Current instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
very tough grader and exams are quite difficult. Lecture attendance is mandatory as all the content is delivered there and no recordings are available. Her handwriting is quite bad, so make sure to follow along closely. She does however really care about her studnets and is eager to help you succeed.Rate My Professors ↗
Martha is an amazing upper-level philosophy professor. She can be a little hard to get used to (her teaching, grading, and communication style), but she really respects her students, treats us as people, is very flexible, understanding, and genuinely wants us to succeed. Once you are used to her exam style, you will easily be able to succeed.Rate My Professors ↗
Martha is kind, but her handwriting makes lectures very difficult to follow if you do not hang onto every word. Most of what you will discuss is regurgitated from readings. Lectures are very redundant, but take-home tests require extensive comprehension that sometimes goes beyond the level of class conversation.Rate My Professors ↗
Modern History with Gibson was hard. You can't BS the exams, she wants premise-conclusion arguments in paragraph form and will ding points both for logical mistakes and bad writing. But an A is doable if you attend most/all the lectures and do the readings. Also there's like zero discussion, but you learn more than in lower level debate-y classes.Rate My Professors ↗
Martha and her TA do not have a clear standard of grading. They say the standard answer is composed of 7-8 sentences, but the sample they offered is 1.5 page long.Rate My Professors ↗
Martha is very sweet and caring. Difficult course, but you learn a lot and improve your writing. Not an easy A, but a good class if you invest in the course and the material. Exams are asynchronous and you have 1-2 weeks to complete them. Allows you to build better comprehension of the mateiral without the stress of in class examsRate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Explores the nature and function of language, covering theories of meaning, semantic and syntactic paradoxes, proper names, private languages, rules, and linguistic relativity.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2014: 3.50 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Fall 2018: 3.23 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=15 letter grades); Spring 2020: 3.36 GPA, 50.0% A/AB (n=14 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Directed Study (PHILOS 599) is an independent study arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2026–Spring 2026 · limited sampleSenior Honors Thesis is an individual mentored study for seniors completing theses for honors in the major, as arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Individual mentored study for seniors completing theses for honors in the major, as arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Independent study in philosophy arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Research and Thesis provides individual mentored study for graduate students completing theses, arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | PHILOS 516 | Language and Meaning |
| Spring 2027 | PHILOS 599 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | PHILOS 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | PHILOS 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | PHILOS 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | PHILOS 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 599 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 701 | Reading Seminar |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 916 | Seminar-philosophy of Language |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | PHILOS 999 | Independent Work |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
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