prepared to do a lot of reading. Don't skip class, she will take notice of you and not in a good way. She makes good use of humour to make lectures on what are sometimes dry subjects fun and interesting.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marlene was clearly a very knowledgeable prof, and very kind. However, her lectures were VERY dry, and her exams were very difficult given the time restraints. I would not recommend this course to anyone who is taking a full course load, as there are very many readings that are mandatory for success, and require a lot of time and attention.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGL100
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Briggs is a tough prof. Her lectures are boring and the reading material is awful. She forces students to buy numerous expensive novels and she picks on people in class. She is a nit picky marker and her exams were quite challenging. Class average was in the mid 60s. Do Not take to fulfill the literature requirement, your GPA will suffer.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGL221
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

While Prof. Briggs herself was great, I found the ENGL 221 frustrating. Lectures mostly consisted of group presentations (which were unhelpful), and there was a consistent focus on British history and political theory over literature (so much so that I would recommend this course to history majors looking to fulfill their literature requirement).

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Briggs is a great professor! Genuinely cares about the students learning, and knowledgeable. She tries to make the class interesting at times by using humour. However, her midterms are definitely hard to complete within the given time span, and her class is not for people who like to skip often or slack off.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENGL221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She's an excellent professor! She's so knowledgeable about the subject and clearly loves it. Her lectures are interested, hilarious, and I genuinely loved her class. Seriously, if you need to take an English class or just want an elective, 221 with Prof. Briggs is 100% a good choice!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENGL221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Knowledgable, engaging and genuinely hilarious

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG221
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Briggs is very humorous which make the class more interesting. The only thing I didn't like was her layout for the midterm. She asked for way too much to be done in under 50 minutes which made it extremely difficult to get a high mark and incredibly stressful.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I found her exams to be a race against the clock, both the midterm and final were too long for the time given. She also sometimes lectured from the back of the room which I found irritating. Despite this, she's a very intelligible prof & tied useful videos into the course. Fair marker. Gets to know her students which is nice for such a large uni.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGL221
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

So lovely! Really intelligent and knowledgeable, funny, and truly cares about the success of her students. She introduced me to how great Virginia Woolf actually is. Looking forward to taking more classes with her.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: 221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Helpful prof! Went to her office hour with a single question and came out half an hour feeling refreshed and inspired. Lectures were long, but she made it up with her genuine humor.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENGL466D
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Genuinely cares about Student Learning. Tries her best to establish a relationship with all of her students. A great lecturer, but an even better mentor. Reading list may come off as too heavy for a semester, but it's not hard to be invested in it. You'll learn so much from her class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGL466
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Quirky prof with a great sense of humour. Fabulous material & engaging lectures. Relies heavily on student-led presentations. Gives fantastic feedback on assignments. Has the best office @ ubc (with a comfy chair) -- visit her. She's awesome.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG220
• 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:

Prof Briggs is great! She has a funny sense of humour which keeps class interesting. She makes use of videos to compliment the literature which is nice, and she is very helpful. She is also a very fair marker. I really enjoyed her class!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGL490
• 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: N/A

Comment:

I found professor Briggs extremely encouraging and accommodating. She is very involved in her teaching, and even called me to have a chat when I couldn't make her office hours! The reading list was great, and the workload seemed heavy at first, but it really wasn't that bad. Highly recommended!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENGL220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very nice lady and very kind and accommodating if you miss classes... I took a 200 level class with her and it was difficult!! This is definitely not a class for slackers and as I didn't put as much effort as I could it definitely reflected on my grade. Only take if you are really willing and ready to work hard.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I thought she was a great professor. I loved how we watched informative documentaries before studying each age of literature. I loved the 220 class I took with her!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL220
• 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:

Professor is super-organized and funny and lively.The classes all fit together so if you don't skip too much its all there. Course material isn't the best, but she makes it really fun and interesting. Lots of class discussion- which i like.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG220
• 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:

Quite open for you to come ask her for help- however, exams are extremely hard- midterm was marked out of 50, (consisting of a couple short written answer questions and an essay) she came to class late leaving less than 50 minutes to write it. Really big on in-class discussion-irritating voice(especially three times a week).

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very kind and accommodating professor who is generous with deadlines. However, she is a difficult marker and gives extremely long exams that turn into races against the clock. Midterm and final are manageable if you faithfully memorize the over-head slides and take notes. Ended up with 85%.