Sam Black - Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Professor: Sam Black

Department: Philosophy

College: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

he was really good at teaching, had to pay attention but made it fun

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I've taken two classes with him so far (unfortunately, because the PHIL department is lacking profs) and I can say I'm not his biggest fan. He provides lecture notes, but they're lengthy Word/PPT documents that are unclear. Rambles on about theory, while not applying it to anything. Assignments and grading are poorly explained and pointless.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really boring class. He also doesn't accurately present author's views. In one case he claimed the paper was arguing for legal restrictions, when she clearly states it is a moral argument and doesn't in any way imply anything about the law.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Sam is an amazing prof and I would love to take more of his courses. I initially took this class for the writing credit but the topics were so engaging and they really change the way you look at current issues. Sam is good at giving examples to make the concepts clear and the essays are graded fairly.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Sam Black is a very good professor and explains course material well. Philosophy is a topic where you must be open to changing the way you think about issues. Being able to look at a topic objectively from both sides is extremely important if you want to do well in this class. Participate in tutorials! If you don't understand, find out how to!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHIL333PHIL42O
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Sam is really willing to invest in you and help you out if he sees that you are willing to put effort in to doing well. Probably one of the nicest profs at SFU. I took a course with him that I thought I had little interest in and he helped me find a focus that tailored my interests. Show him you care and he will guide you to get a better mark!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Black is been my favourite Prof, he loves his work, and is very proud to teach his students about a topic that is a huge part of his life. To receive a good mark in the class you needn't show up to lecture but the first couple topics originally draw you to lecture but you will continue coming after that because his lectures are amazing.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Didn't show up to a single lecture, so I didn't even recognize him at the final exam. However, seems sweet and intelligent. I assume it was an enjoyable class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Sam made the lectures pretty interesting and did his best to apply examples that would engage the class. The final for this class was pretty tricky but if you study lots you'll be fine. I think he did a great job of teaching the material and I would definitely take another course with him

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Sam is a fantastic lecturer! He really communicates clearly and makes sure the class understands the main concepts. The content of the course is very interesting, although readings are hard to plow through. Just go to lectures, listen, and study from the slides. The course, especially papers, requires a lot of thinking, but not unreasonable.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHIL321
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the most unorganized, confusing, and boring professor ever. His syllabus modifies all the time, as he counts it as "provisional". The readings are horrible, long and boring. There are no structures in his lectures. He's everywhere, and his voice is kind of boring. It's really painful to stay in lecture, but he takes attendance for your 10%.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHIL320
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very confusing prof, with no structure to the lectures. Be aware.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHIL333
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A little TOO on top of marking. Since he asks for a boat load of written assignments it's amazing that he could possibly give a charitable or careful reading of student work. YMMV your marks may vary. Like someone else said, ridiculous amount of readings. Thankfully he provides some notes. Pretty uncharitable to authors, takes extreme readings.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHIL333
• Grade Received: D-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The class itself has so much potential, but lectures did not really have a structure and the prof could not give a strong enough account of each individual paper to do them justice. Instead it was a huge amount of readings like a sprawled out dinner-rush buffet except you don't really feel satisfied at the end.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHIL333
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Awful Professor who plays favourites. Takes an entire semester to hand back all your work, makes the same criticizes and informs you that you failed to build off your previous work. Extremely uncharitable to the reading list. Teaching style makes everything he says unclear. Pretentious.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• 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:

Interesting topics, but a hard course. There were A LOT of (difficult) readings. He seems like a nice guy, and he can be funny, but I swear I fell asleep in almost every lecture (and the class was only 50 min long!). Don't really need to go to lecture, just do the readings and your papers and you're fine. Not a first year class though...

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• 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:

lecture is pointless. Do the assigned reading, write the essay, go to final, you will do fine. Boring prof.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHIL322
• 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:

Sam has taught me many times and overall he's great. Exams are really tough...if you don't study HARD, you won't do well. On the bright-side, he's more lenient than most when marking papers and gives lots of good feedback. He loves talking to students about subject matter so go see him in office hours! Super passionate about what he does.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHIL320
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very patient and helpful. He really cares about his students, and also very passionate about the subject. Sometimes he talks a lot about his attitude/understanding towards the material, which is very helpful cuz it makes the reading a lot earier to understand from a different perspective. The course itself is hard tho. Super abstract/dense readings

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHIL120W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This prof is really really boring! His class is pointless to attend! The best part is the framing question but after that it goes downhill. One of the hardest first year class as some of the material is difficult. He seems like a really nice guy outside of class though.