Avery Smith is a great person. All tests, quizzes, and essay were open note. No textbook but assigns readings that needed to be printed so you don't have to buy a textbook. Clearly explains all readings. Participation is key!!! She expects a good discussion and that you know the material throughout the whole course. I would HIGHLY recommend.

She has a great sense of humor and she is very inspirational! The class has a fair amount of work for a core class, just do the readings, try to understand them and you will do fine! Some of her lectures really had me reflect on life. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

An overall amazing person and professor. She is very knowledgeable and inspiring and her class was one of the most interesting I've ever taken.

A great teacher and manages to keep the classes interesting and entertaining. I love philosophy and have taken multiple classes in it before. She really pushes for looking into the works at a deeper level. If I had one negative it would be the class I took is basically an introductory level and she seems to expect a higher level of knowledge for it

Solid professor, you definitely get to know the subject matter. Class can get preachy at times but for the most part its very interesting.

If you don't like group work do not take her.

Dr. Smith is not only a great professor, but she is also a great human being. Very in tune with her students and always interested in what is going on with them, which helps her understand the performance one has in the class room . She is accessible outside the class-room and always willing to help. Tough grader, but pushes you to be better.

Tough grader but gives you everything you need to do well. Take good notes during lecture and use them on the online quizzes and you'll get A's on them. Participation matters--engage in her weekly reading discussions. GO TO CLASS. Very inspiring and super nice. You'll do well if you put in roughly an average amount of work (not a blow off).

Great professor. Good classroom vibe. Participation is very important. The homework assignments are a lot for a required course, you will have to work for an A. However, she is very understanding and asking for help will go a long way. I enjoyed the class. I will warn you that the final is a group paper which was very frustrating for everyone.

I don't understand why there are so many negative reviews! Dr. Smith is so caring and my favorite professor I've had at Loyola so far. I agree that the group final is annoying but it's still not a cumulative test so I'm not complaining! She was so understanding and nice during the whole COVID thing. I HIGHLY recommend.

Professor Smith is hands down one of the best professors out there. She really cares about her students and is an expert when it comes to engaging with them. Take her if you want a challenging yet rewarding class

she is the most caring professor I ever had. take her you won't regret. you have to work hard for her class but definitely worth it. you will learn such good life lessons from her, discipline and regularity it's all she expects from you but you talk to her with your problems she is the one who will help you get through difficulties of class

I was so lucky to be able to take Dr. Smith this semester!! She is such a wonderful and caring person, she really made this online fall semester manageable and took the time to reach out to everyone to check how we're doing, which I appreciated. Her passion for the subject shines through and makes you want to come to lecture!! 100% recommend !!!!

Professor Smith is one of the most caring professors I've ever encountered. She regularly checked in on us and continued to have meetings throughout the summer in case one of us needed something. She truly is a role model, and I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Professor Smith is super kind and her lectures make you feel amazing about yourself and humanity in general. There are weekly reading assignments, but as long as you show up to class and get the gist of what's going on, you can get by without reading them. No tests, just a few papers and blog posts. Tough grader but outlines her standards.

I love this women. She is so caring and seems genuinely interesting in you and your well being. She is open and up front but in a caring manner. This class is VERY general so it is really laid back. We just have discussions every class about our readings, life, how we are feeling, etc. I absolutely recommend prof Smith to everyone.

Super nice lady, she is very understanding as well. Her class is fairly straightforward. Definitely read the readings she assigns and participate in class and you will be perfectly fine. She is a good grader and will go over instructions with you. Take some notes because she will ask you to refer to stuff. Just pay attention and you'll be fine.

I love Dr. Smith! She's super sweet and a fantastic teacher! I would for sure take another one of her classes if I wasn't transferring.

Liked the format of the class, basically just discussions on the readings every time. Participation matters, but she accepts emails for more introverted people. She genuinely cares about her students and is extremely nice. 3 papers, participation grade, and final is the only grades so do good on her papers and you are set.

Dr. Smith's 130 class is kind of class led, it's mainly us students discussing the readings and her intervening. Care about your well-being does ask us how we feel and what's on our minds. 3 papers, 1 group activity, Participation counts for a grade, and a group final (paper, presentation, and reflection). Easy class! Will take again!

