Intro Western Phil Tradition

Professor Woodruff is clearly very passionate about philosophy. At the beginning of the first week of the semester, her course was overenrolled. She tried to scare some students away by saying the class would not be easy, that she does not give everyone A’s, and that students would need to work hard. While many students did drop, a good majority of us stayed, partly because of the integrity of midd-course reviews (lol). That being said, she turned out to be an easy grader. The readings, while enjoyable and well-selected to engage students in lecture, were not strictly necessary for success. Professor Woodruff also provided study guides that clearly outlined what would be on the exams, so nothing was ever a surprise. Additionally, the class included a peer tutor, and attending his review sessions basically gave you guidance on what to write for upcoming exams and quizzes. She felt fair, and I enjoyed the discussion aspect of the class, which helped consolidate the material from lectures. Lectures sometimes felt long, often carrying over an hour, which caused attention to wane at times. There was also a fair amount of writing: group projects for discussion, quizzes and exams that included writing mini essays and defining key terms, and a paper (four pages, double-spaced) with four options to choose from. Overall, this class was insightful, and I felt like I learned a lot.

Professor Woodruff is clearly very passionate about philosophy. At the beginning of the first week of the semester, her course was overenrolled. She tried to scare some students away by saying the class would not be easy, that she does not give everyone A’s, and that students would need to work hard. While many students did drop, a g …Read more

Professor Woodruff is a wonderfully passionate teacher, very accommodating, and knows the content of her course very well. Sadly, this class suffers from extreme over-enrollment. As it fulfills a distribution requirement and Woodruff is a pretty easy grader, expect a large part of the class to be totally tuned out during her lectures. Woodruff has the nearly impossible task of imparting each student (in my section there were about 40 of us) with the nuanced philosophies of Aristotle, Plato/Socrates, Descartes, Kant, and Nietzche. The discussion sections were the best opportunity to really get into the material.

Professor Woodruff is a wonderfully passionate teacher, very accommodating, and knows the content of her course very well. Sadly, this class suffers from extreme over-enrollment. As it fulfills a distribution requirement and Woodruff is a pretty easy grader, expect a large part of the class to be totally tuned out during her lectures …Read more

Professor Woodruff is one of the most passionate professors I have ever had. She makes sure you know exactly what you need to read, and how that will contribute to class discussions. She teaches using philosophical methods, which makes for an interesting class discussion.

I took Introduction to Western Philosophy with Professor Woodruff, and it was a thoughtful and rewarding course. Like most philosophy classes, it involved a lot of reading and writing, with challenging material that really made you think. Professor Woodruff is a fair grader, and a very good teacher, she explains complex ideas clearly and pushes you to develop stronger arguments in your essays. The workload is fair but definitely requires consistency and effort. Overall, I’d recommend this class if you’re interested in philosophy and ready to put in the work to get the most out of it.

I took Introduction to Western Philosophy with Professor Woodruff, and it was a thoughtful and rewarding course. Like most philosophy classes, it involved a lot of reading and writing, with challenging material that really made you think. Professor Woodruff is a fair grader, and a very good teacher, she explains complex ideas clearly …Read more

Professor Woodruff is a passionate and engaging lecturer who makes difficult philosophical texts feel approachable. She clearly cares about her students and encourages genuine discussion rather than memorization. Classes are thought-provoking and somewhat organized. Expect a good amount of reading and reflection.

This class is pretty interesting and very easy - if anyone is looking to fill a schedule or get a requirement done, this is a great option. The readings are interesting but there's basically no need to do them - everything important will be covered in lectures multiple times.

Professor Woodruff genuinely cares about the success of her students. This is a broad course that is a great intro to the world of Philosophy. The quizzes and exams are very manageable. The readings can be dense, but there are plenty of online reviews that are helpful and make it much more digestible.

This is overall a good intro class to western philosophy. Prof Woodruff has her passion on Ancient Greek philosophy and I'm just personally not as interested. However this helps establish a good framework for those who wants to lay groundwork for understanding some of the most famous writings. Exams and quizzes are fair - if you do the readings and engage you will get a good grade. She's also bit of an unorganized lecturer - her notes on the board could go all over the place.

This is overall a good intro class to western philosophy. Prof Woodruff has her passion on Ancient Greek philosophy and I'm just personally not as interested. However this helps establish a good framework for those who wants to lay groundwork for understanding some of the most famous writings. Exams and quizzes are fair - if you do t …Read more

This course was very manageable. Although reading was required in every class, Professor Woodruff would spend the entire class going over all the key points from the reading. There is one project that you present in a group in your discussion, and about 2 exams, along with a paper and some minor quizzes.

