2.7
Quality3.8
Difficulty45%
Would Retake94
Reviews45%
Would Retake
94
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
17
3
14
2
24
1
21
What Students Say
“DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM”
HS127 - 1.0 rating“All I can say is what the hell”
HS105 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
63%
Textbook Required
80%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.50 avg changeRatings by Course
HST126
5.0
(1)SEVERAL
5.0
(1)HS
5.0
(2)HS410OTHERS
5.0
(1)HS322
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
HIST127
5.0
EN127
5.0
HISTUS
5.0
HI105
5.0
HS293
4.5
Reviews (94)
Fairly easy exams if you go to class, book reports hard to make requirements
Way too Liberal, but a great guy!
Hard..
very good lectures...but the tests can catch you off guard. All tests are essay.
Interesting Lectures, but all exams are essays :/
mumbles, tests are hard
Papers are hard, Exams are hard, make sure you take very detailed notes to be able to answer his essay questions on the exams.
the materials very interesting the teacher not so much. with a more lively, engerentic prof. this class could have been outstanding. i will say that he was very knowledgable about the subject and passionate in a very restrained way.
If you attend class and participate, the class is much easier. He assigns a lot of reading but the books are mainly fictional and interesting. There is no text book for the class.
The guy has snaggly teeth, everything he talked about was never on the exams (WHICH WERE ALL ESSAY!) And Even when I read all of the boring books, I didn't get good grades on the book reviews.
A brilliant and knowledgeable person who lacks direction and social skills necessary for being an effective teacher. His mumbling and mannerisms can be annoying. His tests and assignments were unclear in nature and didn't match his lectures. a historian
Knows his stuff! If you sit up front and listen to his ramblings, he's funny. His liberal perspective was enlightening, especially for Minorities class. Most of his classes are all papers and your perspective on the books you read.
This class was very demanding. If you put a LOT of time and effort into it you would do okay but he sometimes acts like his class is the only class students are taking and assigns work accordingly.
Interesting guy....well not everyday, knows lots of interesting stuff. Picks books to read that were alright. Essay tests let you BS, good class.
Alan Willis is very interesting and insightful. He is very intellegent and students can learn a lot from him. He is even a little humorous and I make sure I get my daily dose of Willis every day! I strongly recommend taking his class, you will be glad!
Alan "Scot" sucks. He is so full of himself and his dumb PhD. I must admit I totally slacked, but even if I didn't, I still would've hated him and his completely boring lectures and dumb jokes. Take Nicholson, he's a thousand times better.
He is super boring but a nice guy. His classes suck. He just doesn't make history interesting. I would rather stab myself in the eye than go to his class.
Does mumble quite a bit making it hard to understand. Is always willing to help students in any possible way. Not much reading needs to be done for the class.
Dr. Willis is full of history in which he spews forth in every which way. He knows so much that i am in aww when ever i listen to his tender voice.
Go to class, take notes, do a decent job on the book reports, review the notes before the class, and you should be able to get a B or better. Book is worthless, just go to lectures.
Willis is an interesting guy, and a good professor, if you are into slaves and religion. He turned Civil War history into a class about slavery. Ft. Sumner wasnt mentioned until well after midterm time. So good prof, but determined to teach what he likes.
He rambles on and on about the same thing everyday, then suddenly the last week of class you're supposed to know everything. The books were worthless. I couldnt take notes b/c his lectures were so unorganized and random.
No Comments
Nice guy who knows the material. The lectures can get a little boring, but he is full of great information, and the assignments are straightforward. The papers require some serious research, but he was very helpful in finding additional sources.
Cool prof...he knows his stuff, read his book!!!!!
Dropped his class! He's a arrogant teacher who has no problem failing students on well-thought out papers. If you cant write how he wants, he fails you!
YES, it's lots of writing papers and reading REALLY DRY history books, but if you can write well, meaning you have Analytical Skills + The Technical Writing Skills + Excerpts used correctly, it's not that bad. You learn a LOT. And I generally despise essay exams.
Very arrogant. Thinks of himself quite highly. Sit up front and laugh at his jokes, you may pass. Sit in back, he may glance at you once when he looks at the clock. Don't expect much help, if struggling.
He is not a cool guy. He thinks he is the most intelligent man ever to walk. His class is horrible- you learn nothing. It is as much history of himself as it is of Africa.
I thought that he was a very cool prof as long as you are interested in what he is teaching.1in essays write about what he says about the book and key points in HS. 2Have some prior knowledge of class subject so you can bring them up and get on his good side. it makes it a lot smoother.PAY ATTENTION
Good guy. VERY liberal but seems to let students hash our their own arguments. Requires a lot of reading but if you like essay exams he's a pretty easy grader.
