Joy Dixon - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Joy Dixon

Department: History

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HIST220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr Dixon's specialty is western European history so her lectures focused on British, French and German history. Lectures are interesting and the slides are posted, lots of in lecture participation - Tophat, readings every week, two essays and a final. Great prof overall and sparks interest in certain course themes as she covers a large timeline!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HIST220
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Took what could have been a super exciting course (European History 1500-Present) and turned it into a single, monotonous lecture about the body politic. Hardly a mention of any of the big events of that era, no Napoleon, no 30 Years War. Nothing. Lectures are dull, and essays lack clear marking scheme. The papers were textual analysis only.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HIST318
• 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:

My favorite professor in a while! She gives a final exam instead of a paper but that is how I prefer it. There are two essays that are linked to one another and revisions are allowed. The participation aspect of the course is relatively "chill" too; you just have to do the readings and participate either online or in-class.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HIST319
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is a very good lecturer, knows the material intimately, and is willing to help you succeed if you put in the effort. Definitely one of UBC's best profs.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HIST220
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Joy is an okay prof. If she was a high school paper she would be in the rage between meets expectation and minimally meeting expectations. Pros: Lets you rewrite papers, and class lectures are basically optional. Cons: Kinda boring, class content was a bit strange and wasn't what would be expected from a European History class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HIST220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Overall, I found her to be incredibly well-intentioned but I just didn't enjoy the class. I have a feeling taking an upper-level class with her might have been more enjoyable. It's unfortunate because I really enjoy the period covered in HIST220 but I just didn't find she added much to it. She does really care about her students though!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HIST319
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took Dixon's Britain 1945-Now class, and overall it was an informative and highly enjoyable experience. This course provided an interesting, bottom-up take on British Social and Political history, and definitely got away from the typical name-date experience that can characterize this sort of survey course.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HIST318
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Dixon was overall not a bad prof. However she marks insanely hard - says a 75 is a "great paper", and has an extremely nuanced preference for course materials. Eg - a British socialist modernist magazine that lasted 2 publications. Hard to take such niche materials seriously when they've no notoriety. Very micro view of huge concepts like WW1.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HIST318
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Joy is incredibly helpful but lacks clarity in explaining assignments, which are very difficult. She has high expectations and is a hard marker. The course was nothing special, a very broad overview of the period. Would not take again.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HIST333
• 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:

Joy's a great prof. Understanding, caring. The department picked the right person to chair the honors seminar. One thing that might be iffy would be her assignments and how much freedom she gives her students to approach the topic. She's a genius so she gives you lots of ideas and sometimes, that confuses things a little. Other than that, thumbsup!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HIST318
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Joy is a great person. She is kind and funny, and likes taboo and I definitely left the class with a lot of respect for her. She lacks clarity in describing her assignments though, and this bites you in the butt when you realize how hard of a marker she is. The Nelson Guide(a historical writing manual she helped to write) is equally as ambiguous.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HIST434
• 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:

Dr. Dixon was one of the best professors I have had at UBC. She really and truly wanted her students to do well, and encouraged independent and original thought in and out of class. Loved her.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HIST434
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Is generally a feminist/women History course, despite the title. Most of the material is not on the exam except for basics. Marks pretty harshly on essays. Is great with extensions and understands students' problems with deadlines.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HIST104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She seems nice and is very knowledgeable but the class seemed VERY scattered and unorganized. Our final consisted of 2 essays and some written work. She gave us like 10 people/things and 3 essay topics and told us to prepare for those and from those, she would base the final on. I studied the day of the final and got a B.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: HIST104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Really, really nice person and definately knows her stuff...however, I feel the course was a giant waste of time. I love history but was bored to tears by lectures and course readings left a lot to be desired. The lectures were a bit unstructured with a lot of rambling off. I have to say, it wasn't hard to get a good grade tho...kinda a toss up

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HIST335
• 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:

Loved her class. Very interesting and informative and she really knows her stuff (very intelligent). She's also great with extensions for papers.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HIST335
• 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:

Every professor should be like her!!! Hard marker, but knows her subject matter! Very professional, helpful and sympathetic! You'd hate to miss a class...always a "JOY" going! I enjoyed HIST 335 a lot!!!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: HIST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

HORRIBLE. it is very difficult to attend class. everyone in class is on facebook/msn. she might be passionate about the material but it is not interesting whatsoever. do not take hist 103 unless you need to catch up on sleep.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HIST104
• 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:

Really nice and fairly interesting. Knowledgeable in the subject area and tries her best to approach things from different angles. Readings were somewhat painful. Relatively easy marker.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HIST335
• 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:

One of the nicest and most intellegent teachers I've run into during my time at UBC. She marks hard, but is fair overall; when you get an A, you feel like you really deserved it.