EGMT 1540

Class would not be difficult if the professor did not grade so harshly. The fact that this is considered an engagement is stretched out beyond words, meaning that with the way the course ended up, it did not feel like it all. The course did not feel itself as it was centered around “horror,” yet philosophy. Also, instructions for assignments was not clear or concise enough, leading to lower grades that were earned overall. Even when comments were left, it was not purely understandable to really see how it was resolve and issue for the assignment I had done. There is also a no-phone/no-screen policy in the classroom, which wasn’t fully an issue since concentration was a little bit better during the lecture. Overall, I feel that it would have been better for me to have enrolled in a different class since the work/topic information didn’t fully suit my interests and the work was graded on a level that was extremely rigorous for an engagement. Be warned when taking this class. To note, I took this Fall ‘24, not Spring ‘25.

If you’re interested in horror movies and think this is what this class is about, you’re not completely on track. This is mostly just a philosophy class but as an engagement. If you’re just looking for an engagement to fit your schedule… do not take this class, it’s an automatic grade drop. For some reason an engagement is very strictly rated? Engagements should be a grade booster if anything but not this one. There’s 2 assignments they count for 75 of your grade, neither have clear directions and both are strictly graded. Only person I would recommend this class to is my worst enemy. Taken Fall 2024*

This class was by no means on par with the other engagements. You have 2 assignments that make up 75% of your grade, and he grades these in an extremely harsh manner. Hours and hours of preparation are necessitated in order to receive A-'s on these assignments. Furthermore, the participation grade is by no means a grade booster, and he does an awful job of detailing what a good participation grade constitutes. I wouldn't recommend this class to anyone -- I think it defeats the entire purpose of what engagements are meant for. You'll be stressing about this class more than you would a high level chemistry or biology class.

If you are looking to take this class next semester, DO NOT TAKE IT. I was a student who enjoyed horror movies and did mostly all of the readings before class, however the grading is so unfair. He provides you with no rubric whatsoever and on top of that he grades REALLY harshly. The homework for this class was okay, but still a lot of work for an engagement since it consisted of reading an article and writing about it however it would be a 18 page article you would have to read and annotate in the span of 2 days. The participation grade was also really messed up since he would give us no heads up on what a 'good/A+ participation' would look like; I participated more than 2/3 students in the of the class, still ended up with an 80 for participation. The final project and in-class writing have no rubrics and he expects you to write according to the prompt, and when the prompt has been answered he expects you to have added more information that he didn't specify before. This was the same for the final project. As someone who has ended with an A for all my other classes, and ended with a B in this class, I am extremely frustrated and do not wish this on anyone.

I found this course to be inconsistent with the setup of most other Engagements classes. Grading was relatively harsh and there were few opportunities to demonstrate understanding. The bulk of your grade comes from a single in-class essay (worth 35%) and the final (40%). The remaining comes from the standard EE (10%) and participation (15%). Rationale surrounding the participation grade was foggy and we were not provided with any examples of A-worthy participation. Given that the in-class essay average was an 83% and an A for participation appears unlikely, I would guess that many in the course ended somewhere within the B/+/- range.

My main issue with this course was the prior knowledge it seemed to require. We were frequently asked to supply examples and analyses of horror works which were not part of the course materials. As someone largely unfamiliar with the genre, this was a challenge. However, there was nothing particularly flawed with the teaching in this course, rather the layout and communication. It should also be noted that, in the syllabus, Professor Ott estimates more time per day should be spent on this course than your other classes. For a 2 credit Engagement class.

If you are super into philosophy and horror, go for it. Otherwise, I would consider trying out another option

Took the class fall 2024. It's hard to say anything that hasn't been said in the other reviews, but this was not a class I enjoyed taking. Going in thinking it would be a relaxed discussion about horror movies, I was quick to realize I was wrong. The readings were often very long and arduous, and the bulk of class was just the professor lecturing at the class about what we 'read'. Save for a couple strange and awkward jokes, the lectures were consistently boring and disengaging.

Further, as everyone else has said, the grading was very vague and was an unpleasant surprise for me and many others. Participating at what you might think is A-level really is more like a B-, and two assignments, both with little to no instruction or guidance, are graded harshly to make up like 75% of your final grade. If you are a philosophy junkie, then you might (!) enjoy this class. Otherwise, I would suggest avoiding it and finding something else.

DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. The engagements curriculum is aimed to be an easy, introductory class for first years in A&S in order to give them an easy transition into college classes, but this class does the absolute opposite. The amount of reading and writing for this class is immense, the "precis" assignments are given with little to no guidance and are graded harshly. The in class writing and final project have no rubric before submitting, and there is no specification on what exactly professor wants. The rubric is given after the assignment which is very annoying. The lectures are somewhat confusing and probably only interesting to those who are VERY interested in philosophy/horror but still I wouldn't recommend. Professor teaches only upper level philosophy classes other wise but he expects students to know exactly what to say as if it is a higher 3000/4000 class. If you do decide to take the class, do all 5 precis because the participation is very hard to get a good grade in.

I do not recommend taking this engagement at all. It was genuinely my least favorite class from my whole first year. Every other engagement I took was very chill, and as long as you put in at least some effort, you'll do fine. This class, however, is graded extremely strictly and the work you submit must align perfectly with his standards to receive a good grade. He leaves little comments and the ones that he does leave don't really make much sense. Also, instead of being a class where you can actively engage with your peers, this class just feels like a lecture where he's talking at you the entire time. It's so boring, it actually put me to sleep. I've had no problems with any of my other engagements and have gotten 100s in all of them except this one where I got a B in what's supposed to be an easy A class. Do not take this class!