The class is discussion-based, so if you want to receive a good grade you need to read what she assigns and participate. The readings aren't always interesting and class can get boring, but she's a caring professor and typically an easy grader.

Professor Smith is such a beautiful human being. She's very understanding with her students and leaves very little homework. I love the way she lets everyone speak in class and give their opinion. Definitely take this class if you have the opportunity.

Dr. Mahaffey is truly a great person. Every day she asks how we're doing and genuinely cares. For class read the assigned reading and participate! 30% of your grade is participation and is a very discussion-based class. She is very understanding and is easygoing. Her essays are very easy (only three) and the final is a group project, not too bad!!

I loved Dr. Smith! To do well in her class you have to participate, but that is easy in a discussion-based class. She seems to genuinely care for all of her students and she has been one of my favorite professors at Loyola. Her essays are graded almost exclusively on grammar which is a bit annoying, but overall she's great and it's an easy A.

I highly recommend Dr.Smith!

Grades are based on little quizzes about the readings, three essays, and participation. Expectations are clear for grading but there isn't a lot of guidance with the essays. Class has an open discussion format. Professor Smith is a kind and understanding person and her takes were always insightful and inspirational.

I really liked Dr. Smith. I am aware she isn't for everyone but I think she's a great professor. She facilitates participation and discussion well. If you are too shy to speak in class you can email her thoughts or post a comment on Sakai lecture pages. A kind person who cares about all her students and will actually value your input!

I thought Avery Smith was an interesting professor. She knows a lot about philosophy and is very passionate about it. She seems to really care about her students. The only thing is she is sometimes unclear with directions, and her grading can be random. She assigns a lot of group work so the work load is light, as long as you have a good group.

She assigns a lot of reading but I didn't do any of it and it was pretty much fine. Participation matters but the discussions generally surround how we feel about things rather than the reading itself, so you can participate without reading. There are lots of quizzes and they are easy to forget about. Also some group work.

I loved going to Dr. Smith's class very much. Whatever she said, it was always important and great advice. Final is a group project. Big con - she rarely responds to emails.

I took this Philosophy class as an online summer class and it was asynchronic. All I had to do was write a few essays, some discussions and weekly tests. Pretty easy class as long as you do all the assignments and are careful with grammatical mistakes.

Prof. Smith is the light of my life. She's full of wisdom, and full of funny things to say. Her classes truly make you think, and I don't even mind waking up early to take her class. I love her. She's easily my favorite teacher. Take her if you can!!!!!

A lot of these reviews are disappointing and honestly stereotypical. Especially when referring to Dr.Smith as "angry," which is a common term used to describe black women. She is not angry, but passionate and very intellectual. This class was an extremely easy A; 2 essays, weekly quizzes, final group project. Amazing professor, TAKE HER!!

I initially struggled with the unique structure of coursework in this class, but Dr. Smith is a wonderful professor with a profoundly empathetic approach to teaching. She genuinely cares about her student's well-being and will be there for you. She encourages participation in class and the application of philosophy to real-life experiences.

This class is really engaging, expect participation, but she makes it a really good space for discussion. She cares about her students well being but will push you to critically engage with texts. She is passionate about philosophy and connects philosophical concepts with the real world. I highly recommend and would take again!

Dr. Smith is an amazing professor and genuinely cares about her students. she offers zoom if you can't come into class and is very lenient with deadlines. You can easily get an A if you do the essays, and weekly either discussion post or 5 question online quiz. would recommend her to anyone.

The classes are mostly discussion with your peers, and sometimes lectures. The work is easy but she doesn't communicate the assignments ever so you have to check online often. She assigns lots of reading but you don't need to actually do them to get class participation. Overall, the class wasn't hard but sometimes confusing.

Very honest and real, feel like she cares about everyone in class and very passionate about her job. Actually do the readings bc she did kick people out for not knowing.

Dr. Smith is a great professor, I think a lot of the people who don't like her are just saying it cause she's Black. She's actually nice and there's not a lot of work. I wish she'd remind us about upcoming quizzes and discussion posts more often but all in all she's great. Lectures are interesting and she's very caring and cares about students.

She's inspiring and genuine. I'm confused by the many one-star reviews. It's my favorite class as it's thought-provoking, and she doesn't let people fail easily. All textbooks are free. The only issues are that the assignments on the assignments page don't match those on the lessons page, and assignments due could've been communicated better.

