Prof. Foys is an incredible lecturer, and is clearly very passionate about the things he teaches. He made each lecture engaging and fascinating, he structures his classes very well.

Dr. Foys was clearly excited to teach the rise of modern fantasy. The title of the course "Pop Culture and Fantasy" was misleading, however Dr. Foys was an engaging professor. It is reading heavy, but the texts are easy and inexpensive. He communicated his expectations and provided a detailed study guide for the exams. Attend lecture, take notes.

Dr. Foys is intensely passionate about what he teaches, which contributes to how incredible his lectures are. They are well-presented and insightful, and I'd probably attend on my own time. That being said, lecture attendance is mandatory (and taken on TopHat with location on), and there is a LOT of reading in the 2nd half of the semester.

Dr. Foys is an excellent lecturer with a clear passion for what he's teaching. You will read a LOT, especially towards the end, but the material is interesting. Lectures were very informative, didn't just read off slides.

Professor Foys has a strict attendance policy, but offers extra credit later in the semester in order to 'remove' an absence. I thought this class was super interesting and was a lot easier for me because of previous experience in fantasy. If you've read (or watched) Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, or The Hobbit the class will be infinitely easier.

He comes off as very intimidating but he is honestly not that bad. Expects you to read an entire bible basically before class, but do not bother you can still pass without reading a lot as long as you go to lecture. You can tell he loves what he does. Papers are heavily dependent on if you get a good TA, which I am grateful to have had one.

Dr Foys is an amazing lecturer and super passionate about the material he teaches. This class is very reading heavy and lecture is very fast paced that isn't recorded so its important to attend class. However, this was a very fun class to attend, we read Beowulf, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Alice and Wonderland so tons of fun stuff. Highly recommend

Professor Foys is obviously very passionate about what he teaches, and hes crazy knowledgeable about what he presents on. Even though this was a seminar style class, it felt that we were just speaking to him, but after a while it was actually really helpful and motivating for him to expand on your initial thoughts on the literature. Overall great.

Professor Foys was great, he presented the material in an interesting way, however, He expects students to read 60-100 pages of reading before almost every class at the end of the semester. He also talks fast and doesn't post lectures anywhere so it is hard to get all of the information. Get a good TA because they play a big part in your grade.

the class is pretty interesting because we got to read stuff from game of thrones, alice in wonderland, and harry potter. but SO much readings to do before class, so do not recomend if you hate reading. exams were kind of weird and a bit tough

Foys has a lot of passion for fantasy, however, the amount of reading he requires for each class is insane. Expect to read 100+ pages for each class, especially for the second half of the class. Discussion was pointless, papers are difficult, and there was not enough time on the exams. His slides were useless. Avoid this class if possible.

One of the most interesting classes I've ever taken because he's both super invested and super knowledgeable about the topics. The discussions were really engaging, just be sure to participate and do the reading. He's approachable but makes you work for your grade. And show up to class! Offers extra credit, and is flexible with the essay topics.

Professor Foys is very passionate about the topic and will do his best to get you passionate about it as well. I was never a big fantasy fan, but even I found the content to be interesting the way he presented it. The lectures were always fun and interesting. The class can be harder to succeed, but if you put in the work, it can be very easy.

I think this class would be hard for anyone not interested in fantasy. I was most interested in the second half of the trimester as we focus on modern texts. Exams were not very hard but papers were graded harsh!! As someone who usually banks on papers helping their grade this class did not allow that to happen. Also so much reading! SO SO much!!

Professor Foys was a really good lecturer and kept me interested a majority of the time. However, I felt like I was struggling to retain all the information because there was SO MUCH. Your grade is entirely dependent on your TA who will grade essay-style exams, papers, and your participation in discussion sections. Lots of work, but doable

Super arrogant. Waste of time. Will Make you a worse writer. I hated everything about this class except for the fact that he seemed to have all the kinks worked out in his implementation of it. Even though that implementation was terrible... If you're someone who doesn't like English don't take this class take another English class any other class

Dr. Foys is awesome! Great at leading discussion and gives feedback that actually helps you improve.

