Historical instructor

ALAN SIDELLE

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.17/5 from 52 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

PHIL101 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Just finished my final for philosophy and I really loved the class. Professor Sidelle was so sweet and very funny at times. He likes participation and knows the names of everyone who goes to the in class lectures and raises their hand. It was a very interesting subject and he could go off on tangents but it just shows how much he loves it.
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PHIL101 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 2/5
there is literally 6 things in the gradebook for this class. 2 exams, 2 quizzes, and 2 paper. If you do bad on one, you basically drop a grade level. The lectures are boring and honestly don't even help unless you are Einstein and have a background in Philo. take at own risk xxx
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PHIL101 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Nice guy, clear he loves the subject, but a lot of the time his lectures weren't very clear. I had a great TA to help me understand the topics, and it helped to read the textbook, but the lectures didn't help much at all. Very easy grader though.
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PHIL101 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Prof. Sidelle is awesome! I really didn't read the book that much, and I still understood all of the concepts as he covers all important points in his lectures. He really likes it when students participate, so raise your hand in lecture; he is a very open minded and nice guy. Tests are really not bad, but they are mostly in short essay form.
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PHILOS 101
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Sidelle is great. He obviously loves teaching, and even makes an effort to learn student's names in lecture (if you participate.) He tends to ramble, but he reiterates important points enough that you can get away with dozing off a bit. Interesting and fairly easy class overall.
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PHILOSOPHY560 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
The class is rather difficult, but it is not by any means Professor Sidelle's fault. I started by not really reading any of the papers (something you can easily get away with in most philosophy classes), and found myself falling behind in the class. However, the material is extremely interesting (mindblowing, really), and Sidelle is great.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with ALAN SIDELLE

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2023PHILOS 701Reading Seminar
Spring 2023PHILOS 960Metaphysics Seminar
Spring 2023PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2022PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2022PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2022PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2022PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2022PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2022PHILOS 999Independent Work
Fall 2021PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Fall 2021PHILOS 902Proseminar in Philosophy
Fall 2021PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2020PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2020PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2020PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2019PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2019PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2019PHILOS 104Special Topics in Philosophy for Freshmen
Spring 2019PHILOS 243Ethics in Business
Spring 2019PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2019PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2019PHILOS 999Independent Work
Fall 2018PHILOS 304Topics in Philosophy: Humanities
Fall 2018PHILOS 701Reading Seminar
Fall 2018PHILOS 960Metaphysics Seminar
Fall 2018PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2018PHILOS 999Independent Work
Spring 2018PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2018PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2017PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Fall 2017PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2017PHILOS 701Reading Seminar
Spring 2017PHILOS 960Metaphysics Seminar
Spring 2017PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2017PHILOS 999Independent Work
Fall 2016PHILOS 902Proseminar in Philosophy
Fall 2016PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2016PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2016PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2016PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2015PHILOS 599Directed Study
Fall 2015PHILOS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2015PHILOS 902Proseminar in Philosophy
Fall 2015PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2015PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2015PHILOS 104Special Topics in Philosophy for Freshmen
Spring 2015PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2015PHILOS 699Directed Study
Spring 2015PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2014PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Fall 2014PHILOS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2014PHILOS 960Metaphysics Seminar
Fall 2014PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2014PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2014PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2014PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2014PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2013PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2013PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Fall 2013PHILOS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2013PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2013PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2013PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2013PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2012PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2012PHILOS 960Metaphysics Seminar
Fall 2012PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2012PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2011PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2011PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2011PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2011PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2010PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2010PHILOS 516Language and Meaning
Fall 2010PHILOS 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2010PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2010PHILOS 999Independent Work
Spring 2010PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2010PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2010PHILOS 960Metaphysics Seminar
Spring 2010PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2009PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2009PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Fall 2009PHILOS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2009PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2009PHILOS 999Independent Work
Spring 2009PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2009PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2009PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2009PHILOS 799Directed Study
Spring 2009PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2008PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2008PHILOS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2008PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2008PHILOS 916Seminar-philosophy of Language
Fall 2008PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2008PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2008PHILOS 560Metaphysics
Spring 2008PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2008PHILOS 990Research and Thesis

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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