Historical instructor

DAVID O'BRIEN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.58/5 from 19 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

EDPOL 150
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Very good class. Readings are hard, but he explains them very well. Class discussion feel relaxed and you hear a lot of viewpoints.
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EDPOL 150
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Overall, Professor O'Brien is a kind & knowledgeable. However, I felt like the class skipped a lot of fundamental basics of philosophy and education that would've been useful. There are few activities & projects it's nearly all lecture and papers. There could have been more teacher to class engagement, there was no sense of community building.
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EDPOL 150
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
This guy is the best, I loved him. He lowkey cold calls, but makes it seem not stressful, and will take what you said and make it seem super smart. He is super friendly and helpful with the papers if you go to office hours. Just the nicest guy ever, and a great intro to philosophy/ed course.
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EDPOL 150
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Amazing professor who genuinely cares about his students! His lectures are very interactive and discussion-based, so you will be expected to participate; however, he is fantastic at facilitating and makes even the dumbest responses or questions sound brilliant!
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PHILOS 241
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Hands down my favorite professor in my 3.5 years so far. His lectures are engaging and he explains concepts very well. Participation is expected/hoped for in his lectures, but he respects every student's opinion and actually makes you feel pretty brilliant when you speak up. A decent amount of homework/work, but totally worth it.
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PHILO241 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
One of the best professors I've had at UW Madison. Not an easy A class but if you think you'd be interested in philosophy and want a good idea of what it looks like to be a good moral citizen I'd definitely take his class.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with DAVID O'BRIEN

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 2026EDPOL 147Ethics and Education
Spring 2026EDPOL/PHILOS 550Philosophy of Moral Education
Fall 2025EDPOL 399Independent Reading
Fall 2025EDPOL/PHILOS 540Egalitarianism and Educational Justice
Spring 2025EDPOL 150Education and Public Policy
Spring 2025EDPOL/PHILOS 550Philosophy of Moral Education
Fall 2024EDPOL 150Education and Public Policy
Fall 2024EDPOL/PHILOS 545Philosophical Conceptions of Teaching and Learning
Spring 2019PHILOS 304Topics in Philosophy: Humanities
Fall 2018PHILOS 241Introductory Ethics
Spring 2017PHILOS 210Reason in Communication
Fall 2016PHILOS 341Contemporary Moral Issues
Spring 2016PHILOS 241Introductory Ethics
Fall 2015PHILOS 241Introductory Ethics

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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