Two words........Dwight Schrute. Nuff said.

This class is pretty hard and the reading can be incredibly confusing at times but Jake is hilarious, always encourages class participation, and the course material is rarely boring. Also, you don't really have to fully read the handouts. Look summaries up online. Overall, if you're prepared for a challenging class, I would HIGHLY recommend it.

Jake Ross is the most awesome professor you'll ever have. He teaches some of the most mind-bending philosphy. Put just a little effort into the class, and you'll love it. The readings can be a little hard to read, but he's always available if you need help. And go to class; he's hilarious.

Jake is far from an easy professor, but he is engaging and truly passionate about what he teaches. If you don't get the readings he's happy to help you in office hours, or if you just want to chat. You have to pay constant attention during the lectures, but they ended up sending out the lecture notes by email which makes listening easy. Love him.

A genuinely great professor. Engaging, animated and interesting, Jake is one of the best professor's I?ve had. Admittedly, his lectures are somewhat difficult at times, but with a moderate level of attention and general intelligence you will be fine. There are no textbooks and all notes are posted online. Overall, great class, great prof

He's really funny, as long as you aren't offended by profanity. The material is hard to understand but it's the nature of the course, not his teaching, and the TAs are helpful. He also gives a lot of time for the papers which is nice. I would recommend this class.

Professor Ross is more than clearly knowledgable about each and every topic he brings up, he begins each class by utalizing several different aspect of the topics. He may go off topic now and again but only to solidify a point. I enjoy every minute of class from the very moment I walk in. I would most definatly recommend this professor.

Professor Ross is more than clearly knowledgable about each and every topic he brings up. He makes the class fun and interesting.I enjoyed every minute of class from the very moment I walk in. He gives plenty of time to write essays. I would truly recommend this teacher if your interested in philosophy.

Ross is a really interesting professor. Phil 285 is definitely not easy, but the lectures are really entertaining and it ended up being one of my favorite GEs. If you want a a challenging, but interesting GE then it is a must.

Jake Ross is the bomb! He's very entertaining, brilliant, and tries to make the material relatable for people our age. The readings aren't too much and the topics are all extremely relevant. His philosophical analogies are always creative and funny and you don't have to take any notes because the TAs type up transcripts and post them online.

Great professor for a challenging class. He is an excellent lecturer, and is hilarious too. Philosophy classes aren't for the faint of heart, but he makes them both entertaining and fun to get into. People who complain about him or the field just tend to have underestimated the challenge of philosophy.

Jake was great. He's good at holding students' interests. He understands his students, and can indulge their arguments, and Jake writes beautiful e-bear poetry.

Jake is an awesome professor, and awesome guy too. He is always willing to clarify his points, and often tries to get the class to participate. The topics got more and more difficult, but I still found them palatable. Also, the TAs are awesome philosophical resources.

Jake is a great professor! He is very interested in what he's teaching, and is obviously a very smart guy. If you pay attention in lecture, the midterm and final are not hard. Weekly readings are short (around 5 - 10 pages of reading a week). A very interesting class if you're at all interested in philosophy, logic, or social issues.

Interesting lectures, you'll do fine if you participate in class and happen to like philosophy (which you'll probably be good at if you're good at math). Don't have to attend lecture but the lecture notes are kinda hard to follow if you weren't in class that day.

Jake is the first and probably last professor I'll ever rate on here. I feel like this page doesn't appropriately indicate what a great professor he is. His lectures are extremely entertaining, the content of the course is relevant, and the work load is very reasonable. If you have an interest in philosophy, this is a great first class to take.

You either love him or you hate him. I've now taken two of his classes and the first was the reason I chose to add a philosophy minor. He is incredibly smart, but this does seem to bring about an arrogance, though I still appreciate it. He explains things very well and you will leave this class feeling like you actually have expanded your intellect

Overall, a decent thought-provoking class and Ross is clearly passionate about the subject and cares for students. Grading was kind of harsh for a lower division GE class and based on TA. Not sure about the curve but possibility of a negative curve so definitely not an easy GE. Lectures could get messy and unclear.

People are giving a lot of opinions about Jake, but let me give you a fact: he is one of the best professors at USC, relative to what he's teaching. The guy lives and breathes philosophy and if you start to understand him and what the class is all about, you will see what I'm talking about. Most thought provoking teacher I've ever had.

I loved Jake, one of my favorite professors. He makes philosophy fun & engaging, instead of lecturing concepts he makes the class an open discussion so we come up with the ideas on our own and argue against one another. We complained the grading was hard & he listened to us and made it easier to get an A. Kindly answered any questions when I asked.

Jake is an amazing lecturer and great at teaching an introductory philosophy course. He teaches you philosophy the way it was meant to be taught: no abstruse readings. Rather, lectures are just a discussion with him. Best part is how great of an extemporaneous debater he is; class is always engaging, and he really makes you think.

Jake is the funniest and strangest professor i've ever had. That being said the class was very interesting and not difficult if you pay attention in class. Honestly I learned the most in discussion with TA Renee Bolinger- she was really good about breaking down Jake's lectures. 2 easy essays/2 tests that are a little difficult, but overall good GE

This class was so confusing the first few weeks. He lectures in circles, and the TAs just type whatever he says as "notes". Thankfully, no midterm, final, or exams; Weekly response assignments, of which only 8 are graded at random (Make sure to do all of them). Though it's a big lecture, he does take attendance so be there, do the weeklys A

By far the easiest class I've taken at USC. The grading the first few weeks was a little disorganized, but after that Ross made sure the grading was much clearer . There are no tests, no reading, and the only thing you have to do outside of class is a weekly homework assignment that takes 1-2 hours. If you want an A for a GE class, take this class!

