Reviews of professor Stephen Larin

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Steve is truly one of the best professors I've had. He is a tough grader but it's because he has high expectations for his students. He gives great and thorough feedback. He is accessible outside of class and is always happy to talk. Beware of his reading notes! They take a while but are very useful for seminar prep. Highly recommend.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
He is passionate and knowledgable about what he teaches. He expects a lot of time put into his course, especially in the weekly graded readings. The readings would take two/three days to finish and he reviews them in class so you can't skim them. Some feedback makes it seem like you can't challenge his opinion of a reading.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I like Prof Larin, he made the most of a bad course! Nobody wants to review plato at 7pm on a monday, even worse I'd hate to try and teach plato on a monday night to a bunch of bored students. All things considered he was clear and concise, actually tried to engage the class (god bless him) and gave us a break when he saw we needed one

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Prof. Larin teaches in a very hands-off manner for his seminars which isn't a bad thing. Where I have issues with him is that he may come off as arrogant and can be quite rude if you challenge his beliefs. He often cuts me off when I make statements in class or tell me I don't know what I'm doing and then decide to move on without explanation.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Took this class during COVID and out of all of my professors he was the least understanding and helpful during an already stressful time. I was excited for the class and enjoyed all the course materials but during office hours he is extremely unhelpful. He doesn't answer the questions or doesn't give a clear answer. Instead just makes you feel dumb

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Professor Larin is really great and very knowledge in his field. He does have high standards for students but I do not that they are unreasonable/unattainable. As long as you do the work and get help/clarification when needed there is nothing to worry about. As well, he does really reward participation and effort so do that on a weekly basis.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Stephen is a great professor and a really good guy. I took the mandatory POLS250 from him, and it was a fairly challenging course but nothing out of the ordinary for POLS at Queen's. He's very clear about expectations about attendance and readings, and is also a gem at being available for meetings and understanding special considerations. 10/10!!!!

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Larin is one of the most caring profs I've had, he genuinely wants his students to succeed in class and life. If you go to class with readings done (bare minimum for a Pols degree) he will go out of his way to make sure you understand the material and do well. Handles disrespectful students well and makes a boring, mandatory class worth going to!