Michael Hallett - McGill University, Montreal, QC

Professor: Michael Hallett

Department: Philosophy

College: McGill University, Montreal, QC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210PHIL310
• 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:

absolutely not. Reading off slides is one thing, reading off them without stopping to explain what you wrote, and droning on for pages and pages without any real amount of organization or explanation of thought process is another. Found sitting through this so really frustrating, and ended up teaching myself with a book that is equally disorganized

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHIL310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ok most people commenting here are from the viewpoint of those who don't like logic or have problems with Prof Hallett reading off slides (I don't know what else people expect him to do). But us interested in logic like Prof Hallett, he's really good in explaining you'll know this if you get to phil 310 where things are way abstract!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Logic isn't my thing, so I got more or less what I was expecting. Hallett is a nice guy and was really helpful when I met with him out of class. The only annoyance was that the final was mostly simplifying logic 'sentences', even though the practice assignments had lots of other stuff. Had A- on the assignments, got C in class because of the final.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Hallett definitely reads off the slides word for word but whenever asked a question he always explains with a great amount of clarity. He's really easy-going, he catches and fixes his own mistakes in his slides during class. Overall great prof, a little unorganized but makes everything clear. Final exam had proofs from handouts. PRACTICE!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Hallett seems like a very nice, easy-going guy. Class attendance is not mandatory as long as you have the textbook- which is a MUST, as they make very clear at the beginning of the course. The grading criteria is very fair. Two take-home assignments and a take-home midterm. The final exam was much easier than expected. Great course!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• 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:

Nice guy with a decent sense of humor, but he reads off of very text-heavy slides that often contain several errors. Your best bet at success in the class is to just do practice problems from the book on your own.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Nice prof; sets you up to succeed and is good at explaining things, but the slides often have mistakes on them. Challenging course but fun if you put in the work. The textbook is a necessity and doing practice practice problems is a must. Try to read ahead and stay ahead of the schedule. It helps a lot. The exams are marked higher than expected.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210PHIL310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Great professor teaching really interesting classes. Funny, down-to-earth, super approachable. 310 can seem like a really hard class, but the assignments and final are marked higher than you would expect to make up for that.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHIL411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The most endearing professor which I have at McGill. Professor Hallett is so egalitarian, non-pretentious, humble, and very very funny...... He knows a lot of stuff but doesn't care about formality, he wants his students to learn.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He reads the slides but he can be fun. You don't have to attend if you read your textbook. It's a pretty easy class if you do some exercises every week (1-2hrs/week).

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• 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:

Would not recommend taking phil 210 with hallett unless you need it for your program. He's hilarious with an incredibly dry sense of humor, but so uninspiring. He pretty much just reads off the slides, which are way more confusing than the textbook. Do practice exercises, and a decent grade is manageable.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Reads off slides, has no interest in the course material. You really are better off not going to his classes at all and teaching yourself from the textbook.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHIL310
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

lectures were very boring and difficult to follow. They consisted of the prof reading form a document that was just ask confusing in written form as it was in spoken form

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He reads directly off his slides and doesn't show any interest in the material he is teaching. It was not motivating to come to class at all. Everyone I know who took his class barely passed it, and everyone I know who took the same class with another teacher loved it and had no trouble at all. If you need to take this class, wait for another prof.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHIL415
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Interesting material. He is very precise in his lectures, with detailed slides. Not a great orator, but clarity makes up for that.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: P210P310P415
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

You probably shouldn't take 210 with Hallett unless you already have some experience with proofs, since he tends to read off of his powerpoints and not make eye-contact with the class. He's a much better prof in classes with less students, extremely helpful and with a subtle yet incisive sense of humour.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHIL411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I don't care what other ppl say; Hallett is the best. He's actually really helpful and nice. He wants students to be interested and learn. 210 is a sucky class. But a seminar with him is great (in the sense that he's nice). He has great notes, so attendance not necessary. Not big on participation; just show slight interest. Easy grader.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This prof definitely seemed to be bored by what he was teaching. His lectures were rambly and circuitous, which made the course material even harder. To be fair, if you do the book work, then the lectures aren't even necessary to do well. I didn't do as well as I could have because I didn't do the book work. Don't take the class unless you have to

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHIL210
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Hallett seems nice but reads his powerpoints... a lot... Very hard in the morning... The assignments were not quite relevent since it relied too much on the computer programs from the book. I barely ever showed up to class the whole semester, barely read the chapters, never installed the programs from the book and passed anyway, so...

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHIL 210
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Hallett is one of these profs that are secretly brilliant and hilarious, secretly being the keyword here as you need to get used to his extremely subtle sense of humor. As for the class, keep up with the material. REALLY keep up, do exercises weekly and make sure you understand everything. If you get lazy you WILL fail. Loved the course though.