Professor Ross, or "Jake", as he likes to be known to his students, is a little on the eccentric side. He comes up with crazy hypotheticals that might not seem relevant at first, but eventually become useful. He is knowledgeable and willing to assist with questions. PHIL 260 has no tests or final, and you don't have to take notes in class.

Jake's lectures were the best. He's super insightful, and if nothing else you'll learn how to present solid arguments and tear up the arguments of others. He's eccentric but obviously super intelligent. It was definitely one of the best/most interesting classes I've taken at USC. He doesn't do the grading though, so that all depends on your TA.

Jake is an extremely intelligent professor, funny, very thorough, but most importantly, RESPONDS TO EMAIL VERY QUICKLY! I most definitely got smarter after taking his Ethics class- my arguments became more succinct and I became a better writer. However, everything is graded by a TA but he is open for discussion. Participation really matters!

10/10 would recommend. amazing leturer, amazing class

If this is your first philosophy class, caution-- Jake is an amazing professor but he is a REAL PHILOSOPHER and his lecture is super dense. The grading is consistent but assignments are spread out and its a little difficult to gage your progress. Be WIDE awake in lecture, do your assignments EARLY and be prepared for the syllabus to change.

Jake is the one of the sharpest people Ive ever encountered in my life. He truly has a brilliant mind and its a pleasure to be in his class and to get to know him. Probably my favorite professor. Disorganized and takes a while to learn your name but thats part of his charm. Highly recommended!

Professor Ross makes you read a lot and work for your grade. However, I've never taken philosophy before and put in the work because it was interesting. He changed my perspective on the subject as his teaching methods are very engaging. Get ready to work a lot, but I'd recommend taking this class because he is a very smart professor!

Mr Jake Ross is really nice. The lectures were really chill, you just have to participate in the conversation. I didn't find the work load huge, just have to write 2 pages double-spaced per week on a reading and emotion. I'd take it again, it was an easy A for me.

Ross is a great professor, makes every lecture interesting, which is all I can ask for in a GESM. This class definitely has more writing than other GESM's and you have to participate in class discussions. Would definitely recommend if you like critical thinking and philosophy, and not just busy work. Worth the bit of extra work IMO. Ross is great

Professor Ross is more than happy to talk to you for a long time about any topic of interest to you and offer helpful and substantive insight - cool to see. He can let class be dictated too much by random student ideas to the point that it interferes with learning and feels a bit slow and repetitive. Could also do without the anti-PC side comments.

I took Jake's PHIL 260 last fall and he is now one of my favorite USC professors. His lectures are hilarious and he is really good at making big moral questions simple and interesting. I asked him for a rec letter at the end of the semester and he was more than willing to help, and I could tell he wrote a really strong rec given my results.

Professor Ross has really interesting lectures. He challenges his students by exploring different perspectives on an issue like genetic engineering, and does not spoon feed students what to regurgitate on paper. As an biomedical engineer, he enhanced my critical thinking skills in ethics, and bettered my approach to writing argumentative essays.

Highly rec this class for GE. Barely any hw. Only 2 essays, but they're graded very generously. No tests. I enjoyed the lectures but they felt long at times- would've been better as a 1 hr class. Prof Ross is funny, thoughtful, and open minded; I hope I get to take a class of his again.

Jacob was nice! He poses unreal hypotheticals to show that you're wrong, which seems useless. I think the unreal hypothetical is removed from the value of the class. The class was definitely not life-changing. My TA was fine, Anja, but not the easy grader for a GE, and then beyond that took FOREVER to grade. Jacob was often late to class. BORING

Jake was my favorite professor of the semester. He offers many sobering questions that challenge common assumptions and challenge students to actually think every once in a while. TAs do most of the grading and are slow to grade, but an A is easy work the moment you start listening in lectures.

Probably one of the most theatrical professors out there. If you raise your hand in lectures, he is glad to understand your ideas, then use hilarious counter-examples to shut you down (constructively). Wish he'd allow more discussion during lectures, but the course has many ideas to get through.

I got my beliefs and values challenged SO much. Pretty heavy course considering how much I would have to grapple with what I believed in. The same goes for the homework, which is basically interrogating you about what you believe in. Definitely one of the more fun classes I took

Rating is more for the class than Prof Ross. The easiest GE I've ever taken. Two papers, one weekly 1-2 page paper that you don't need to do any reading for, and one five minutes presentation is the whole course. Would take again. Sometimes Prof lets too many students speak and gets easily sidetracked.

Entertaining and extremely funny. Lecture consists of an example-wacky counterexample shtick back and forth between him and the students, and also "fun group activities" (small group discussions). There were many small assignments, 2 essays, and a presentation. Also, participation is important, and your participation grade can go as low as 0.

Super knowledgeable and interesting professor- the structure of the class is super easy, no midterms/finals, weekly assignments are the majority of the grade. No laptops are allowed in class, so be ready to listen to him talk. The way weekly assignments are graded can be confusing, BUT it's very possible to put in low effort and do well.

No exams, no final, just weekly papers graded with varying degrees of difficulty depending on who your TA is. As for the main prof himself, Prof Ross had some of the most engaging and thought-provoking lectures that I've ever been a part of. He is a funny guy and there were very few boring moments.

I liked Ross, he's an overall funny and great guy. He also answers emails fairly quickly. Lectures were for the most part fun. However, I feel like TAs were way too harsh with grading, given that this is a level 100 course/GE. I would take a course lectured by Ross, but I'd avoid these TAs if you care about your GPA.

great class plenty of discussion if your are into that

His classes are quite easy, as there's no midterms or finals. Plus, his lectures are very entertaining and certainly make you think. However, sometimes he seems unorganized and often shows up late to class. Overall, he's likable and I could get over his mistakes due to the class being an easy A.