Nicest professor I've ever had. He is incredibly thoughtful, changes course material and deadline to suit students' preferences, and responds to each individual email extremely thoroughly. Great guy, and great sense of humour.

Great professor! The course was extremely interesting and fair. Ken responded to all emails quickly with details. Overall AMAZING!

Amazing prof! Engaging and super interesting! Allowed two tries on online quizzes, and allowed an one sheet aid (double sided) for final exam! Take his class, you won't regret it...hopefully.

The sweetest prof ever!! Extremely helpful and approachable in class. He is personable and thorough in his emails! Highly recommend taking his class- very interesting! Overall it was above and beyond my expectations! You will definitely learn something new!

The best Professor ever; honestly you could not hope to getter a better prof then Ken Derry!!!

Great Prof, speaks clearly and his exam is a breeze

Good prof, keeps lectures entertaining. Not a fault of his, but tutorials are pretty useless but attendance counts toward your grade. Clear, helpful and nice perhaps to a fault. In a big class like RLG101 he ends up answering the same questions several times which is quite annoying if you actually listen to lectures

Great Professor, I hope his contract of teaching at university of Toronto extends, Truly he is the most down to earth and best professor i have ever seen. Helpful to the max tooo

Honestly, he is the best first year prof ever. He seems to care a lot about his students, and will always be friendly when you approach him. He made the two hour lectures fun to sit through. Never a dull moment with this man. I would take the class again, and again if I could. Assignments and exam were completely fair. :)

LOVED this class!

BEST. He is so helpful and he's funny and interesting and relevant. Has an entire lecture about Christianity and the Lion King... It doesn't get much cooler than that! Incredibly approachable and actually wants to help students. Very open and accepting of any criticism as well. Highly recommend anything he is involved with!

Honestly, Prof. Derry is the absolutely one of a kind. He really cares for his students. He constantly delivers messages and answers all quires very quickly (I would e-mail him at 2 AM, and he'd reply back in 20 mins. #Awesome)...Anyways, he covers all material during his lectures. Mind you, the material very interested.

Cutest Prof ever! He is so nice and considerate, I have never had a Prof like him before. It's impossible not to like him, and I really enjoyed his class. He is awesome :)!

prof Derry is amazing. he is really funny and really cares about making the learning environment of students the best he can. he is really nice and friendly and he really makes the class fun. he covers all the material that is needed very clearly. he is a wonderful teacher.

great!

He is pretty awesome & helpful.

Professor Derry is a good prof, but the TAs' in this course are not. In terms grades it really depends on who your TA is.

Amazing Prof!

The sweetest man! Such a great prof.

Professor Ken Derry is the awesomest professor at UTM!! This professor should definitely become Canada's prime minister or something ;). Too intelligent!! Don't ever hesitate to ask for help, he LOVES helping his students! We love you Dr. Ken Derry!

I love Prof Derry!! He's such an approachable, and easy-going instructor. It's so hard not to like him! He makes class fun and intriguing. RLG101 was one of my favourite lectures to attend at UTM! Prof Derry is honestly the best! Just beware of the some of the TAs as they dictate how well you'll do in the course!

Ken Derry is an excellent professor and makes it easy to do well in the course when you have a busy schedule. Other courses I've taken cost an arm and a leg when it comes to work load and time commitment.

Ken Derry was a great prof. Not my absolute fave but he was really great lecturer and was very clear. I hated the textbook because it was did not have very many headings or subtitles and had major blocks of reading. I thought the lectures were interesting. We had fun assignments, like to go to a place of worship and write about it.

He is an awesome professor that make you think in different ways.

Great professor. Amazing lectures. Has a unique way of relating media to religion and got me thinking. He is a must have prof at UTM and is extremely helpful in any situation.

Cool prof, lectures are long and after a while get boring but DO NOT SKIP THEM as many multiple choice exam questions are essay based! Two essays which are marked fairly (depending on your TA). Tutorial quizzes and discussion board comments are easy marks so do the readings. Master past exams and you'll ace yours. GPA booster if you put in effort!

I had him as my Prof. for first year religion and he was amazing. He was the nicest Professor. I had trouble writing an essay and he helped me so much. He was also the first Prof that I went to office hours for as a first year student and I was so nervous but he talked about movies to ease things up for me. So caring and friendly.

good prof okayy course.

replies to emails in seconds.

The BEST PROF. Extremely kind, helpful, and caring! Very interesting lectures

If you want someone to take you by the hand and walk you through the conundrum of your first year in university, this is the guy for you. He will show you the ways, he will teach you the ins and outs of survival. Great prof, always there even if you want to talk about stuff not related to his lecture.

