Lynn Japinga - Hope College, Holland, MI

Professor: Lynn Japinga

Department: Theology

College: Hope College, Holland, MI

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: REL100
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

All she does is talk the whole hour, and she's not clear on what the point of the lecture is. She is also a super biased grader on paper's, and if you challenge her opinion, you will not get anything better than a C-. This class was way too much work for a religion 100 class...

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: REL100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I had her for Fierce and Faithful Bible Women. She is super passionate about feminism so all she did was talk the whole class period. Her papers are super hard and she doesn't give clear expectations on what she is looking for. She is a very bias grader and if she doesn't agree with what you are writing about, you wont do well.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: IDS431
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If you actually plan on working on your major, don't take this seminar. A response paper a week, 40 pages worth of papers extra, 60 pages of reading every other day, and a discussion based class that will not teach you much. The most work I've done has been for this class, and it has directly interfered with more important research projects.

Rating # 4

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Don't take this class! Very boring, tons of reading, and she will rarely give anything above a B on a paper

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: REL200
• 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:

Did not really enjoy her class. Grade is almost completely based of papers and she said she rarely gives out an A-. Also is a biased grader--if you don't have the same beliefs, you will get marked down. Lots of discussion which is nice, she enjoys participation. Many, many pages of journals. Expect writing a lot for this class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: REL200
• 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:

Plenty of reading assignments in this course. Overly high expectations in Dr. Japinga's class to complete all of the reading assignments because of their length and frequency, along with taking four or five other courses at the same time.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: REL280
• 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:

Japinga is an overall pretty good teacher. She does a lot of quizzes over the lectures which are from her notes and readings- they arn't too bad if you look over them before class. Most of the class grade is based off of papers, which are toughly graded. If you don't like writing papers, I wouldn't recommend this class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: REL260
• 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:

She's really nice, but she can be pretty vague on what she expects from writing assignments. She also uses a harder grading scale than normal, but she doesn't list the grading scale in her syllabus. I wouldn't recommend this class for people who struggle with writing because the class is based mostly on writing. Overall pretty interesting

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: REL260
• 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:

I thought it was a great class. There were many source readings that really hit on the subject and elaborated the many feminist perspectives. I was surprised by the amount of open conversation that was facilitated in the class. Even though I'm male I felt very comfortable in the class. There's a lot of reading, somewhat hard papers too.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: REL260
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I enjoyed this class. If you come into the class with an open mind, you will really like it. I learned a lot from Dr. Japinga, but I can see how some people not like her style.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: REL260
• 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:

i came into religion in america expecting to hate it, but i loved it. she's so great, and i always had so many questions but she was very patient with me and willing to help. the class is a lot of work but it's awesome and i definitely recommend it for your 4-credit religion.

Rating # 12

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

professor is extremely nice, though very unclear about expectations for assignments and doesnt talk about papers in class, very standoffish when asked about grading system as well

Rating # 13

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

She was awful. Every single class was incredibly boring. She does care and she tries, but it's terrible. She won't give you guidelines for papers, and then you get taken off for not following her guidelines. The worst class I've had at Hope. The only positive is she's nice.

Rating # 14

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Great Professor! She's extremely helpful and cares for her students a lot. She's very open minded, and extremely knowledgeable. I really liked the class, she somehow managed to make religion history interesting!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: REL240
• 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:

She is AMAZING! Her attitude is all of what Christian Love is about. She really makes you think critically. I definitely will read and think about God in a whole new light. Her class inspired me to be a Religion major

Rating # 16

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

very much a feminist - even cut out parts of the Bible - not something that I would expect from an ordained minister. as long as you write what she wants to read, you will do ok in the class...took me 2 exams to figure this out.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: REL260
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Fairly repetitive class discussions and reading assignments.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: REL240
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great prof. Really makes you think

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: REL240
• 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:

Dr. Japinga is one of the best professors at Hope. She is extremely knowledgable and open-minded. As a non-Christian at a conservative Christian school, I was not looking forward to my 4 credit religion requirement. But, her class exceeded expectation.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: REL280
• 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:

An engaging & committed educator. She'll challenge you to think in very new ways. That might scare ya, but it'll be worth it. Give her a chance.