Surprised by the bad reviews, Dr. Smith was my favorite professor all semester. She is kind and cares about her students. There was a lot of content and assignments for a core class, but they're easy. You can easily get an A without even reading the material. She also grades pretty leniently. Show up to class, participate, and you will get an A.

She runs her course in the Lessons page of Sakai with dates already planned for the entire semester. She grades papers very easily, besides the fact that she makes you grade yourself and whatever you grade yourself IS WHAT YOU GET. There are a lot of readings, and quizzes+discussions about once a week but she only takes the best 5 in the end.

Hard class but worth it. Dr. Smith is an excellent professor and will help you deepen your philosophical knowledge.

This is one of the best classes I have ever taken. She is such a fascinating public speaker, and makes 50 minute lectures feel like they go by in 5. She is super passionate about what she does, and not to mention so hilarious and loves to engage with students. The assignments are pretty easy too with weekly reading quizzes. Just participate!

Dr.Smith truly cares about her students. Her class can feel like a lot at times due to the readings and workload, but it's doable. Her lectures are inspiring and they keep you engaged. Stick with her and the grades will work out in the end. Take her!

Honestly, the best CORE class I've taken so far. Dr. Smith is knowledgeable about so many different things, + speaks like 3 languages. Not a lot of work, just make sure to write down when weekly things are due. The worst part of the class was not the work, it was the people who decided to take a discussion-based class without wanting to talk....

Class consists of weekly quizzes, readings, and journal entries. Not hard if you put in some work. She understands people might not want to speak up in class, and allows people to participate through the discussion board online for points. Just show up and do your work and you'll be fine. Put effort into your journal entries, they are worth 20%.

Dr. Smith is great! yes, the class is discussion-based, but you can get participation points by commenting in a general discussion. u do read a lot but u can read a spark note summary and you'll be fine. she's funny, very passionate, and kind. if u are struggling, TALK TO HER! forgot to do a quiz and she let me make it up quickly! TAKE HER

She is a great professor—very considerate! Participation matters a lot, but you can speak in person or online; you will get credit. Readings are long, but as long as you pay attention in class, you will be okay! Discussions and quizzes aren't too bad; pay attention to how she explains the material about the readings. Exams aren't too hard.

She is really nice and if you enjoy talking about social/political topics going on in the world then I would highly recommend her class. Graded on easy weekly quizzes and discussion posts. The midterm/final are both take-home exams that are only 2 essay questions 200-300 words. Attendance is optional and can join via zoom if you can't make it.

Love her! Might be a difficult class to get through if you don't agree with her politically, but she was very nice. Her class requires a lot of participation but she offers other facets if you don't want to talk in class. Journal entries and quizzes most weeks, not bad. Midterm and final are both 2 short answer questions. EC for attending class.

TAKE HER!!! Literally my favorite professor I wish I could take her class again and again. Instead of strictly following the lectures she talks about useful real world topics. She is an extremely fair grader and will work with you if you work with her! Started every class asking how everyone was. 1 quiz and discussion, take home midterm and final.

TAKE DOCTOR SMITH!! She is by far one of the best teachers I've ever had in my life. She cares about her students so much and gives us opportunities to just be college students (rant, cuss, etc). She uses various real-life examples in lectures. A little difficult with emails, but otherwise a great teacher for core.

rlly fw her! as someone with a negative attention span, her lectures were very captivating and she often touched on real-world, "political" issues which i love. however, she did assign a lottt of readings 4 every class and it was rlly hard for me to understand them. i felt slow but i got by somehow. 5-question online quiz + a journal every week.

As a philosophy major and senior, i can see why freshmen taking 130 didnt like her because she wants people to participate and non-philosophers havent built that skill yet. I loved her phil in film class, she used two books but another thing freshmen dont know is that u can find free pdfs of them. She shares inspirational and funny stories everyday

Avery Smith was absolutely a light of positivity in a class lineup that I absolutely dreaded taking this past semester. Easy is a good word to summarize the work load sure, but the conversation and lectures from Dr. Smith for me personally were so engaging, specifically for her Philosophy in film class and be prepared to participate, it's worth it.