Love this prof. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Love this class so much! Great prof, really funny and clear in his lectures.

Awesome professor. Very funny and very easy going. Only have to do 2 essays and an exam for this course, easy A.

Weekly quizzes in tutorials on required readings and the assigned chapter. Super easy to do. No tests except exam. Don't need to attend lecture to succeed. He loves cats.

He's a really nice guy. I'm sad hes going on research leave. Would love to take more classes because he knows how to make university interesting and inspiring. In his class we learned not only about books but also about how to adapt and understand our lives and our future careers.

Great prof. He's super friendly, funny, easygoing, and considerate of his students. Only two essays and one exam in the entire course, plus some easy tutorial stuff. Also, the textbook he uses is dirt cheap and he provides all the readings that are from his own book for free online. Highly recommend!

Amazing prof! I loved his lectures because they were so engaging and he loves when people participate in his class. He encourages his students to meet him during his office hours whenever you need help or even just to have a little chat. Do your readings and do the work and its an easy 4.0!

Amazing Prof! really cares about his students and wants them to succeed. His assignments are straight forward and he tells you exactly what he wants. You can get an easy A in the class Shoutout XO!

He taught me to think differently about things. Lectures are very interesting. He takes an unbiased and academic approach to learning about religions.

Amazing Professor! He really spent time to prepare his lectures and very enthusiastic. He taught first year students how to get into new life and introduced activities in campus. Highly recommend!

Ken is an amazing prof! I loved having him and he completely knows what he's doing! We would chat during his office hours, and he always wants to have class discussions!

Derry is a good professor. I took RLG101 with him. He posts the lectures online so you dont have to go to class. The Final Exam was basically the same as the one last year, which is online might I add. Take the course for an easy A. On the Final exam, you get a crib sheet (cheat sheet). Its smooth sailing. Do the homework for tutorials!

This course is very well structured and it is obvious that Derry cares about the students. He take time in lectures and office hours to learn the names of students. This course is writing-focused, as there are multiple writing assignments and homework that is due at each tutorial. Over half of the final exam was also writing based.

I personally didn't do well in the course because there was just soo much tutorial homework and i never made it to tutorials cause they were EARLYY mornings but nonetheless Ken is an awesome prof, he speaks with great energy and really encourages participation. emails often and keeps everyone up to date. awesome prof if you keep up with the work.

Awesome professor and experience in Hong Kong Summer Abroad class! He is passionate about religion and the class was enjoyable. Field trips were such a great experience. Didnt exactly need readings

Ken is so friendly and so nice. He likes to be with students and discuss their work.

The best professor I've ever met.

Ken is a very nice dude and he is definitely helpful when you have problems about the course.

Really amazing prof!! Ken was so nice and supportive, humorous too! The class was interesting - the content is about Indigenous films and is okay (will depend on your take), but Ken made the class really inspirational with all the "aside" things that he talked about. Not even for the class, just for the prof, I'd say take his class! (Class at UTSG)

Prof. Derry is one of the best at UTM! He's extremely passionate about religion and certainly, knows what he is talking about. Lecture slides get posted on the class website and it's better if you go to the actual lecture as he explains topics in more detail. Courseload isn't too bad if you stay on top of it. Overall, a great class with Prof. Derry

Ken Derry is a great and very caring prof. Gives great feedback for essays, so be sure to stick around after lecture if you can't go to office hours. Is very engaging, uses many examples, and takes the time to learn students names. Textbook reading and lectures are somewhat optional but, tutorial attendance is not (attend all). Great prof overall!

Kindest prof I've had at U of T.

took RLG101 with him. He is super nice, assignments aren't very hard, and marking is very reasonable (but depends on TA). If you do the readings and the assignments, you can easily get a good mark.

He was amazing! I had him first year & he was the only prof who seemed to care about students. If you show up to every lecture/TUT you're guaranteed an A but you'll still do ok if you just keep up with the slides. His class was the only true Intro class at that school- giving us freedom to be creative & explore the topics that interest us most.

I love Prof. Derry!!! I honestly only took this class because I needed a HUM course for my distribution requirements and had kinda low expectations. But his lectures are so fun. Hes super interactive in class and he explains theories in a simple way so that you can understand. If you attend lectures and attend ALL tutorials, youll do great.

