3.6
Quality3.1
Difficulty41%
Would Retake143
Reviews41%
Would Retake
143
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
143 total ratings5
69
4
16
3
21
2
12
1
25
What Students Say
“I have never been so bored in a class”
ANTH100 - 2.0 rating“He's frustrating, avoid if possible”
ANTH329 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
63%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.09 avg changeRatings by Course
ART101
5.0
(1)ANTH200
5.0
(1)ANTH433
5.0
(1)ANTH1
5.0
(2)ANTH478
5.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
ANTH
5.0
ANTH1
5.0
ANTH433
4.0
ANTH100
3.1
ANTH300
3.1
Reviews (142)
totally unhelpful, totally disorganized
Very Interesting teacher, he is full of insight. Very good.
likes to hear himself talk.
No Comments
Can't lecture to save his life, instead he sermonizes. Great taste in anth lit, means very well, but couldn't tell us anything clearly about what we were reading. Worships Eric Wolf - hates social injustice - loves fish. Honestly, how do you make a 4th year anth theory course about fish? He did.
Brilliant teacher! His class will honestly make you so much smarter. It is a lot of work, but if you are interested in learning a lot, this class is for you.
He was able to explain and identify the issues facing First Nations and British Columbians today by exploring our histories, explaining economic theory, and providing workable solutions. He tends to ramble in lecture in a rather loose fashion but it does synthesize and come together through the readings in the end.
This was a hard course that challenged me to do well (but I didn't really do well). I enjoyed the course even as I found it frustrating at times. One of the most engaging and daring prof's that I have had.
Intersting class
Had a First Nations in BC class with him 10 years ago. Class was in the Museum of Anthro. Loved Menzies. Always interesting, approachable, friendly. Got me interested in the material. Highly recommended!!
Great Prof. Charles is passionate about his work and goes out of his way to help students.
I love this class. He is one of my favourite profs. Starts off the class with a song...usually something obscure but realted to class struggle somehow. If you put in some serious work, you'll be a much more intelligent, aware, person.
I don't think it was entirely the prof, but I hated his Anthro 100 class. He was all over the place in his lectures, often losing his place and stumbling for words. His notes made very little sense unless connected directly with the texts. He means well, but I was not a fan. Also made us study his own text, videos, etc.
Helpful and approachable. You won't get his notes if you don't attend class, but the notes are unorganized and make little sense anyway. He is passionate about his work and teachings but he bases almost everything on his own studies; eg. his own ethnography and videos. A confident but self-centered prof.
Hated his ANTH 100 class. Lectures were extremely boring and dull, and made little sense. Disorganized class. You are not sure what you are going to learn, what you are expected to learn, etc. It didn't help that I wasn't very interested in anthro either. Dropped the course fairly quickly.
The best course and teacher I've had so far at UBC!
This is the best course so far at UBC. The prof is great, organized and really interesting to listen to.
Really enjoyed this class. So did most of the other students that I know in the class. M
This is my first time doing anthropology. The prof's perspective is different then I expected -but it was worth it. It really made me think about my world and how to make it a better place.
Great guy -passionate about teaching. Makes an extra effort to help out. The course is hard but really worth it.
It was okay. Not sure if anthropology is my thing though.
Great approach to teaching. It was a lot harder than my psychology class but way more interesting.
A genuinely nice guy, but is susceptible to tangents and just generally muddling the information up. It's hard to tell what's important and what's not. Also, most of the readings are articles that he's written, and he talks about fish way too often and in way too much detail. Group work is a dull waste of time. You'll learn, but you'll be bored.
This was a great course. Maybe people who didn't like it just didn't do the work. I failed my first quiz and then was really surprised to get an email from the prof inviting me to meet with him to do an oral test to bring my grade up. It made a real difference and helped a lot.
Boring class, boring professor.
Good course for students who are interested in learning and want to work hard. Bad course for students still living in high school. Prof takes on hard issues that are not popular and that are complex. I recommend the course to people who are really interested in learning. If you just want a grade take a different course.
its okay
Its a hard course. I plan to take more anthropology courses.
The TA's did a great job -it made the course.
Planning to take more anth courses now.
Hard course. My biggest fall was that it too me too long to adjust to the way he quizzes us. Pay extra attention to his lectures in class and take notes. Those will be all you need to succeed in the class. Dont even bother with the textbook. Go by what he said in class. If you pay attention in class, an A is very achievable. My mistake was that I s
Hey guys -the course has only just started -how can anyone make an evaluation based on two classes?
Took this course last year and really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun, hard work, and rewarding.
An informative and useful course. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in doing film in anth.
