Jennifer McDonald

Overview of the big problems/questions/thinkers in philosophy of science. Improved philosophical argumentation

The workload is not bad at all--the readings are always short and manageable, but still interesting. 3 reading outlines, 3 short discussion papers, 1 final paper, 15 mins offiice hours appointment. They don't take long at all and the grading is very reasonable--100s are feasible. I probably spent, averaged across the assignments, 4 hours per week on this class (more on some weeks, less on others) plus in-person class time.

The best instructor I've possibly ever had. I came to Columbia with a dream of engaging seminars in the Core, and Jenn absolutely delivered; we learned the theory of the material through engaging discussions. Highly, highly recommend.

This is a senior seminar for philosophy majors, so I put "Definitely recommend"- for other philosophy students, but maybe not students more generally.

Great class, great professor. Jenn is funny, engaging, and very knowledgeable. A good introduction to philosophical topics and methods for beginners (it is challenging at times--I'm thinking of you Russell--so it's also appropriate if you have a bit of background in philosophy already). A really enjoyable class, I really highly recommend. I would also take any class with Jenn again, no matter the subject!

I found the workload to be moderate, though more energy was concentrated on developing philosophical skills than on reading the texts, particularly in the second semester.

I think it was a good class but might not be useful to everyone

Jen has a deep appreciation for the Great Books (most of which she had never read prior to teaching CC––woah) and is genuinely one of the kindest l instructors I've ever had. I liked all the assignments and generally did very well––even though I did not manage to achieve perfection. I enjoyed the class preps more than the essays, because I'm stronger with reading comprehension and quick descriptive work than I am when it comes to building a really good argument. My peers were wildly bright which was both intimidating and lovely. Most people got As, but they all earned them. People with a STEM background generally did well in this class because of the analytical methodology, so if you are looking to avoid one of those humanities fluff classes, I would recommend this class. You will realize very quickly that the postmodernist thinking one finds in sociology and comp lit departments will not cut it. Reason is valued in this course, however politically incorrect the conclusion may be. For most students, this is quite refreshing. Jen's favorite philosophers from the year included Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes (so careful w/reasoning!), Ibn Tufayl, and James Baldwin. In other words, she has good taste.

The grade is made up of 12 class preps (basically writing ab the reading you did), 2 papers, and a take home final. Attendance is mandatory but she is pretty generous with the number of absences she allows. Our class got pretty much all As from what I could tell on Courseworks.

Huge, huge, huge, fan of Jenn! She approaches CC as a philosopher looking to train us to be philosophers as well, I think taking a different approach from many other professors. We didn't spend much class time discussing the readings themselves, but instead talked about the concepts covered in the reading and how they relate to our everyday lives. Every class, she'd give us an abstract question (example: what does it mean to perform a selfish action?) to write about and discuss, then would tie it in with the reading for about the last or so minutes. I found it hard to adjust to this teaching style at first, but once I did, I really appreciated Jenn's approach to the class. I think because she's less interested in what some old men think and more interested in what we as a class think, she really gets at what the purpose of CC is- to interrogate your own morals, figure out who you are, what you believe, and how you present that to the world. If that sounds good to you, I'd 100% take CC with Jenn.