He knows what he is talking about, but he doesn't make connections between the books and lecture. I would not recommend his unless you have taken a class like this and are familiar with the material. He also is a hard grader. Watch out!
I only had him for the history seminar, but he was extremely helpful. He'd lend you his own books if you needed them, and he met with you so many times that it was easy to stay on track with the big paper.
An arrogant guy, enjoys groupies that laugh at his jokes and follow him around. Course pretty advanced for 100 level, fairly harsh grader. Unapproachable and nervous outside of class. No connections between exams and reading-- go to class and take notes on his lectures!
Very Very arrogant, terrible teacher. Mummbles a lot when he talks. Cant hear crap if you sit in back. Make sure you see him in his office or talk to him or your chances of passing are slim. He likes gorupies who sit up front and laugh at his jokes.
Dr. Willis is a nice guy. He will go out of his way to help you out. He also knows what he is talking about. Unfortunately he doesn't know how to tie in lecture with the reading material. Unless you have to take his class, try to avoid him.
This professor is by far the worst at NMU. Try to avoid his classes, it will make your life so much better. SUCKS!
he doesn't speak clearly during lectures. he isn't clear for his questions for papers. also he needs to relate lectures with our books. DONT HAVE HIM AS A TEACHER especially in the morning.
His tests were not too difficult and were always based on lectures and themes established in the class. I would take a class from him again without a second thought. Requires more reading then writing. While being critical of papers he also is a pretty fair grader and generally wants to improve student writing. He is a really nice guy and if you are upper division he will invite you over to his place at the end of the semester for food etc...
It was so nice to have a professor who was interested in the course he was teaching. As long as you pay attention in class and read the textbooks you will do fine in the class. The only problem with the class was you have to sit in the front to hear him. He mumbles a lot.
This class was all reading and writing. Most of the time the reading didn't follow the lectures. Dr. Willis is nice, and fairly interesting, but he is very critical of the papers. Grades are mostly based on how you construct the papers, not on your understanding of the subject matter.
He is the WORST teacher I have ever had. He doesn't give test so don't say anything against what he thinks in class or you'll get bad grades on all your papers because he is a biased jerk who should be fired.
Dr. Willis is very knowledgable and interesting. He assigns papers and quizzes, the papers are graded kind of randomly, make sure you use proper structure because his wife reads for grammar mistakes. Overall a funny, quirky man who makes random comments, and mumbles sometimes important information under his breathe
Too much reading for how we are graded. Example: read a 200 page novel and take a 10 question multiple choice quiz on it. Now multiply that experience by 5 and that's HS104. Hated, hated, hated the class.
this guy gives paper assignments instead of tests, so make sure you go to class and take good notes. very interesting class, im not a history person, but would recommend this class for anyone...
Willis is RIDICULOUS. DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM. It is a ONE HUNDRED LEVEL CLASS and he is expecting a work load of a 400+ class. He does not teach; he rambles incoherently about something vaguely related to the topic. The assignments have little to do with the class work. Whenever you ask him for help, he tells you to use WebCT. AVOID!!!!
Not much to say about Willis, just that his grading is ridiculous and class can be incredibly boring at times. He can have a few interesting things to say, other than that I don't think I would take him more than once.
Willis is boring and I think out of all the days in class with him, he's brought up maybe two interesting points...that's about it. Good luck with him, watch out for his grading, and don't fall asleep in class.
He needs to take a break from his ego and remember that he is teaching a 100 level course, his notes are a far cry from being perspicuous. Also has a tendency to bloviate and be a bit of a popinjay.
Willis is teaching a 100 class with 300 expectations
Dr. Willis is the real deal. This man knows his stuff and has a great deal of professorial integrity and high standards. Grades are tough but fair. If you can't handle being graded on the merits of the work you submit, don't take his classes. If you're a poor writer, you should probably look for another professor to softball you to graduation.
Multiple choice tests on web CT are vague and tough. Writing assigments are easy as long as effort is put forth and the syllabus is used.
Harsh on grading and worst teacher ever
I feel that Professor Willis knows his material well and has a strong interest in this subject, but he needs to interact differently so his students can better understand where he's coming from
papers and tests are very vague,you go to him for help and he is rude and makes you feel stupid,you dont know what part of the book he is lecturing on and the test covers 5-6 chap. but not the main points in them.I'm a history major and i had a very hard time in this class for the fact that he is a very poor teacher, worst i've ever had
This class was a toughy. He is VERY interested in the topic, but at times the lecture can run dry. I'll admit to falling asleep a couple of times, something rare. I struggled with the online quizzes, tests, and papers. It was a bigger challenge then I thought I would face. Be ready to work if u take this class.