This prof works hard to engage students in learning about anthropology and their world. He is sometimes overly ambitious in what he excepts from students. He respects learning by challenging common sense. Learning requires work and when we are willing to do the work we come away from his course enriched.
coming to first year - this has been one of the BEST courses and its mostly due to the helpfulness of menzies. very, very easy as long as you study lecture notes and interesting material. great GPA booster too!!
Menzies is a nice guy, he does genuinely want students to do well. BUT, one, his lectures are hard to follow. He's one of those guys that will replace a normal sized word with a 10 dollar word just to make himself feel better. His marking is fair. Bit of a marxist too actually.
Great course!
I spent most of the semester terrified because my grade was in the low 50's. Somehow ended up with a 68. Still baffled.
WARNING: DO NOT TAKE UNLESS ABSOLUTELY UNAVOIDABLE! He's a nice guy, means well, but this course is killing my interest in anthropology. Course has no focus, nobody knows what we're doing, and he seems to structure his sermons around what he feels like saying on any given day. No clarity & can't give a straight answer. Also, has 7 required books.
WARNING: only take this course if you are a serious student who loves learning. If all you want is easy grade -go elsewhere.
So, if I understand the first Mr/MS Warning - the problem is (1) too much reading, and (2) students get a real chance to explore real examples of writing by (3) having an authentic discussion that follows the logic of the reading, not the bias of the prof? Gee - sounds tough (note sarcasm).
Really enjoying this course. Its a small class and I get a real chance to discuss things directly with the prof and other students.
It's a different way of doing it, but so far so good.
This is a great class. Menzies is considerate, careful, and really encourages participation and discussion. Of all my courses so far this has been one of the most interesting and exciting classes I have taken. I highly recommend it!
One of the best courses that I have ever had! He's a great prof, friendly, helpful, and considerate. Worth taking an 8 am course course for .
A great course. loved every minute of it.
Its a required course. It could have been worse.
The class was half empty; terrible course, I lost whatever interest I had in anthropology -- thanks so much to Dr. Menzies.
Attendance was about 90% from start to finish; great course, I increased what interest I had in anthropology -- thanks so much to Dr. Menzies.
I wish that he had used power points. There was too much discussions. I don't come to class to listen to other students. I want the prof to tell me what I need to study. I didn't like having to participate and talk in class.
Every time Dr. Menzies enter the classroom and opened his mouth, I wanted to kill myself! Boring, pretentious and conceited as hell. Half the students stopped coming to class after the first three weeks. AVOID!
Prof one of the best I have had at UBC. Great fun - really opened my eyes to what anthropology can be.
Every time Dr. Menzies enter the classroom and opened his mouth, I wanted to swoon! Interesting, modest and humble as hell. The class doubled after the first three weeks. TAKE!
Thanks to Professor Menzies' high-level vocab and the complexity of the issues he discusses, i left the course with the strong sense that i was better-equiped than most first-years to deal with other courses. Unfortunately, I hated the course while I was taking it: his quizzes were hard, his lectures boring. Weirdly, the final exam was super easy.
Looking back on my first anth course I am glad that I took it. It was harder than highschool, but not so hard that I was lost. I strongly recommend this course (or any anth course for that matter!). I'm planning to take more courses with this prof.
If you want to learn about boats and Charles Menzies' own life- this is the class for you! If you, however, are not inclined to read his book, watch movies made by him, and be tested on the parts of a boat- I would avoid this class. I was excited to take it and disappointed at the result. Turned me off of anthropology.
Excellent course.
Too bad this course turned student 7/16/11 off. Too bad that they feel learning about what a real anthropologist does seems to them like a waste of time. I guess they would rather had someone with no experience read from the textbook. Truth be told the course was not just about boats or Dr. Menzies' work. It was a real course in anthropology.
One of my best courses I took last year. It's the kind of course you either love or you hate. I loved it!
Really funny prof with a good sense for answering direct questions in class. The stories of him are perhaps less relevant, but add a personal touch to the course.
Menzies is a very nice man, and clearly knows A LOT about his field! I did get a bit bored of only learning about one aboriginal nation and reading mostly just his own papers. The people that like anth already love the course, and people just testing it out were not hooked by his teaching style.
Great course that focuses on the coast from Salish to Tsimshian and Haisla. Quite engaging. It's probably the only course on First Nations that I'll take -I'm not in Arts- but I'm glad I took it!
I'm in this course now and have to say that we read a lot of materials, some by the instructor, but most by other people. I liked it!
