Joseph McGowan - University of San Diego, San Diego, CA

Professor: Joseph McGowan

Department: English

College: University of San Diego, San Diego, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG228
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Breeezeeeee

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL228
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Took this as Studies in World Cinema over the summer. Sat around and watched movies and wrote 3 papers. Easiest way to burn an English requirement. The Professor is knowledgeable in everything, it seems. Full of trivia.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG228
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

McGowan is an amazing professor. If you take good notes and actually visit him during office hours & make an effort, he'll highly take it into consideration. Sometimes the essays may be hard to write but he's always open to different approaches. Attend every class, go to office hours, take notes -- you'll get an A.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGL314
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Exams are take home essays and if you are unsure of a topic or confused about it he is extremely helpful in office hours. Wants all of his students to pass. If you are a non English major he is an easy grader; his guidelines for essays are simple he does not lower grade if not in correct format/correct grammar. Grades more on your thoughts/ideas.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG494
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. McGowan is basically the smartest person I've ever met--but he's so chill and down to earth that it's not intimidating. I had him for Old Norse, and it was such an interesting topic. Seriously take any of his language classes! They're actually not very difficult, just a lot of fun.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ANCIENTLIT
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Never read the books, just three essays, never payed attention in class. VERY easy A

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG494
• 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: Mandatory

Comment:

Hands down one of the best teachers I've ever had! I am taking Old English-- I had thought, how big could this be? The period only lasted so long. HA! Dr. McGowan opened some magical academic door to a whole other world of language. I have never been so intrigued by what a professor had to say.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENGL300
• 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:

Professor McGowan is a really knowledgeable! It is obvious that Dr.McGowan knows a lot about Irtish culture and history and there are definitely nuggets of information when you can hear him. All in all, you watch movies, read short books, and write three essays so it's not too bad.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENGL318
• 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:

He's really witty if you're paying enough attention to catch it all. If you do (and most students don't), he's hilarious. Can't always hear him in the back of the room, but the class is interesting because he spews so much knowledge. You just have to pay close attention. Hardest part for me was figuring out what exactly he wanted for assignments.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGL228
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

not a fun class, but not too much work. 3 papers and the final is a set of essays. not too hard of a grader. spend every class listening to him mumble about random stuff and watch movies. just be able to write a paper and you're good!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENGL318
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Fantastic! He is one of the smartest men I've ever met and is absolutely hilarious! Most of his jokes go over the heads of the students to dumb to get it. But he is an awesome teacher and makes his classes very interesting! I'm taking him again for sure! Definitely recommended! :)

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENGL228
• 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:

Really nice guy. I was interested in the course regardless, but he would bring in movies, pictures from trips, and make jokes to make the class more entertaining. Be respectful though, please, because he's such a nice guy, and because if you aren't respectful in class, he will eventually embarass you in a sneaky & intelligent way =)

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG225
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Prof. McGowan is surprisingly entertaining even in dull subject matter. Easy course and, if you attend class, very informative and interesting. Only graded upon essay. Sweet hair cut--actually looks like a comb over. Yahooohooooooo.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGL228
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Really nice teacher and class is really easy. Tho he can be kind of boring sometimes, he's really funny most of the time and you watch a lot of movies. really easy A

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGL228
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

really nice man, but so boring, bring your lap top, but attendance is not mandatory. 4 papers and i never read the books, SO BORING. be good at bs'ing essays or love greek/roman literature if you take this class

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENGL318
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Mcgowan is great. The things we talked about were really interesting, and he does great/funny immitations of different accents. I would definitely take his class!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: IRISHTRAD
• 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:

Amazing professor!! You have tons of time to read the books and he gives you so many options for the essays. The class can get boring but he actually is one of the funniest professors I've had at USD. Definitely take him if you can!

Rating # 18

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

McGowan is a great teacher and this was the first class at USD that I really enjoyed writing in. The material was probably as boring as it comes but the essay prompts were extremely broad so you could pretty much write about what felt was important in all the plays. All teachers should learn from this guy!!

Rating # 19

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

He made it pretty clear that he doesn't really care about the class. He makes you watch the wierdest, most random movies on stuff that has nothing to do with what we are studying. Minimal work, no final exam, just a paper. It's hard for me to pay attention in class, because I always get distracted by wondering if his hair is real or not.

Rating # 20

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

This class was great on the whole, although watching obscure foreign films every week can be very boring... but often the movies are really good. The professor is not all that clear about his expectations, but it doesnt matter cus he usually isnt looking for anything in specific and is just looking for a good response. Overall, good class!