I took a number of classes with Willis including civil war, and seminar. He is not easy, but to those of you looking ahead to grad school history, he is perhaps the best idea of what to expect. If I had to do undergrad all over again I would take no history profs but Willis and Kendall. Grad school is second nature after those two.
Dull. Boring. Painful. These words all describe sitting in Alan Willis' History class. Not only were the lectures long and dry, the notes are incomprehensible most of the time unless you write down every spoken word. Dull, boring papers. Nothing about this guys class is interesting in the least bit. Ask for help and he'll babble, confusing you more
HOrrible teacher. Loved his lectures, but since there was no use of a textbook, students tended to fail. ONline quizzes were unfair in that if you missed one answer out x amount, youd basically lose the question (better to guess). Tests are hard if you can't write/type word for word. Suggest a voice recorder.
I am a history major, love the subject, and am a 4.0 student before this class. I have been to every class, read every chapter, studied and written essays for countless hours and am having the worst time ever. Lectures are interesting but he doesn't tie his grading into the lectures. Avoid this professor if you wish to keep your GPA
Somehow, I managed pull a B+ in this class. The way he presented his material was a bit...unorthodox but he always managed to keep the class interested by including little interesting historical tidbits about the subject we were learning. I hear his wife grades his students' papers. (His wife is Sandra Burr. She's an english professor at Northern.)
Worst class ever. Avoid taking this teacher at all costs. Not helpful, hard to reach. Tests not fair, somehow managed to get a C+ after attending every class and taking pages of notes. Awful.
confuses students and is not clear about what chapter the tests are on. he teaches the chapters after we have already taken the test.
Decent guy, but he confuses the class and the notes he has them take do not often appear on the tests.
Sometimes can have a condescending attitude towards students. Open source quizzes and tests are horrible. Overall nice guy and very smart and interested in the subject, just needs to change the structure of the class. Also, if you are not a strong paper writer this man expects your papers to be worthy of publication to receive even a modest grade.
I find him to be a great professor, very interesting, knows his stuff, and loves what he does. He uses coffee hours so is easily accessible, I will def take him again in a future class
He is pretty smart, but his class is so boring and I hate how he lectures. Too much jumping around. I love history but I know I'm not doing well in his class. Notes don't help and reading the book only does so much. His tests are so confusing and the papers are complicated. I hope he realizes this is a level 100 class.
All I can say is what the hell. Read all the books he assigned. Attended most classes and no matter what when it came to the exams it was like I knew nothing. He doesn't test on whats in the book or his lectures. ALmost like the questions are from some weird self conversation he must have.
Really boring, test are really hard. very little was on the test that we learned in class. I went everyday for this class and it was all review for me. it sucked no sense of humor.
The guy obviously knows his stuff, and for the most part the lectures are interesting, however he is very pretentious and does not help students. My grades do not reflect the amount of work that I have been doing for this 100 level class. I read all texts and come to every class, but the tests are ridiculously hard.
He knows his stuff but the class is extremely boring. He isn't much help when explaining something. His classes don't match the textbooks. One book he had us buy I have never opened. His lectures are dull and full of his remarks that are not relevant to the lecture. Don't take him save yourself the headache and take someone else if you can.
Willis is very dull to listen to. He only lectures with minimal photo/power point accompaniment. He gives no reviews and the textbooks he assigns do not correlate closely to the topics discussed in class.
Willis is a good professor in the sense that he knows what he's talking about and has a passion for history. He is a harsh grader, but the tests are take home so you are able to use your notes or the internet. His lecture is a bit dry. He speaks rather quietly for a class of 70 students and provides minimal visuals. Not a class for a GPA boost.
When I first started the history program I hated Willis. He was over the top hard and was never helpful in the least. But I can now look back and see that he was simply weeding out students who wouldn't stick with the program. In the capstone class he was incredibly helpful and was there whenever we needed him.
He's very knowledgeable and clearly know his stuff. His tests are very difficult. You MUST pay attention and take excellent notes in class to do well on the tests. He kind of rambles, but can be entertaining. Pay attention, go to class, and study for tests and you'll do fine.
He was so boring. I did not enjoy his class one bit. The tests were hard and I could barley stay awake in his class.
Horrible professor. He mumbles so badly that I could barely hear him from the front row. He knows what he's talking about but is very cocky about it. The tests are killer, even though they're take-home. The books have nothing to do with the lectures, but if you skip either you're screwed because he puts nothing online. Not a GPA boost.
