John Fennell - Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

Professor: John Fennell

Department: Philosophy

College: Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHI394
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

John was such a gem in my seminar and in my MAP. He was always willing to engage in new ideas and makes super technical concepts very accessible. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a fun philosophy professor for a usually tough field of analytical american pragmatism.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHI102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Fennell might lecture for a long time, he might go over time, but he is so open to questions and doesn't make you feel bad for asking, unlike some of the other professors at the college. If you show him that your interested, he'll help you make grades. One test a week, one test re-take, and one awesome accent. Cheers mate.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHI102
• 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:

Class is organized well so your receive new information each time. Sometimes he likes to yell when making a point which can be surprising at first.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHI256
• 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:

Great professor. Really wants students to get material. Does lecture a lot but is open to discussion. You have to be proactive to start discussion but trust me listening to the lectures is often far more reward. Clearly extremely passionate. A kind man and a great advisor

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHI111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

My least favorite class at Grinnell BY FAR! The only class I've taken where I felt I learned NOTHING! Not a good professor at all. Just talks the entire 50 minutes--not engaging at all. Paper prompts were extremely unclear.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHIL101
• 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:

Wow-I thought philosophy was going to be easy-wrong.However, I learned so much. Fennell explains concepts really clearly, which I appreciated. He gives good feedback and if you come to his office w/ questions, he's very helpful. Really smart, intimidating, helpful, encouraging.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHI256
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

It can be said with certainty that Fennell is an expert on the material at hand; however, his plodding, almost entirely lecture-based courses fail to inspire the kind of enthusiasm one expects must motivate him to study this subject. For an avid student of philosophy, his constant repetition inside of - and between - lectures was really dull.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHI256
• 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:

He is a great teacher, this stuff is his life and it shows in his ability to explain things very clearly. Not a lot of class discussion but really good lectures. Great at answering questions and really nice outside and inside of class

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHI111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great guy. Really know his stuff. Wish I would have talked to him more in offices hours about papers. Definitely worth taking Intro with him if you have any slight interest in philosophy.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHI258
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

i would marry john fennell and have him read philosophy to me in his glorious australian accent.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: LOGIC101
• 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:

incredible, one of the best three classes i took at GC

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHI102256
• 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:

Fennell rocks. He is incredibly clear, engaging and challenging. Take his class if you want a no b.s., no busy work course. He is religious about following the syllabus so you know what you are getting into from the first day of class. He is willing to review drafts of papers and he will spend any amount of time with you in his office.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHI111
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

his lectures are so clear that it is impossible to not understand the material, although the material is incredibly boring except for Nietzsche and Plato

Rating # 14

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

fennel is a very good-looking man. he paces around a lot, and pops up and sits down on the desk over and over. he's so totally australian too, which is cool. when he thinking deeply, his face darkens and it seems like he is staring into the abyss.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHI102
• 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:

In Logic, it seems impossible not to do well, even if you skip a lot. Everything is laid out on the syllabus and if you read the book you only really need to show up for the quizzes on Friday. Good class, but I dont know when I'll ever use the knowledge.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHIL101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Fennell is the man. He's clear as can be. He makes things easy to understand, but incourages your insights and challenges on philosophers. A nice guy. A real human being....not lofty...doesn't put wall between himself and students.

Rating # 17

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Repeats things a bit too much, but other than that a good prof.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHI111
• 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:

Fennel is a great prof, he gets to the foundations of the philosophy and even lets you argue about it, which was really nice. He also has his crazy Austrailian accent.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POFMIND
• 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:

it was the first class he taught in grinnell. it was not bad and i could see it improving. he makes effort to do things well and he's definitely becoming one of the better profs. take his phi of lang class.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHI111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very good lecturer, one of the best