Professor Ken does an amazing job at teaching this class, he makes his lectures interesting and highly simplifies textbook material! I did really well in his class because I genuinely liked it very much. If you hate reading the textbook, make sure to attend the lectures as he gives really explanations + examples (very helpful for the exam)

Ken Derry is simply an amazing prof! His lectures are super engaging and he engages with different teaching strategies so everyone has the opportunity to succeed. It's super easy to get a good mark in the class because he WANTS you to do well! I would take every single one of Ken's classes if I could

Ken somehow managed to make even the most boring material interesting and interactive in his lectures. There were only two assignments and an exam, but they were easy. If you're stuck on an assignment, go to his office hours and he gives SUCH helpful feedback! Hands down the best professor at this school; he genuinely cares about his students.

very sweet and caring and understanding prof!

Ken was always ready to listen and adapt as the semester went by and help the students. He really cares for the students. The textbook was difficult for me to read and you'll need to know at least a basic understanding of the concept before the tutorial if you wished to participate. Many ways to get a good grade. Lectures were fun and informative.

Love Prof Derry so much! He's a great professor for VIC 108, very knowledgable. He is always available to help and wants to help. His marking can be a little hard but he gives great feedback so you can improve. There are lots of ways to get your mark up in his class as most assignments you get a mark just for completing it. AND LOTS OF MOVIES!

Professor Derry is the best teacher that I have ever had the pleasure of being taught by. I am a business student so I am just taking RLG as an elective but I will be sure to continue to enrol in this class because of Professor Derry. Definitely take his class!

HANDS DOWN BEST PROF AT UTM!!!! Professor Derry actually REPLIES to your emails. Such a gem.

Excellent professor. If you want a good professor who should represent the face of. modern education, Professor Derry is the man. There is a fair bit of reading and writing, however he does challenge you and give you some of the most constructive feedback you will ever see. Very caring. Only wants the best for students. 100/100

By far the sweetest most caring prof I have encountered at UTM! He made remote learning very fun and he is very understanding, gave the class assignment extensions too! TA marking isn't the easiest but I will def be enrolling in his classes again! TAKE HIS CLASS!!!

Prof Derry is really nice and genuinely cares about his students. He explains concepts very clearly and uses a lot of pop cultural references and other examples to explain things. Made things very easy to understand. His class was just a very positive environment and I looked forward to his lectures.

Definitely one of the best profs at UTM. Super respectful and non-biased when teaching about religion. Gives good feedback and lectures are enjoyable. Was also super accommodating with things being online.

A great professor, lectures were pre recorded and provided all the information needed during tests and papers. Synchronous lectures were used as discussion periods where you will be able to expand your knowledge in the subject and clear misunderstandings. Guides and Instructions provided for the assignments were great for students to submit

Ken was a really nice prof; clear gradinf criteria. Understanding with deadlines. Attend TA OH for essay feedback before submitting and your good. Take home exam that had open ended questions. Easy class.

best prof I had tbh, very understanding, funny, amazing guy. I do find this course a bit hard but its not bad. Ta's kinda sorta mark hard. but it's not a bad course. would recommend others to take it!

Ken is sooooo sweet. I took a relatively small class and he checked in whenever he saw you didn't turn something in towards the deadline. He responds to emails. His feedback is helpful while always leaving space to make sure to highlight and comment on the things you did well on. Overall a nice lad.

A really great prof who actually cares about his students. The only thing I can say is, if you don't like creativity and learning concepts on religion, don't take the class. I would not say this is a bird course, you have to put effort to get a solid grade.

Super responsive to questions, willing to give extensions. No textbook, though there are readings. Don't get marks back very fast. Attendance isn't mandatory but definitely makes it more enjoyable, willing to engage with students during lectures.

His lectures are entertaining and interesting since he is really enthusiastic about the course material and it shows. Despite not really having much of an interest in the subject, I always left the lectures having learned a lot of stuff. Overall, he's great but the course requires quite a bit of readings and a lot of work.

Prof Derry explains concepts pretty well and the multiple-choice part of the final exam was open book and collaborative. You don't have to believe in religion to enjoy the course. Participation matters in tutorials. The weekly tutorial work is based on just answering the question and not on quality. Easy A if you know the theories well.

honestly, the prof is the best... caring and sweet and the lectures are interesting. BUT THE TA's... VERY HARD MARKING TA'S. YOU CANT GET A HOLD OF THEM. Anyways I transferred from this horrible uni... stay safe and DO YOUR READINGS FOR THIS CLASS.

Honestly the best professor UofT 'sauga has. I would definitely take any course with Professor Ken Derry again any day of the week. He is an awesome professor, and makes the Lectures feel like we are at home. He is the only professor that will truly care about you. I promise you will have no regrets taking any single one of his courses.

He is such a good professor I am kinda sad the course is ending.

Amazing Professor! Would definitely take his classes again. :)

Prof Derry is an amazing man who deeply cares about his students mental and physical wellbeing! He reaches out a lot of the time to see if anything is wrong. Offers lots of freebies for participation marks. Assignments were interesting but the midterm was kinda weird.