This is exactly what it claims to be - an intro course to Philosophy. Professor Woodruff is very accommodating, and cares about the material. The class in itself is very manageable, easy even. There is some reading, discussion sections and a presentation with a partner. Exams are easy, the quizzes are manageable and I would recommend this course to someone who wants to experiment with Philosophy.

This is exactly what it claims to be - an intro course to Philosophy. Professor Woodruff is very accommodating, and cares about the material. The class in itself is very manageable, easy even. There is some reading, discussion sections and a presentation with a partner. Exams are easy, the quizzes are manageable and I would recommend …Read more

Woodruff was such a great person and teacher. She was very accommodating and very sweet. This class was very chill, readings every night but only one paper and a few exams that were light. Would stongly recommmend

Woodruff is great, she really cares a lot about the material and encourages her students to do so as well. She spends lots of time going over the assigned readings, making sure that the class understands the dense reading.

Day to day is required reading work and lectures by Prof. Once a week there is a discussion where students give presentations. The hardest part of the class was the tests and the constant reading. Very chill Prof.

Professor Woodruff is an excellent professor, and although the readings are lengthy, often dull, and very dense, the lectures make the ideas very clear, especially to beginners in philosphic readings.

I love Prof Woodruff!! She is so nice and accommodating. Very enthusiast in the topic she teaches. very supportive in office hours. Course contents are very interesting and provoking. Highly recommended to take.

I found this class very interesting and prof Jacobson definitely helped with that. He really made the class interesting and made me want to do the readings. We had two short papers, a presentation and a final ~3 page paper as the only assignments, but there was lots of readings. I did find writing papers on philosophy to be challenging so I would recommend going to office hours in order to get an idea of how the prof wants you to write. Overall though i did enjoy the class and would definitely recommend taking a class with Jacobson to anyone.

I found this class very interesting and prof Jacobson definitely helped with that. He really made the class interesting and made me want to do the readings. We had two short papers, a presentation and a final ~3 page paper as the only assignments, but there was lots of readings. I did find writing papers on philosophy to be challengi …Read more

Professor Woodruff is the cutest ever. She is so passionate about what she teaches and is good at explaining the readings in a coherent way. She goes over certain ideas multiple times to let them stick in your brain. Love this class!

Insightful and thought-provoking! This Intro to Western Philosophy class opened my mind to big questions and timeless ideas. Great discussions, clear explanations, and a perfect start to philosophy.Loved this class

I really enjoyed this class with Professor Woodruff, she was extremely accomodating and helpful throughout the semester. Readings were also carefully selected and instructions on expectations of class were fairly clear. If you enjoy philosophy I think this course is a good place to start.

Prof. Woodruff is an amazing professor and incredibly effective in conveying philosophical ideas in an easy-to-understand manner. Her lectures were interesting and easy to follow and her exams were always managable. I would highly recommend taking this course with Prof. Woodruff.

I really enjoyed this class with Professor Woodruff, she was extremely accomodating and helpful throughout the semester. Readings were also carefully selected and instructions on expectations of class were fairly clear. If you enjoy philosophy I think this course is a good place to start.

This class is a lot of fun, especially if you haven't read any philosophy. There is a fair amount of reading, but you don't really need to do it(however, it does make the class more interesting and fun) because the professor goes over the analysis of everything in class. The class discussions are fun, and while the class does cover a lot of ground, it isn't that fast-paced. The exams are not difficult as long as you listened and understood what was talked about in class.

This class is a lot of fun, especially if you haven't read any philosophy. There is a fair amount of reading, but you don't really need to do it(however, it does make the class more interesting and fun) because the professor goes over the analysis of everything in class. The class discussions are fun, and while the class does cover a …Read more

I think this course is extremely valuable, as you learn a lot about the most prominent philosophers. Woodruff is extremely passionate about the subject, but would sometimes have trouble conveying certain philosophers ideas concisely.

I really enjoyed Professor Woodruff’s teaching style and content. I felt that I learned a lot for an introductory course and she was always very kind and encouraging to students who needed extra help or time on projects.

Martha Woodruff is very accommodating and nice. Her teaching style is very go-with-the-flow, and she likes to rely on students to direct class discussions. Lots of reading is required, some tolerable, others very dry. To get the most out of the class, reading is necessary and enjoyable if done without procrastination.