Funny guy. Lectures are generally engaging, but must be attentive! Miss one point and he's already moved on to the next three that you won't understand. Generally a well formed, challenging class. Midterms are easy, Essay not so much. Have yet to take the Final
Great professor! Very approachable and very enthusiastic about his work. Worth taking the time to really understand the content throughout the term. Highly recommended!
I would strongly advise anyone against taking his class. Not only are the lectures vague and ambiguous, but he uses any opportunity to digress about himself and his own research. His midterm was horrific. I contacted him and he responded with the rudest and most unprofessional email I've ever received.
I am really enjoying this class. Great lectures and very warm, welcoming professor. I just did the mid-term it was hard. However, I feel good because I followed all the study tips the prof gave us and read the exam instructions!
A really great course with a prof and TA's who are super helpful. If you get the chance, take the course.
I'm enjoying this course. At first I had no interest in anth. But this course is making a difference. I'm going to take more anth next term!
If you are interested in hearing about fish, reading about fish, watching movies about fish, writing about fish and being tested on fish, then this is the course for you! Not to mention, all of these materials were written, produced or created by Menzies himself so look forward to 3 hours/week of his self indulgence (about fish of course.)
A course well worth the effort. The subject matter is balanced and extensive. I have learned a lot about human culture and society in this course. The focus is on gender, race, and class cross-culturally. There are four books that cover the world from Africa to Asia to Europe to North America. Highly recommended!
The most self absorbed prof I have ever met: most of the outside sources he refers to are ones that he has either made himself, or is featured in. He referenced the 2 course books that weren't written by him only a handful of times, while he referenced his own book multiple times every lecture. This course killed my interest in Anthropology.
Likes to talk about himself a lot but he will answer all questions and the TA's bassically do a a lot of the explaining. He uses very complicated vocabulary, i felt like i was taking the SAT's again overall a good prof but needs to use less advanced vocab to describe simple ideas and needs to have a larger variety of sources
Half the students stopped attending classes after the 3rd week! AVOID this professor!
Most self-indulged, ignorant and disrespectful prof I've ever had. This course didn't seem like a general introduction to anthro, but a course on fishing/ any personal work he has ever done. His midterm consisted of 2 complex essays and 3 pages of short answers in 50 minutes. I strongly advise avoiding this professor.
Clear, concise, and helpful professor. Interesting reading materials. Really, really great TA's.
This has been my greatest course yet. Amazing prof and really nice TA. I was going into psychology and tun I took this course! I am so glad that I did.
Best course yet!
This course made anthropology exciting. I'm now planning on taking more anthropology courses at UBC.
I really loved this course. I really only signed up because it was during lunch hour and in the middle of campus. But I got hooked! Loved it. It was a great course to take between chemistry and physics!
Charles is great. Funny and engaging. If you take Anth 100 with him, be prepared to talk about fish. Lots of fish. But if you're interested in BC & First Nations, he tackles those topics too. Likable guy.
Menzies is an AMAZING TEFLON coated professor!
I took this course in 3rd year to fill my Arts requirements. Definitely take notes in the most efficient way possible for you, he does go fast and doesn't post notes online, so jot stuff down quick. My TA was great, really get them to look at your essay before handing it in. Started unimpressed with the major but grew to respect and like it at end
Menzies is an awesome guy that treats his students with respect and dignity. He really 'freestyles' his lectures, which can lead to some random off-topic ramblings. No midterm, no final. Mostly participation based, so read and go to class and you should get a good mark. Highly recommend this course, esp. if you are not from British Columbia
Charles is a great speaker but you might find yourself a little lost if you don't already know about First Nations issues in BC (which is the case for most international students). He also tends to ramble on about fish and sea otters for way longer than you'd need to in an anthropology course.
Dr. Menzies is definitely one of the best professors that I've ever had. His lectures are, as has previously been described, very freestyle, but this has led to a lot of great discussion in class. The required books we read are inspiring. Above all, Dr. Menzies is respectful to his students. I look forward to taking more courses with him if I can.
Kind of strange. My first experience with an unorthodox evaluation scheme (the whole no exams/essay, all participation thing), and I don't know if I really enjoyed the lack of structure. On the other hand, this class did have really interesting reading material. There is an annoying but easily graded group project.
Professor Charles Menzies is a friendly, often sarcastic, clever lecturer. A fellow student of mine called his lecturing "candy throwing" (some people left with lots of treats), but as far as I'm concerned, all of it was candy. This class was transformative, I thoroughly enjoyed taking his class, and I didn't want to skip a lecture all term.
In one word? Boredom. I have never been so bored in a class. There was practically no point in going to lecture. Tutorials were even worse, we often got out early because there was so little information. Both of his textbooks were written by him, but proceeds go to charity, so at least that makes me feel better about actually taking the course.