He is so clearly passionate about the subject matter and his lectures were very captivating and time honestly flew by in this class. I liked the books that were part of this class as well. Overall, really enjoyed this class. 2 exams, 2 papers. Papers were a bit difficult for me, but they were also my first papers of college so that was probably why

He is so bad. DO NOT TAKE.

He is terrible. It seems he grades you largely on if he likes you or not. If you miss a couple classes good luck. DO NOT TAKE.

Foys really cares about fantasy and medieval works, and through his lectures it has rubbed off onto me. He explains things amazingly well, and really gave me new perspectives on a body of work that was highly interesting to me. Grade is dependent on your TA, but I would highly recommend taking a course under him if you can.

Amazing, funny lecturer with a contagious enthusiasm for fantasy. Assigns a lot of readings, but they aren't always of utmost importance so long as you pay attention in lecture. Apart from the exams, the difficulty of this class is almost entirely dependent on your TA.

I took Foys' class for the seminar in my major. Although I didn't love the topic, he's incredibly bright and eager to transcend thoughts/knowledge, especially because he's one of few people in his field (medieval studies and communications). He definitely wants students to succeed, but you have to meet him (at least) half way.

He's very passionate about the texts we read and that's what makes his lectures so amazing and fun to go to. His grading criteria are pretty straightforward. If I had more time in my schedule, I would sign up for another class he teaches.

Prof. Foys is fun and approachable at office hours. He does, however, heap on a lot of readings and give some annoying, high school-style exams. Class is entirely participation, but the subject is exceptionally pointless (even by English dept. standards). Still, his grading is reasonable and overall not a terrible class.

Absolutely loved his Beowulf to Tolkien class. He definitely knows his Old English and is clearly passionate about the material. There was a fair amount of reading involved (as would be expected), but the material is interesting and (dare I say it?) fun. Lectures were amazing, TAs were helpful and the tests weren't hard if you knew your stuff.

If you're an English major at UW, do yourself a favor and take a class with Professor Foys. The reading for his Chaucer course is long and tough, but I walked away a much better student for having done it. His lectures are interesting, lively, and he is clear about his expectations. I cannot recommend him enough. The best professor I've had at UW.

Incredible lecturer, super charismatic, funny, engaging, and crazy smart. Foys does a really good job of making concepts accessible to everyone, English major or otherwise, and connecting all of the material. He is very clear with his expectations. I absolutely loved his class and hope to be able to take another with him in the future!

I highly recommend not taking this class if reading is not your expertise. Although he clearly knows his stuff the amount of reading he assigns is near to impossible to manage. Unless you're a fantasy guru, 177 with Foys is not the class for you.

Foys knows his stuff when it comes to literature. He can depict really deep stuff just from a couple of sentences. The class was fairly interesting and the reading of Beowulf, Alice In Wonderland, and the Hobbit, etc wasn't bad at all. He would assign a lot of reading before each lecture, but it isn't hard to catch up.

Foys is a great speaker and makes the class engaging and funny. He is passionate about the subject and definitely knows his stuff. If you go in and speak with him during office hours or otherwise he is very personable and open. I would definitely take this class again and hope to have him in the future.

Wow, the lectures all throughout the semester were really incredible. Foys does a good job of being engaging even to students who aren't interested in his subject matter - funny, passionate, and very clear. What he says in class is what he expects on the tests - he goes over the material thoroughly. Don't break his rules about phones, though!

Dr. Foys is probably the best lecturer that I've had so far at UW. He's funny, charismatic, and natural born speaker. I absolutely love going to his lectures. He does a great job of making the material he's covering exciting, and paints a little movie in your head of the words you read earlier.

Doctor Foys is an amazing teacher. I took both English 177 and 427 with him, and hope to take more with him in the future. His assignments are clear, gives great feedback, and gives ample opportunities for his students to exceed. 427 had power lectures, but none were boring due to this passion for the material. Take his class, you won't regret it!

If you want a teacher who will get fired up about whatever they are teaching you, Martin Foys is your professor! I took a class on 'Tolkien and Beowulf' and a class on 'The Canterbury Tales' and both were inspirational and consistently changed my perspective on all literature.