Brian Morton

I honestly didn’t know what to expect what I signed up for this course. Overall, I would say start attending office hours early. Professor Morton, I found, was an extremely agreeable professor who really searched to try to test your knowledge. When I was doing exams, as long as you provided information to show you studied, he’d be very lenient with grading. He also was very good with returning grades on time. He’s just really nice!

AVOID at ALL costs! I have always loved biology, that is until I had Morton. Among all the biology teachers/professors I have had in high school and college, he is by far the worst! He is very disorganized, so it is extremely difficult to follow his lectures. Also, his lectures are incredibly boring, it's really hard not to space out at times. Morton pretends to be nice and helpful sometimes, but i don't think he cares a lot about his students at all. If you absolutely have to take this course, then take it with Mansfield! she teaches it in the Spring.

This was one of my favorite classes! The class material was really interesting and Professor Morton covered it with a good balance of lecture slides and spoken lecture. He's funny, nice, and really knows his stuff. It's easy to see him outside of class although I never left lecture confused. I've taken all of the evolution classes at Barnard (Plant, Vertebrate, and this one) and this one covered the most interesting material. It was also well organized and the book supplemented the material well.

Brian Morton is an amazing intelligent professor. He challenges you and makes you think. I heard a lot of students found him too hard, but I think his class is one where you get the grade you deserve. You work hard? You get the A. You don't understand the work? You get the D.

Going into this class and reading CULPA reviews made me nervous to say the least. I can't say Prof Morton was always 1000% clear with his teaching. he was also sometimes quite dry, and his problem sets and tests were difficult. that being said -- professor morton was one of the kindest professors i have ever seen who was so incredibly dedicated to helping his students succesd. his tests had much memorization but were relatively straight forward, and he gave a ton of partial credit if you showed yiu studied and knew something. would 10000000% take him over mansfield if you have the choice

Professor Morton is a really nice guy and is extremely willing to help in any way he can. Like most other upper level bio classes this class is definately not easy. The problem sets are difficult and the tests require a lot of memorization. Take advantage of Professor Morton's office hours. He can be very patient and helpful.

Can't imagine how the other "evolution" rater came up with her rating. In my experience, this was a terrible class with an egomaniac for a professor. I thought Morton was condescending, mean, and a bit smarmy. I learned, but only because I was motivated to learn the material on my own. Lectures were not helpful, nor was Morton. Why is he still teaching here? Ugh.

Professor Morton is wonderful--you can tell that he really cares about his students and he makes himself very available for questions, both in his office hours and by email. This class is hard, but it's definitely doable, especially if you make use of the great app he makes for it. You should definitely go to lectures because he manages to cram an absurd amount of information into each one, and it will also help you know what you do and don't need to study within the app. The problem sets can take some time but they're great prep for the exams. Start going to office hours early in the semester if you are confused about anything because it can be a hard class to try to catch up in since it is so information-dense.

I too took this course a while ago. It takes a week or two for it to come across, but in my opinion Bore-ton really is mean and nasty underneath his very thin fake-nice facade. True, he repeats everything 6 million times during class, but you won't hear it even the first time because you'll be sleeping or staring out the window or making a grocery list--anything to try to stay awake for even a minute or two. I guess if you really need to catch up on your sleep, this would be a great class to take, but otherwise stay away. I hated this class more than just about any I've taken.Don't let it happen to you.

Brian Morton is the nicest man ever. He is very approachable and I am definetely taking his Genetics class in the Spring this year. He is easy to get in contact with, very organized, sweet, and very smart. The workload is fine: moderate amounts of reading, a couple problem sets, and a paper, which you have the entire semester to do. He helps you with the problems sets in and out of class if you need it. He is very receptive to questions in and out of class, and he is very open if you have questions regarding the midterm. I love him! Also, he has spoken with me concerning med-schools and applications, etc. and given me great advice. He is funny and very knowledgable, I have yet to miss a class and never want to. Take a class with Professor Morton! I probably have about a B+ plus right now, but I know he isn't against giving A's.