Mary Kerr - University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Professor: Mary Kerr

Department: Theater

College: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: THEA361
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mary Kerr is one of the most amazing people I have ever had the chance to learn from. Yes it is hard work, but if you aren't up for the challenge, you are only cheating yourself. Before Mary I had never had an instructor that pushed me to a higher level of potential, she is kind, fun, and interesting. Participation is important in her classes.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: THEA300
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have had classes with Mary for four years now. She assigns ALOT of work, but, if you love design, she is very helpful and inspirational. Be prepared to share your designs in class weekly. Her costume history courses are really informational and go beyond just costumes to give you a good understanding of the time as well as the costumes.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: THEA361ETC
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She constantly put down religion and would say things that didn't make sense. I would go home and look up some of her quotes and terms and they would be wrong. She told our entire class that we were terrible writers and when she was our age she was at the top of her class. All in all I found her pretty rude. I dropped her class mid-semester.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: THEA261
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She works you hard, but once you figure her out shes incredibly kind toward her students and has a lot of respect for you if you work for what you want. Her marking is subjective to your art style, and as you evolve as a designer, so does her marking toward your work.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: THEA362
• 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:

I was failing the first half of the term (my fault), and what I love about Mary is that she never treated me like a failing student, but continued to accept me as a student and artist. She encouraged me to work my way out of that rut, and taught me that passion is important, but not enough if you aren't investing all the work that goes into it. :)

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: THEA000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mary is one of the most inspiring teachers I have ever had. She pushes students out of their comfort zones and rewards risk taking and hard work. She cultivates new ways of thinking and challenges students' preconceived notions of design, art and theatre.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: THEA261
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Mary has a wealth of knowledge and clearly loves what she does. BUT, this class is a LOT of work. Designers will certainly gain skills from this class, IF ANYTHING an ability to prioritize and schedule. Appreciate Mary for the knowledge she has to share (she's very friendly!) but don't worship her or hang on her approval. Be confident, work hard.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ALL
• 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:

To those who feel Mary Kerr is "washed up", kindly do the following: google the phrases, "Copper Thunderbird + National Arts Centre", "Siminovitch Theatre Prize + jury", and "Scenography in Canada + Natalie Rewa", then please apologize for your scurrilous lies.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: DESIGN
• 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:

The previous comments are so ridiculous I doubt that they were even written by a student of Mary's. Mary Kerr is an internationally recognized artist, a brilliant thinker and a beautiful human being. You will get out of her classes exactly what you put in. Mary is supportive to a fault and is genuinely interested in her students and their work.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: AESTHETICS
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

As an inexperienced artist, I was terrified to take her classes, but she was so helpful and basically if you put forth a lot of effort then it pays off. She stimulated my interest in the subject, and you just have to accept Mary Kerr for Mary Kerr and appreciate her experience. She does like to talk about her work.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: COSTUMEDESIGN
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Mary may of been a great designer over 20yrs ago, but that doesn't mean she should teach. She is self involved and doesn't spend enough time on building the skills that designers need. Her marking is abhorable, it is never based on effort expended but who is her flavour at the moment. Lucky for me I seemed to be a favourite but I don't know why.

Rating # 12

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Mary is all about Mary. The only way she knows how to teach is to tell you what she did when she was designing. She has no desire to teach and is only in it for a pay cheque. She takes in a few students and has no idea who the rest of the department is. She actually takes pictures of her students so that she can remember their names.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: T362
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mary is not very clear about what she wants students to know. It is a course based on reading before class, and just slides in class. Lots of them. Her rambling lectures glaze over offhandedly the things it later turns out are key regarding testable material, and often focus on details. Quite a difficult prof to understand. Not helpful.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: COSTUMEHISTORY
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I went for feedback on a project I’m working on and Mary gave me over an hour of her time, and lent me various books from her personal library. She has a real passion for costume history and is an enthusiastic lecturer.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ALL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mary Kerr changed my life; her genius and dedication is matched by her benevolence. Mary is without question one of Canada's foremost designers and her passion burns into the minds of her students, shaking thier views and exploding thier minds. Mary is a zealot of erudition, a besotted iconoclast, and a beautiful soul. Take (all) her courses.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: DESIGN
• 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:

Let's just say that I my friend failed every test and took pictures of his friends..crappy ones..for assignments, and he got a A, Mary grades you on how much she likes you personally..unethical?

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: DESIGN
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mary picks obvious favorites in the first week of classes, and sticks to them for the rest of the class. She is not approachable, and she does not care about her students. Her marking makes no sense when it comes to teaching. She is an artist, but she is with worst teacher I have ever had.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: THEA361ETC
• 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:

Amazing mentor... beautiful, creative soul with a brilliant career to back up the theory in her classes. Recommend to anyone interested in design, culture, media, etc.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: DESIGN
• 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:

Her vagueness in class shakes up people who can't think outside of the box. Which is great because that is what theatre is all about. The teahcers should be hard so we can be challenged, and so that not just anybody can get a degree.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: THEA362
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Interesting class, reasonably flexible teacher, choice in assignments, but hard tests. LOTS of slides.