William O'Brien - University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Professor: William O'Brien

Department: Literature

College: University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's quite the character. Always somehow makes dry texts interesting with funny commentaries. The prompts are straightforward but the final was a little tricky. Again, like with other HUM classes your TA determines your grade so go to their OH if you can, but don't be afraid to contact him as well!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's hilarious and his lectures are really interesting. His essay prompts were very straightforward and easy to interpret, but the ones on the final exam were a bit confusing. If you pay attention in lectures and discussion, you should be good. He's really sweet and one of the best professors I've had at UCSD! Take him!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: LTEN176
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

O'Brien is able to come across as a pretentious germanophile and a rebellious, anti-hierarchical-academic outsider at the same time. At first this is amusing: his lectures are closer to rants about a world external to the classroom that he no longer understands, and are filled with admonitions about pursuing a career in academia. You don't need to show up to lectures, but they are entertaining nonetheless. But then, you quickly learn how stringent he is on papers. His blanket assumptions about what good writing is (Try telling David Foster Wallace a paragraph can't be a page long). And should he disagree with your argument, expect a C. My best advice if you're already enrolled in this is class is to visit him during office hours to get a gauge on what he wants, because the criteria is often arbitrary.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. O'Brien is hilarious as a professor, but he isn't as good as Lyon or Lee. Using our Humanities "Compare and Contrast", I would say that O'Brien's class pacing accounts for this quality difference. Whereas Lee finishes texts, O'Brien tends to only cover 20-35 pages of a text each week and then moves on. So, most of the reading is for you only.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This man is a genius.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HUM5LTWL176
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

O'Brien changed my life. I think everyone has a professor like that in college and he was that for me. I highly recommend you take him while he is still teaching at UCSD. Crazy guy but totally genuine. He's passionate about what he is doing, and if you care about the class he will care about you. He brought confidence to my writing and thinking.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

1 - The best lecturer at UCSD. Go to his class even if you are not in it (just don't talk to your friend during lecture). 2 - forces you to think way outside the box (aka what you should learn in college). 3 - Very approachable (office hours are not like lectures) - if you don't take O'Brien you miss out at UCSD.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: LTEN176
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

If you don't have the answer he is looking for, he completely shuts you down, and doesn't even try to understand where you might be coming from. Way to teach and engage a class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• 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:

By far, hands down, no doubt the best humanities professor at UCSD. He teaches you things you aren't supposed to know, and is hilariously kooky and passionately blunt throughout. His cynicism towards society is very interesting, and greatly widens your understanding of the world. The required reading is light, and interesting too. I LOVE HIM

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• 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:

Lectures were insightful. First paper topics were okay, second ones were just hard. Unfortunately he got sick and was gone after Mon wk 7, so someone else likely wrote the final exam. Grading done by TA, like always.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• 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:

So it's been a couple years since I had him, but I can honestly say he was probably my favorite prof here at ucsd. He has an amazing sense of humor and his insight is great. If you take HUM 5, take O'Brien. Period.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• 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:

Hilarious sense of humor. This and HUM 4 were my favorite ever. He makes things really interesting and makes you want to go to class. Definitely take him.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MMW5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

A phenomenally boring class. Take a different professor.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: LTGM131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Excellent prof! By the way, he got the UCSD Alumni Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2006 AND got 4 Outstanding Teacher of the Year awards from Revelle and ERC. He's been at UCSD since 1986 and is absolutely brilliant. People who don't like him need to get out of their little box. Open your mind, get to know him, and you'll love him!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MMW5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

O'brien is AMAZING. he leaves you in the dark about the exams, but you will be well prepared for them if you go to lecture and do the reading. his lectures provoke thought and are not at all dry-they resemble personal rants more than they do lectures about the enlightenment, etc.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

There are no words to describe Billy O'Brien. His class made no sense. He was insane. And yet, he was kind of awesome.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Great professor! For the spring 07 quarter he kept on being late,but once he told us why we all excused his lateness.The guy's been through a lot. As for his lectures, he makes them very interesting by saying exactly what is on his mind. Doesn't care about what people think.I recommend you go to his office hours, he is great to talk to.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MMW5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This is probably the best MMW teacher I ever had. He is a refreshing change to the usual MMW courses, not so fact and date based. He connects the readings and questions them and the world today. His exams are very representative of his lectures, and goes over all readings in lecture line by line. Definitely recommend him over anyone, very good prof

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MMW5
• 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:

I love, love, loved him. I highly recommend taking him because he concentrates almost completely on the literature in our reader and less on the history. His class was the most interesting MMW class I've ever taken, with many parallels to what is going on presently in the world. Final and midterm very straightforward if you make the connections.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HUM5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The best professor I have ever had at UCSD. His lectures are entertaining as well as informative. Here's a guy who speaks his mind and opens student's minds. His class is the only class I've had where I've actually NOT wanted it to end.