Reviews of professor Philip Swenson

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
Professor Swenson was very kind and helpful through the course, available outside of class often, and gave good feedback on work. Professor Swenson also clearly cared about the material and that people learned from his course.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Prof Swenson is my favorite professor I've ever had at W&M, and I don't even like philosophy! This guy rocks-- super non-intimidating and encouraging. The participation system is easy even for quieter students like myself, and although the exams are challenging and very dense, Swenson gives detailed notes for every single unit. 2 exams, 1 paper.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
This class was AMAZING! Swenson is great at making the lectures engaging. He has a system that allows even the quiet students to participate. I recommend doing the readings b/c it gives context for the notes, but its not the end of the world if you skip one. Go to class and do the writing assignments and you'll get an A. I loved this class so much!

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
Great teacher and very fun class. Despite being lecture you really feel involved and willing to experiment with ideas. He doesn't look down on people with different views from him and actually teaches ideas which go against his own beliefs. He wants you to become a better thinker. Very little work load and easy to participate.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
"Right and Wrong in the Contemporary World" sounds like a heavy subject, but Professor Swenson was able to masterfully facilitate the discussion in a way that made it fun! He was very non-judgmental in a way that I think the class picked up on and often usefully emulated.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
He is one of the nicest guys ever. I personally thought his class was super engaging and it was mostly discussion-based which I enjoyed. Make sure you come to most classes and use the notes to study for his exams - if you do both of those things you should have no issue getting an A.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
This class is very much discussion-based. If you do not like discussing, you are going to have a rough time. This class consists of a participation grade, a midterm, a final, 4 discussion posts, and a 100-word final paper. You only get three absences for this class, so make sure you show up. This man was born to be a philosophy professor.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I took Good God, Bad World for my coll 100. Professor Swenson is nice, occasionally and accidentally funny, and the class itself is very discussion based. There will always be people that talk way too much, but even if you're quiet, you can still get participation points in. Show up to class as it makes understanding the notes easier.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Professor is late to posted office hours. Refused to answer questions. Didn't return the rough draft for the final paper until the end of exam week with no explanation. 4 days to make corrections during exams. Asked for feedback on the final paper & took 10 days to give 2 comments. Didn't grade it. They warned me about him & I should've listened.