Caroline Allen - University of California Santa Barbara

Professor: Caroline Allen

Department: English

College: University of California Santa Barbara

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CCS101
• Grade Received: Audit/No Grade
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Caroline was my favorite lecturer at CCS. I took her narrative prose class multiple times, her profiles classes are spectacular, she's funny, insightful and anyone who thinks she's boring is not paying attention. I felt like I got adequate feedback on my writing, both positive & critical. She introduced me to be about 90% of my favorite writers.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

She's the absolute coolest, so funny and smart

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

She was awesome and the funniest, most insightful person on campus.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: LITCS11
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Caroline Allen is one of the greatest teachers I've ever had the pleasure of studying with. Her classes are both challenging and rewarding, and her warmth and brilliance are unmatched. Caroline is one of those people who has steeped herself in great books. Her classes are difficult, charming and hilarious. I always left wiser and still laughing

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She's so funny. She makes the class worth it to show up every day and give it your all. I wish I could take every class with her.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very intelligent lady. Good performer and writer.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She was awesome.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS113
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is so funny, so smart, so full of wisdom, so valuable to the entire UCSB community. She gives so much to her students, and she's tactful and patient.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is so intelligent and knowledgeable.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She was amazing and intelligent. She has such a sense for the importance of literature, for how writer's lives affected their work, for the technique of writers versus outpourings of feeling. This level of professor can only come with years of experience and thoughtfulness about her craft.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I felt like I became a completely different writer after I finished this class. Her attention to detail, her individual support for writers, her focus on good passages that exemplify a kind of carefulness and attention to detail--she's an artist and an academic and she has really good taste in writing. She's the best professor I've ever had.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CS110
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She was so smart, so full of clarity, so knowledgeable about the material, so diplomatic when dealing with class members. She brings a lifetime of knowledge about literature and art and writing to every class. She is the best and most amazing professor I've ever had. She is natural, graceful, confident, and with an instinct for what's GOOD.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CS103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took the travel writing class with her, which I think was a new course offering. She is extremely helpful in workshopping and offers valuable feedback on students' writing, but is kind of flaky, and slow to read/turn back pieces. An excellent instructor and a great class! The books were kind of useless, and she didn't discuss them much.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: LITCS103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I took a profiles writing class with her, and it was a lot of fun. The reading was useful at first but halfway through the quarter I did feel like I got the point and was ready for something new. GREAT workshop class though, got really good feedback on my work and Caroline's a lot of fun to work with! I recommend taking classes with her.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CCS102
• 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:

a really fantastic professor , i enjoyed every second of her class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CSLIT102
• 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 time I left Caroline's class I had the motivation and inspiration to go write more. She doesn't try to force ideas down her students' throats, and is probably one of the only true open minded teachers that I've ever had. She doesn't criticize too much, which is a problem for many people...but let's face it, you should know if your work suck

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CCS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Worst teacher in CCS Lit, perhaps most boring and useless class I have taken at UCSB. No feedback, no copies for the class, terrible discussion leader. Worst of all, she admitted to my class that she doesn't read student reviews if she thinks that the students will not respond positively. That's a ridiculous disservice to her students and CCS.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGLISH
• 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:

Cuz she rocks!

Rating # 19

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Like her arch-nemesis Corum, people either love Caroline or hate her. As far as her creative writing class goes, I found it to be a great way to get credit for stuff I probably would've written anyway, but there was not substantial feedback. She's a lovely woman and it's fun to hear (good) people's stories, but not a great learning experience.

Rating # 20

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

I agree with the people who don't enjoy the way she conducts her creative writing/short story writing classes. I never got any feedback written on my stories, not even "very good" as a poster below got. She also read the stories out loud and often butchered them. I think everyone should have a copy.