Goated prof

Not much to say other than Ken is a gem at UTM and deserves all happiness the world has to offer. Amazing GPA booster, interesting content and approaches towards ideas of religion, and shoutout to the head TA Khalidah for being awesome for RLG101. You won't regret taking any of his courses.

Professor Derry is the best. He genuinely cares about his students well-being, which is refreshing at u of tears. There was a decent amount of reading for the course, but none of it was busy work. I would highly recommend his class to anyone.

Dr. Derry is a phenomenal educator. He shows genuine care for his students and is one of few professors at UofT that treat their students like people. He is transparent about his expectations regarding coursework and offers substantial feedback on how to improve your work. You can tell he is passionate about teaching. Truly amazing!

he is great

Great class and a great professor. However, try avoiding getting the head TA for tutorials as she doesn't seem very interested when teaching and is a hard marker.

great prof

I took VIC108 last September (2022) and I loved it. He is a hilarious professor who is willing to give extensions. Attendance is not mandatory but the class was so fun, I came almost every week. He alternated our hw, so one week we watched a movie, the next we did readings (which weren't a lot). We also had a 48 hour online exam. Highly recommend!

Prof makes every lecture engaging and simplifies the concepts that made it easier to understand. The class requires a lot of reading but is fun! There is a lot of writing involved for tutorials. Prof gives very clear guidelines and instructions on every paper/tests. Before the finals he did several practice which are extremely helpful.

One of the nicest professors at UTM, he's very engaging in his classes and is willing to help his students out so they can succeed.

Fun lectures, simple textbook, cracks jokes and engages with students. 10/10 would take again

Loved this class and the prof! He made lectures and discussions really fun and the material was very interesting. Readings could sometimes be a bit challenging but he went over the main themes of the readings in the lectures.

caring, knowledgeable, truly wants his students to succeed. If you have the chance, take his class, no matter what.

He's such a cute human. He's willing to help his students and wants them to succeed. He's the best prof you'll ever have at all of UTM because of how caring he is. I couldn't finish an assignment in time and I just had to email him the word “squirrel” and I got a 1 week extension LOL. He plays music at the beginning of lecture. Def a prof u need!

This Prof is awesome. The only problem with this course are the TAs. There are TAs that mark leniently and others that mark you like you're a PhD student. 55% your grade are assignments so it's imperative you choose a good TA. RLG is a very fun class otherwise and I 100% recommend it.

so funny and laid-back and really caring. you can literally email him the word "squirrel" and he'll give u a 1 week extension. he plays beyonce at the beginning of class. but you'll need to put in some effort into this class. wouldn't say it's a bird course but it's definitely not too hard. you'll learn a lot of interesting things from him.

super chill prof, made it very hard to fail the course, assignments and exams were straight forward, overall I liked the class discussions were pretty interesting

Anyone that gives a bad rating are only people who dont attend lectures and don't properly listen to what he's telling you. hes an amazing prof, HILARIOUS and so sympathetic. You will ONLY do bad if you say "oh, this is easy i dont need to attend class." like take his course seriously and you'll see just how easy it is.

Amazing prof, I love him

Professor Derry is an amazing professor. The lectures and course materials are not heavy at all and they're very clear. The assignments are so fun too!

IF YOU WANT TO BRING YOUR GRADE UP REMEMBER that this will not help. the TA's mark so hard for no reason. I loved professor Derry not the TAs though. the concepts are all easy and the assignments too but the marking is harsh which makes sense for an easy course but still. it was quite an interesting class it made me think deeper

Professor Derry is an amazing lecturer. Cares deeply about his students and provides lots of help.

Best Prof ever, loved his honesty and his teaching style

Professor Derry is amazing. No glaze, he has so many little, easy assignments that'll help boost your grade. He has an "automatic one-week extension" policy and is super helpful and accessible outside of class. His lectures are engaging enough, and he's actually pretty funny at times! As long as you put in effort, you are sure to get a good mark!

Course material and assignments themselves aren't difficult, but rather incredibly tedious be ready to read many pages of instructions for a 10 mark assignment Lecture attendance isn't mandatory, but be aware he doesn't allow any screens during the lecture You get graded for tutorial attendance The exam requires a 50% for a credit Nice prof though

very nice professor

He will give you an online PDF for the textbook READ IT. Your TAs are extremely intelligent especially Stephanie go to them if you are unsure about assignments. RUBRICS FOR ASSIGNMENTS IS ARE THE ANSWER KEYS NOT SUGGESTIONS. Study for the final in categories by chapters as the ideas from the textbook are the answers for EVERYTHING.