Great professor. Really helpful if you need it. Lectures are done nearly entirely by memory (and he throws in some good jokes from time to time). Exams aren't difficult if you look at the practice exams and go over lecture materials. Two exams and that's it - no other hw besides reading. Highly recommended for a low-work Hist Sci course.Rate My Professors ↗
Historical instructor
JOHN SCARBOROUGH
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Quality 2/5Difficulty 5/5
This class is cloudy and abstract at best, poorly organized and extremely difficult.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
What a wonderful class! A full mix of real medicine (prof's background in medicine a real plus) with expertise in the Greek and Latin sources, a vivid evocation of ancient medicine from prehistoric time to about AD 200. Galen a highlight. Perhaps too much reading assigned, but what I did was relevant. Prof's humor low-key, subtle, appropriate.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Splendid introd. to Later Roman culture, medicine, related. Careful integration of early Muslim medicine with Byzantine texts, good on Kievan medicine, rather fascinating stuff of the Crusades and military medicine. Highly recommended for anyone unaware of cross-connections between Byzantium, Islam, and Renaissance European medicineRate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
I initially started doing all of the readings, but it was too much to keep up. I ended up doing about 15% altogether and pulled off an A. If you want to do well, print off his lecture notes and come to class and take good notes. Unless you are extremely interested in the topics, don't spend the $400 on the textbooks, they were not needed.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Awesome guy. Knows a lot, but can be soft-spoken at times. $387 total book cost for this class - to do well you have to read and go to lecture. Doing the practice exams will help A LOT since there are two exams (midterm/final) with 50 questions each.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with JOHN SCARBOROUGH
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
View last recorded teaching term →No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2011 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2011 | CLASSICS/HISTORY 801 | Seminar-ancient History |
| Spring 2010 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2010 | HISTSCI 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2009 | CLASSICS/HISTORY 801 | Seminar-ancient History |
| Spring 2009 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2009 | HISTSCI/S&APHM 401 | History of Pharmacy |
| Spring 2008 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2008 | HISTSCI/S&APHM 401 | History of Pharmacy |
| Spring 2007 | HISTSCI/S&APHM 401 | History of Pharmacy |
| Spring 2007 | S&APHM 699 | Advanced Independent Study |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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