Historical instructor

MARTHA GIBSON

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.77/5 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

PHILOS 101
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
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.
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PHIL530 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
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.
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PHILO101 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
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.
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432 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 5/5
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.
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432 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
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.
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432 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
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 exams
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with MARTHA GIBSON

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
Fall 2025PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2025PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Spring 2025PHILOS 432History of Modern Philosophy
Fall 2024PHILOS 701Reading Seminar
Fall 2024PHILOS 835Advanced History of Philosophy
Spring 2024PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2024PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Spring 2024PHILOS 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2023PHILOS 599Directed Study
Spring 2023PHILOS 701Reading Seminar
Spring 2023PHILOS 951Seminar-philosophy of Mind
Fall 2022PHILOS 902Proseminar in Philosophy
Spring 2022PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Fall 2021PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2021PHILOS 562Special Topics in Metaphysics
Fall 2020PHILOS 701Reading Seminar
Fall 2020PHILOS 960Metaphysics Seminar
Spring 2020LINGUIS 482Junior Honors Tutorial
Spring 2020PHILOS 516Language and Meaning
Spring 2020PHILOS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2019PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2019PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Fall 2019PHILOS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2019PHILOS 432History of Modern Philosophy
Fall 2018PHILOS 516Language and Meaning
Fall 2018PHILOS 599Directed Study
Fall 2018PHILOS 701Reading Seminar
Fall 2018PHILOS 916Seminar-philosophy of Language
Spring 2018PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2017PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2017PHILOS 562Special Topics in Metaphysics
Fall 2016PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2016PHILOS 951Seminar-philosophy of Mind
Spring 2016PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2015PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2015PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Spring 2015PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2015PHILOS 562Special Topics in Metaphysics
Fall 2014PHILOS 902Proseminar in Philosophy
Fall 2014PHILOS 951Seminar-philosophy of Mind
Spring 2014PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2014PHILOS 516Language and Meaning
Fall 2013PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2013PHILOS 902Proseminar in Philosophy
Spring 2013PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2013PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Fall 2012PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2012PHILOS 562Special Topics in Metaphysics
Spring 2012PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2012PHILOS 432History of Modern Philosophy
Spring 2012PHILOS 599Directed Study
Spring 2011PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2011PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Spring 2011PHILOS 599Directed Study
Fall 2010PHILOS 432History of Modern Philosophy
Fall 2010PHILOS 916Seminar-philosophy of Language
Fall 2009PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2009PHILOS 516Language and Meaning
Spring 2009PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2009PHILOS 951Seminar-philosophy of Mind
Fall 2008PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2008PHILOS 432History of Modern Philosophy
Fall 2008PHILOS 699Directed Study
Spring 2008PHILOS 432History of Modern Philosophy
Spring 2008PHILOS 454Classical Philosophers
Fall 2007PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2007PHILOS 951Seminar-philosophy of Mind
Spring 2007PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Spring 2007PHILOS 530Freedom Fate and Choice
Fall 2006PHILOS 101Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2006PHILOS 562Special Topics in Metaphysics

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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