Current instructor

Viren Murthy

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.79/5 from 28 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

EA255 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
This was one of the worst courses I ever took as a history student. The content offered virtually no historical scholarship; instead, it was riddled with the professor's own theories—or "philosophy"—which ultimately amounted to nothing more than crude anti-imperialist rhetoric. It was truly sad.
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EA255 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Excellent and clear lectures! Thought provoking.
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HIS255 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 2/5
Poor lecturer. Talks super slow, says exactly what's on the slides. Will ask questions, disagree with the answer, then say the same thing adding 0 extra details. Misquotes philosophers and thought "I am the state" was Henry VIII (it was louis XIV)
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Viren Murthy

Multidisciplinary and historical survey of East Asian civilizations (China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Mongolia) from prehistory to the present, covering philosophy, economy, governance, social structure, kinship, and geography.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.29 GPA, 63.9% A/AB (n=36 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.65 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=52 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.68 GPA, 83.9% A/AB (n=56 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

An advanced reading seminar exploring selected historical topics through small group discussion and intensive engagement with primary and secondary materials.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.83 GPA, 88.9% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.95 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=14 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027ASIAN/HISTORY/POLISCI 255Introduction to East Asian Civilizations
Spring 2027HISTORY 500Reading Seminar in History
Spring 2027HISTORY 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 699Directed Study
Spring 2027HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 999Independent Work
Fall 2026ASIAN/HISTORY 104Introduction to East Asian History: Japan
Fall 2026HISTORY 500Reading Seminar in History
Fall 2026HISTORY 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 698Directed Study
Fall 2026HISTORY 699Directed Study
Fall 2026HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 999Independent Work

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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