Wasn't what I was expecting - but glad I kept with it. Might take more anth classes after this.
It's a shame that a prof could ruin such an interesting course with a poor teaching style. Woefully unprepared for lectures (sometimes ends 3 hour lecture at 2 hours cause he had nothing left to say, often didn't have a powerpoint). Really lazy evaluation, rambles incoherently and is impossible to keep up with. He's frustrating, avoid if possible.
Charles is an intelligent and caring individual. His lectures on the other hand, leave a lot to be desired. He rarely comes to his three-hour rambles prepared, but you can be sure he will talk the whole time and often cut his students off. I still somehow enjoyed the classes I took with him. He provides zero feedback on papers, but marks easily.
Some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in the pot nine days old. He's not for everyone, but for those of us who like him - he clicks!
I loved his class. He talks a lot but I quite enjoyed it. Participation is encouraged so the class discussions were often very open and very critical, time flew by. Be aware, grade is about: 7 mini biographies, 2 small papers and 1 large paper at the end worth 54%. If you come to class regularly however you will have no problem to write these.
Menzies made me stop taking any ANTH classes in general. He is a boring lecturer who pointlessly rambles about fish which has nothing to do with class material. His exams were rough (he expected 2 well-written essays in a 50-minute time span including references to our 2 textbooks in classboth of which were written by him). Avoid a Menzies class.
Loved the class - it was hard and I wasn't the best student, but enjoyed the class a lot.
Prof Menzies is a nice enough person, but my god he can be dry. All he cares about is fish and boats, he makes us do a bunch of readings that he wrote about first nations people fishing which is as dry as sandpaper.
Cultural anthro should be a great class, however the lectures (and most readings) were completely focused on his very specific (and half the time unrelated) research, often unaware that he was going very far off topic while he was clearly engrossed in his own past research. You must read the textbook and teach yourself if you take his class.
If you have test anxiety, or if writing is not your strongest suit, avoid this class at all costs. The final exam was 2 hours and you had to write two essays, and the criteria were not clear at all! The class is interesting, and even though there is quite a bit of reading, the workload is doable. To do well, you HAVE to watch his lectures.
Engaging relevant and supportive instructor.
Lots and lots of reading. Lectures were kind of dry, but he's nice and answers questions. He's clearly experienced in his field and knows a lot. Lectures are recorded and kept on Canvas, and slides are shared too. There are a few reflections to do, but they're simple. The mid-term and final were alright.
Loves to hear himself speak. Super dry. Was very difficult to try to pay attention in class. Amazing he could ruin such an incredibly rich subject. And to think I actually thought about going into anthropology....
Best class ever.
Menzies pretends to be apolitical while downgrading anyone who disagrees with him. I'm left-wing, and I still got marked down for not being left enough. He's a truly ideological prof and leaves no room for disagreement. Stay way at all costs.
Really made an effort during the pandemic to care and help us all with learning.
Compassionate prof who makes a difference.
A lot of the class was participation-based papers, with a midterm paper and a final paper. The papers were very flexible, which was a little difficult to know exactly what was expected, but you had a lot of freedom in how you approached assignments.
Dr. Menzies was a great professor. Very knowledgable and a decent grader. The content was all interesting and assignments were open ended. I would definitely take another one of his classes.
so boring
Rambles on forever. Can barely separate words apart Tiny important information sandwiched by too much unrelated things
Do not take this class. Nobody understands his lectures. So boring, he just rambles and you don't learn anything. Also have to read a lot. Midterm is open-book but you will still fail.
Snooze fest.
Don't take this class. It's so hard to understand what he's saying in the lectures and it rarely has any significance. You probably will retain 1 fact in an hour long lecture. He assigns 3 books, they're all boring, and you always have to reference them in assignments. The class average is shockingly low even though everything is open book.
take this class if you hate yourself
His lectures are unorganized, boring, and hard to follow. Textbooks are his own books that seem irrelevant to the rest of the course. All he talks about is fishing. The course is fairly easy but boring and unenjoyable. Lots of readings that are necessary to do well on the exams.
Took this class as a mandatory humanities elective for my degree. The class SHOULD be somewhat interesting, but there is a LOT of assigned reading; 75% of which Dr. Menzies wrote himself. He is very self centered and puts so much emphasis on his own work that it totally ruins the class. I do not care about his niche interests.
Not amazing, but you could do worse. He doesn't have very clear grading criteria so it can be hard to know what he's looking for. Final and midterm are open book and straightforward as long as you reference the readings. The topics are interesting: he's very knowledgeable but he can be dry - the textbook will probably teach you concepts better.
