Randy Harris - University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Professor: Randy Harris

Department: English

College: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGL309B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Harris seems like a great person and an expert in his field. He expects a lot from students and that's fine, but you're fine if you do the readings. What really bothered me was his attitude. He cares for his students but in a sort of paternalistic way. It can feel quite belittling/demeaning and even derogatory.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL309B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Randy Harris is a good person and could be a great lecturer, but has a hard time organizing the course content in a way that the class will understand it. The textbook was very dense, but going to class made it easier to understand. Tests covered a wide range of content, where impossible to know every detail he was looking for.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306
• 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:

I graduated from Rhetoric and Professional Writing in 2000. To this day Randy Harris is my favourite professor. His humanity and intelligence helped me greatly while at U of Waterloo and continue to inspire me. He is an amazing person and I still remember some aspects of his engaging lectures. Thank you Prof Harris.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A decent professor, but sometimes makes things harder than they should be (convolutes lectures). He seems to care for his students. The class is difficult class for people who have never taken linguistics. His tests are difficult because the examples are completely different than the lectures. You really need to know everything and the logic.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENGL793
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Amazing prof, inspirational lectures. He makes you work really hard, but he is always there for you.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENGL309
• 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 Harris is phenomenal. He's one of the few profs who strikes me as an academic - he speaks very eloquently and knows much more than just the course material. The course is difficult because he expects a lot from his students, so don't take it unless you're prepared to work. I would take all of my classes with Harris if I could!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• 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:

I took the course online. The course was captivating even only with audio podcast. Prof Harris explains the concept in a crystal clear way and presents connections between the theoretical devices in linguistics and real life vividly. He monitors the online question board only constantly in daytime. He is a wonderful prof!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

graduated 10 years ago and still remember how wonderful Prof Harris was. He was so supportive and interested in the material he was teaching. A great person.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This course was awesome with Harris!Both midterms were a bit difficult but that's just cuz of the content in the course, not because of the prof. attend all classes because he explains things well.people who didn't get a good grade probably didnt do readings or attend class lol. Definitly take 306A with harris

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult class with lots of material to cover. He knows everything, but he's so smart that he has trouble teaching intro level material. When you go to office hours for help, he'll just tell you to read the chapter in the text again. His midterms and the exam are m/c & t/f but there is a penalty for the wrong answer. Take it with a diff prof!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENGL309C
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marks a third year course for participation b/c it displays "being rhetorical" and is practical, yet the questions he asks are often derivative and dialectic. Mid-term was also short answer and fill in the blank, which contradicts the importance of rhetoric. Very good lecturer--intelligent and funny--but seems like a jerk.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENGL309B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Harris is the prof you were terrified of before you started university, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Tough, but valuable: encourages critical thought, intellectualism, and the value of rhetorical studies. Actually tests facts, which is a first in university English, but if you do the reading and attend lectures, and *think* you're fine.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGL392A
• 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:

Students can learn a lot of practical design skills in this course. There are tons of assignments though. He's not a tough marker if you show some thought in the design of your projects. He loves when you choose a theme and then exemplify in all the components of the do****ent (i.e., font, colours, pictures, layout). Course participation = 20%!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is very interesting, makes you think about language/understand it better. Midterms are very difficult. Class average like 65% going into final. As a prof, he's a pretty good teacher. Interesting lectures. You better go to class though, learning on your own would be hard for this class. Don't expect a good mark. I just hope I do go

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGL409A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really interesting class. Sometimes covered material a little quickly and when questions were asked he lingered on trying to over-explain the answer (which totally threw the rhythm of the class). Other than that, his material and knowledge of it are great. Make sure you don't skip his classes, you're finished if you do.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 306ADE
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The DE class had a lot of technical difficulties and the TA lost our assignments. Harris was a great help throughout and the lectures were just so funny and clear. One of the most interesting courses i've had. Unfortunately, he wasn't that nice when I met him in person.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• 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: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Explanations are clear. Midterms and exam are fair, but you need to know your stuff well.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Genuinely does care about students. Calms you down when you're upset about the midterm. Offers any help he can. Some of the lectures go really fast though, and if you don't understand it, you feel stupid interrupting the class to get clarification.

Rating # 19

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Harris is one of the department's biggest assets in terms of teaching. Yes, he's very demanding. For the student who can rise to the challenge, however, the results are worth it. You'll learn more and produce better work than you ever thought possible.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG306A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Funny, smart, interesting.