Historical instructor

JOSHUA CALHOUN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.15/5 from 74 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

ENG181 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor Calhoun is passionate for his work and it shows. His class is work-heavy, but he's fairly kind on grading and his assignments enhance your learning experience. He was prone to slightly passive aggressive comments, though, and at times felt elitist.
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ENGL 177
Quality 2/5Difficulty 2/5
The lectures in this class don't feel like they have a lot of value, but are mandatory. Also, the grading system is very unclear, and the only way to get an A is to get an "exceptional" on your assignments, but the grading is way too subjective and unclear. I'm sure Prof. Calhoun is a great professor, but I think this course could be run better.
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ENGL 177
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Prof. Calhoun is very nice and inspirational. But this class is SO MUCH work for a 100-level literature breadth class. Assignments are deliberately designed to eat up your time. You also have to go to libraries/museums quite a lot simply for participation.
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ENGL 177
Quality 2/5Difficulty 1/5
Very, very easy if you're looking to get an AB, but it's frustrating because you never get any feedback on your assignments on canvas. He doesn't give us a reason why we're docked points and that we're supposed to “find out for oursel… Read full reviewShow less
Very, very easy if you're looking to get an AB, but it's frustrating because you never get any feedback on your assignments on canvas. He doesn't give us a reason why we're docked points and that we're supposed to “find out for ourselves.” I will say that he's actually a super nice and chill professor but his teaching style just seems unorthodox.
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ENGL 177
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Calhoun gives captivating lectures and is good at getting to the point of each lecture. The issue is that he assigns a crazy amount of mandatory note-taking that will have you spending more hours writing quotes and summaries than actually doing work for your major-specific classes.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with JOSHUA CALHOUN

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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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
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Fall 2025ENGL 177Literature and Popular Culture
Fall 2025ENGL 699Directed Study
Fall 2025ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Spring 2025ENGL 177Literature and Popular Culture
Spring 2025ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Fall 2024ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2024ENGL 699Directed Study
Fall 2024ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Spring 2024ENGL 162Shakespeare
Spring 2024ENGL 181First-year Honors Seminar
Spring 2024ENGL 699Directed Study
Spring 2024ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Fall 2023ENGL 181First-year Honors Seminar
Fall 2023ENGL 699Directed Study
Fall 2023ENGL 825Topics in Literature and the Environment
Fall 2023ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Spring 2023ENGL 162Shakespeare
Spring 2023ENGL 433Spenser
Spring 2023ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Fall 2022ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2022ENGL 430Topic in Early Modern Literature and Culture
Fall 2022ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Spring 2022ENGL 162Shakespeare
Spring 2022ENGL 804Topics in Early Modern Literature
Spring 2022ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Fall 2021ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2021ENGL 433Spenser
Fall 2021ENGL 699Directed Study
Fall 2021ENGL 799Independent Reading
Fall 2021ENGL 990Dissertation Research in English
Fall 2020ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2020ENGL 804Topics in Early Modern Literature
Fall 2020ENVIRST 699Directed Study
Spring 2020ENGL 162Shakespeare
Spring 2020INTER-LS 260Internship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Fall 2019ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2019ENGL 804Topics in Early Modern Literature
Spring 2019ENGL 162Shakespeare
Spring 2019ENGL 431Early Works of Shakespeare
Spring 2019ENGL 699Directed Study
Spring 2019INTER-LS 260Internship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Fall 2018ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2018ENGL 181First-year Honors Seminar
Fall 2018ENGL 699Directed Study
Fall 2018INTER-LS 260Internship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Spring 2018ENGL 162Shakespeare
Spring 2018ENGL 682Senior Honors Thesis in the Major
Fall 2017ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2017ENGL 181First-year Honors Seminar
Fall 2017ENGL 681Senior Honors Thesis in the Major
Fall 2017ENGL 699Directed Study
Fall 2017INTER-LS 260Internship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Spring 2017ENGL 431Early Works of Shakespeare
Spring 2017ENGL 699Directed Study
Spring 2017ENGL 804Topics in Early Modern Literature
Spring 2017INTER-LS 260Internship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Fall 2016ENGL 162Shakespeare
Fall 2016ENGL 431Early Works of Shakespeare
Fall 2016ENGL 699Directed Study
Fall 2016INTER-LS 260Internship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Fall 2015INTER-LS 260Internship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Spring 2015ENGL 162Shakespeare
Spring 2015ENGL 433Spenser
Spring 2015ENGL 799Independent Reading
Fall 2014ENGL 431Early Works of Shakespeare
Fall 2014ENGL 699Directed Study

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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