Given the course is an introduction to cultural anthropology rather than BC indigenous ethnography, the teaching materials are usually off-topic but overemphasize Dr. Menzies' own indigenous research. He usually uses fancy but unintelligible words to make lectures tedious and confusing. Slides and even tutorials are less helpful than self-studying.
Unless you want to exclusively learn and read about Dr. Menzies' passion for fishing, do not take his courses. Lectures are useless and unhelpful, and he provides rubrics for exams and papers AFTER submitting it. A waste of money and time, do yourself a favor and take something a little more interesting for an easy arts credit.
Glad to have taken the class!
What a blast - not an arts student, but the class was just right for lunch.
This was the class I looked forward to the most before term 1 started. I wish I had read his reviews first. This class was such a waste of time and money. Lectures are 100% useless and tutorials are boring, and the TAs are unprepared. I did not enjoy this class at all
Dr. Menzies tends to ramble often and switches tracks in the middle of his sentences, making note-taking difficult. Most of the required reading was written or heavily contributed to by him, and he speaks at length about his passion for fishing, which quickly becomes tedious. Tests are open-book but still quite confusing. He is a nice guy, though
Do your best to take this course with another professor. Unworthy feedback, boring lectures.
Menzies is a good lecturer. Sometimes he goes off on tangents, but he mostly keeps lectures lighthearted and interesting. He uses his own research to illustrate anthropology concepts clearly. Lots of background reading for lectures, but if you do most of the reading and go to lectures you'll do fine, as the essay and exams are not graded harshly.
Horrible prof. Stay away if you can
NOT a bad review because I had so much fun in this class, it's super easy and the TA's really came through. Dr. Menzies is funny in the way that you can never understand anything he's saying and he goes on tangents where you're not really sure if what he's saying has anything to do with the class. Thankfully the exams reflect this and are easy.
Professor Menzies can be a hit or miss, but Unstuck AI helped me stay on top of the heavy reading load. His lectures are engaging, but he tends to ramble. If you put in the work, the class is doable.
Constantly goes on tangents, stops sentences halfway through speaking, and extremely hard to take notes and follow along. Also somehow relates literally everything to fishing
would take it again.
Not sue about anth
not my thing, okay prof. cares about students. but its boring.
took anth 220 with dr. menzies last year and i enjoyed it, found him to be a very kind and caring prof who wants to genuinely connect with his students. sometimes lectures felt like they dragged on but assignments and exams were easy & expectations were clear.
He's a nice guy, as I have had to meet with him outside class time, but his lectures are awfully boring. The lectures were pretty useless, as he went on tangents all the time. The class isn't hard if you put in the work, however the amount of reading you have to do combined with his poor teaching style make it somewhat difficult.
Menzies is a nice guy, but lectures were so boring that it made me regret taking this course and honestly dread going to class most days as his voice put me to sleep. I rarely found what he was saying interesting. Exams were easy to do well on, just remember a few key points from each of the long, boring readings. Overall don't feel I learned much.
Lectures might seem confusing, once you get into the course you'll find the way Menzies explains actually makes them a lot more memorable and informative. He's sweet and wants students to succeed. The quizzes were easy and the material is interesting, just wish that it didn't have such a strong indigenous Canadian focus and explored other places
Remember key concepts from readings and key terms and you'll do fine on the tests/quizzes. He does are care about his students and wants them to do well but often goes off topic during lecture which can make it boring/confusing. Not too hard of a class, attendance isn't too important as he posts lecture video on canvas.
Disappointed at the start, satisfied at the end, definitely not a bad prof
Lectures were not very informative and slides were all over the place with almost no information. He instead read off of a script and it was very hard to understand him. The difference between him grading and the TA's grading was huge. More of a sociology class and he looped everything back to fishing.
Very boring lecturer, makes everything about fish. Had to miss midterm and he made my final worth 60% instead of moving midterm to another day. Unclear how to do well, I asked but couldn't get over a B+ on anything. I will say it is great to have anthropology with an Indigenous perspective and the course material is alright, even cool.
I had Dr. Menzies for ANTH 461 but it wasn't an option in the dropdown menu. He's a good prof and grades easy, but his assignment descriptions are vague at times and holy does he ramble. Sometimes the ramble is very interesting so it's mostly fine but it made the three hour classes unbearable at times.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
63%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.09 avg changeRatings by Course
ART101
5.0
(1)ANTH200
5.0
(1)ANTH433
5.0
(1)ANTH1
5.0
(2)ANTH478
5.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
ANTH
5.0
ANTH1
5.0
ANTH433
4.0
ANTH100
3.1
ANTH300
3.1