The most pretentious and cocky professor I have ever met. Attendance is expected yet does not pertain to exams or quizzes. Lectures are primarily his unorganized mumbling rants on his interpretations of history. Many test and quiz questions are based on his interpretations of history and answers are also interpretationsopinions.
This guy is horrible. He's super unorganized and rambles about nothing. He also mumbles and you can't hear anything. The tests are over material he never talked about. The papers he assigns are ridiculously long and over like 200 pages of a book. I would avoid him at all costs.
I see him on campus looking at Russian dating sites, not in his office or anything, but right in the student lounge. I'm not talking about just a chat service. Video service with the women stripping for him. He mumbles in class. The material in class is completely irrelevant from test questions. Avoid at all costs.
He mumbles and talks to himself during class. I take over 3 pages of handwritten notes every class session (meets 4 days a week) and read the assignments, still the online tests are confusing. He says there are no trick questions, but take that with skepticism. READ the questions carefully.
Lectures are mostly mumbling and rambling on his perception of history, it doesn't match with the book at all (WHICH IS EXPENSIVE) Tests barely cover anything he's said, but he throws in questions over things he mentioned once, during the last 2 mins of class. Arrogant, but he knows his stuff, just not how to teach it. Good luck ever getting help.
There are no tests, but there are quizzes on the weekly reading. I had this class once a week from 6:00-9:20. It wasn't bad. There were a lot of in class group assignments. He really knew what he was talking about and gave a new outlook on history other than the cookie-cutter way of looking at history.
He is a good teacher, lectures are very boring. Hard to read what he writes on the board his notes are all over the place. The TA is very helpful. He is a tough grader.
I heard horrible things about Dr. Willis. Fortunately, I found them to be false. Well, at least for me. Here's the thing. when you walk into this class, you may want to debate with him on certain topics. DONT. Let him lecture, participate some, and you will see that he actually points out exactly what he wants you to write about in class. Love him.
Very unclear with assignments. Gives positive feedback for assignments, yet grades them as F's. Hard class to pass because he does not help you improve through his feedback. No tests, so all the grades are based off his terrible grading. Avoid this teacher at all costs. He does not want students to pass.
Dr. Willis was fantastic. I've scrolled through some of the responses here and, frankly, I'm shocked. His knowledge of all things American History related, particularly Religion in American History, is unquestionable. His classes as a rule include a ton of reading (50-100 pages per week + 6 books), but it's history. What do you expect?
Mumbles a lot. No resources to study from were on the class page. All we had to study off was notes we'd take during lecture, which made the mumbling a problem. Handwriting is illegible so that was unhelpful when trying to take notes. Quizzes wee on very inconsequential things that were taught.
Absolutely wonderful, I loved the class. Very participation heavy but if you do the readings you'll survive, he is also a very easy grader so as long as you put in the effort, you're going to do great.
Professor Willis taught this class very well and I would recommend him. While he does mumble a bit, if you sit closer to the front of the class you'll be able to hear him just fine. He assigns homework in short papers and doesn't have quizzes or tests. He does have reading to do, but he shows ways of making the reading faster and more efficient.
Luckily, this class had no tests or final exam. He does talk quiet and only visual notes are topic points on the chalkboard so either take notes or record the lecture. Assignments are mostly straight forward and there's not many of them compared to other classes. You do have assignments based off of the required books but they're cheaper on Amazon.
I had Willis for HS 254, I took it as a gen ed thinking it would be interesting.Overall the class was realtively easy. He doesnt have any sort of visual presenations for his lectures you pretty much have to pay attention to him and can't miss a class. He doesnt do any exams just small quizzes.
Alan wasn't someone you should go for if you like learning. His lecture come across as more ranty than anything and he is extremely monotone throughout class. The man cannot speak up, so try to sit in the front of class. His way of assigning things is very messy, homework is long with essays sometimes due the same day, and quizzes simplify too much
I was supposed to take HS202 with Dr. O'Neill, but he suffered a heart attack and Alan Willis had to take over. This man is so monotone. I do almost none of the assigned readings and tune out his voice for the majority of class to do other homework. You can tell he has a deep appreciation for history but class engagement is very minimal. Easy A.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
63%
Textbook Required
80%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.50 avg changeRatings by Course
HST126
5.0
(1)SEVERAL
5.0
(1)HS
5.0
(2)HS410OTHERS
5.0
(1)HS322
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
HIST127
5.0
EN127
5.0
HISTUS
5.0
HI105
5.0
HS293
4.5