Intro to World Philosophy

While the content was at times confusing, Professor Spackman was aware of this and really made sure to present the info in a way that was understandable. I feel like the class is really what you make of it; it is easy to get by without doing any of the readings, but is very interesting and rewarding if you are fully engaged with the material.

Lots of reading for this class, but Spackman covers almost everything in it during the lectures, so it's kind of optional. One short easy in class quiz, a take home final, and a few papers which are not too bad but hard to get over an a- on. Discussions are interesting if everyone is prepared to talk, otherwise they can kinda drag on. Each student must lead one of the discussions in a group at some point

Lots of reading for this class, but Spackman covers almost everything in it during the lectures, so it's kind of optional. One short easy in class quiz, a take home final, and a few papers which are not too bad but hard to get over an a- on. Discussions are interesting if everyone is prepared to talk, otherwise they can kinda drag on …Read more

You get what you put in. A huge amount of content is covered from tons of different philosophies, and the readings go fairly in depth into each of them. Professor Spackman goes over everything in class, so you can easily get by without doing the reading. Professor Spackman is an incredible teacher with passion and knowledge and will always hear you out. It's easy to blend into the back of the class and ignore what's going on, but if you pay attention and engage it can be a lot of fun.

You get what you put in. A huge amount of content is covered from tons of different philosophies, and the readings go fairly in depth into each of them. Professor Spackman goes over everything in class, so you can easily get by without doing the reading. Professor Spackman is an incredible teacher with passion and knowledge and will …Read more

Prof. Spackman is obviously very passionate about the material that he lectures on. Really the only work throughout the semester is constant readings and intermittent papers. The papers are average length, but slightly different than any papers I've written before. Overall, not too difficult and the material is very interesting.

Spackman is a great teacher who very clearly loves the material and loves a good discussion. The class provides the opportunity to really pay attention or clock out for an hour both of which will be entertaining in their own way. A couple of 7 page papers but come naturally if you pay enough attention in classes.

Spackman is a great professor who I highly recommend. This class does have excessive reading but it usually isn't necessary to grasp the concepts discussed. I liked it so much I forced my friend to take it!

Spackman is super nice and gives clear explanations on complicated philosophical ideas. He uses slideshows each lecture and then posts them after class which is really helpful for understanding the ideas. Also I ended up not reading for class because the slideshows just summarized everything that was important (probably is better to read though...). Not too much work during the week, just need to grind for the midterm and final which consist of short essays and straightforward passage identifications (even w/ out reading I was fine). There's only one paper and it was in the 3rd week.

Spackman is super nice and gives clear explanations on complicated philosophical ideas. He uses slideshows each lecture and then posts them after class which is really helpful for understanding the ideas. Also I ended up not reading for class because the slideshows just summarized everything that was important (probably is better to …Read more

Prof Spackman is enthusiastic, passionate, inclusive, and fair. We went through various areas of philosophy - not just a typical European focus which I appreciated. I took this class as a distribution requirement, but I am so glad I did. It's interesting, and the discussions are actually fun. There are 2 papers and a take home exam. This was my first philosophy class EVER and though I will not major/minor in it, it was still interesting and I found myself invested in the class. Even if you are trying to just get a distribution requirement out of the way, this is the one to do. There is a good portion of reading but it's fine as he goes over most content in class in lecture. He is a super sweet prof who wants to hear from his students.

Prof Spackman is enthusiastic, passionate, inclusive, and fair. We went through various areas of philosophy - not just a typical European focus which I appreciated. I took this class as a distribution requirement, but I am so glad I did. It's interesting, and the discussions are actually fun. There are 2 papers and a take home exam. …Read more

His enthusiasm and critical insight makes for really good food for thought and discussion. Although the readings themselves are often hard to understand due to abstract concepts and conventions that may not be obvious to an untrained eye, Spackman's often concise, albeit very heavy, clarifications in his lectures do make the class material relatively digestable. The papers require a high level of precision with your argument so be prepared to really get to know the material.

His enthusiasm and critical insight makes for really good food for thought and discussion. Although the readings themselves are often hard to understand due to abstract concepts and conventions that may not be obvious to an untrained eye, Spackman's often concise, albeit very heavy, clarifications in his lectures do make the class ma …Read more

Loved this class, it helped that I'm very interested in the topic. Professor Spackman deeply understands what he teaches and is good at relating that information to his students. He is also very good at stimulating class discussion and extending ideas in new directions for the class to think about.

Great class overall for anyone wanted to learn more about philosophy. I have never learned philosophy but I've always wanted to. This class has a wide variety of topics which we can discuss about. I would say the deepness was a bit lacking because of the amount of different schools the professor is trying to cover. He is a very nice person in general and he is very logical (which will be shown in grading papers).

Great class overall for anyone wanted to learn more about philosophy. I have never learned philosophy but I've always wanted to. This class has a wide variety of topics which we can discuss about. I would say the deepness was a bit lacking because of the amount of different schools the professor is trying to cover. He is a very nice …Read more

Intro to world philosophy with Professor Spackman was great. Really interesting material, overall reasonable amount of reading and pretty easy grading. Final was very relaxed and essays were timed well to make midterms and finals weeks less stressful.

Spackman was an amazing teacher, everyone was extremely engaged with the material, and the lectures made it easy to understand. Spackman truly invites individual thoughts and different perspectives, everyone feels welcome to share in his class.

I loved Spackman! So nice. The exams were take home. There was a lot of reading but all of it was not always necessary. He layed out the two sides for discussion pretty clearly and was open to any opinions.

This class is fine … not a lot of work but painfully boring in class. If you really like philosophy maybe this is for you, but the lectures were really a drag to get through. Reading was fine I guess.