2.7
Quality3.8
Difficulty46%
Would Retake87
Reviews46%
Would Retake
87
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
15
4
16
3
11
2
27
1
18
What Students Say
“WORST history prof hands down at MtA”
HIST2731 - 1.0 rating“He just blathers on about whatever happens to be on his mind”
HIST2731 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
21%
Textbook Required
46%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.16 avg changeRatings by Course
HIS2700
5.0
(1)HST2733
5.0
(1)3000
4.0
(1)HIST3571
4.0
(1)JAPAN
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
3000
5.0
ASN4002
5.0
HIST3571
5.0
JAPAN
5.0
CHINESEHISTORY
5.0
Reviews (87)
very interesting man with very high standards. Needs to agree with you in order to give you a good mark.
Griffiths rocks my socks! He knows so much and is a good guy. I've learned a lot he is an awesome professor. Don't listen to those jerks who give him bad ratings because they are jerk-offs. He is my favorite professor! Take his courses if you can!
No Comments
Griffiths is cool. High expectations, tough marker - but fair. Tests on material not necessarily covered in lectures, but is in the readings... so read them.
Dr. GRiffitsh is a tough teacher but he is an amazing lecturer and is really clear about what he wants and expects from his students. he is also very willing to help if you ask for it
Griffiths is a very well read and helpful prof. Has a wealth of knowledge about the Asia Pacific, and tests on material not necessarily covered in class.
tested us on things that, as far as I can tell, were never discussed in class or in the textbooks. Informed us that one of his colleagues had written the test and failed miserably. I can't help but wonder if he should have taken that as a sign/
Tests on material not covered in lectures or readings, class was more a bad high-school geography than university history, is arrogant and pompous, and marks ridiculously hard. Overall, very bad prof.
Worst prof I've ever had! When did we learn that? Who knows, he sure doesn't care! I learned nothing in that class!
He's one of the worst profs I've had while I've been here. He's a nice guy although at first he appears as if he's a jerk. Does not make it clear what he expects out of you. A lot of reading and then have no idea what to study for tests.
Singles out Japanese students in class by speaking Japanese with them though they are competent in English; makes a fool of himself frequently by talking about subjects outside of his discipline with unfortunate confidence and erudition.
SUCH a nice guy, really cool outside of the classroom. knows his stuff but tests are impossible and is a ridiculously hard marker. hang with him at duckys but just don't take his class!
Overall a good professor and is willing to help if you put the effort in to go see him. at times he is unclear with his expectations and he is a tough marker.
Really nice guy. But such a hard marker it might not be worth it.
Griffiths is a great prof, and very helpful. Can sometimes be intimidating when you're in his office alone, but his course will definitely prepare you for the real world. I'm a science student and I found it really helped my communication and analizing!
No Comments
Dr Tangent
His courses are challenging but definitely worse the effort as you will learn a lot and push your limits (not for lazy people). he gets you prepared for grad school! All professors should be like that! He knows his thing and makes you love it too!
He loves to hear himself talk. An academic snob and tries too hard to be cool outside of class
On the one hand, interesting material and great discussions! On the other, repetitive and intimidating - yet so friendly outside of class. You'll learn a lot, but he is not afraid to screw people over - if you can handle writing a 20pg paper and getting an F or D-, go for it but there are other prof
exhausting
I took all of G's classes. Dont like him, but the trick is, regurgitate his opinion. Go in and talk to him and he will hand you the answers on a silver platter. He likes artistic writng. I am not an A student but I got A's in every one of his classes. His tests are retarded so take his seminars.
This is the worst prof that I ever had. He uses his class as his soap box and will bore you to tears. Very unfair and simply not very nice. In fact the only history prof at MTA that I have ever not liked and would tell people to avoid.
I was unimpressed with him when I needed clarification on a comment he wrote on a paper. Unlike most History professors at MTA who come across as helpful and welcoming in their offices, I always felt nervous before I went in and belittled when I left. Surely not an assest to the department.
Has a lot of knowledge about Japan, and expects you to as well.
Love Griffiths! Really good prof, One of the few who actually lets discussions flow in classes. Rare for history. very approachable and accommodating. all of his classes are good.
Worst prof I've had at Mt.A (except Dr. Walker). Insecure, concieted, and out of his league.
Went to China with Owen and he's really conceited. But really intelligent. If you play hardball with him you're more likely to get what you want out of him. Don't be scared. Just work hard, SUPER HARD MARKER.
In my four years of Mount A I have only found one prof that I truly dislike and that is this man. Avoid at all costs.
Most demanding prof I have ever had. He's not afraid to fail you and I mean it. I had a B+ in most of his assignments; all of a sudden he fails me on an essay without warning. Allegedly he does this to "teach his students a lesson". Also, gets off topic way too often. If you are prepared to work hard, take his course. If not, forget about it.
A good prof and a good person. Lots of discussion and reflection in this class. Marks tough but helpful. Very helpful when approached. Looking forward to more of his classes.
This guy is lucky i can't swear.Avoid him like a plague. He doesn't care for your opinions or essay. He has it in his head, and if you don't say what he wants to hear, you're pretty much dead. He's is also elitist. This guy can mess up your MTA experience. Please avoid him if you can.
I went to China with him and i have taken about four classes with this man. I have to agree with all the negative comments. He's full of himself, doesn't appreciate the diversity of opinions. He might fool you into thinking he's smart, but when you read all the books he gives you, you realize that he just memorized everything.
I get the feeling that most profs have this belief that their course is the most important, or should be, the most important to each student in their class. Griffiths takes this to a whole new level, expecting some kind of pious devotion. Can offer insight, if the topic somehow relates to Japan... but it seems most anything can. He is always right.
not the best!!
Mount Allison admin censors student input HARD on this site. Avoid Griffiths. Not that smart, but thinks he is = Dangerous combo man. To be avoided.. enough said...
A very hard marker but is also very clear in what he is looking for, so if you pay attention you can do well. He is one proff that you have to go talk to before assignments, if you do you will a vast improvement, it is like he guides you, if you take the time to go see hime! His course requires a lot of time and attention but is very interesting.
He privileges exchange students (from Asia) and Mac users. His lectures are not of any use to you when taking the course, but rather all of your marks will come from lengthy and wordy articles you must read from PDF files online every night. The only knowledge of Asia I gained was from 3 videos we watched in class and were barely tested on.
I had him for the Making of Modern Asia. I know NO more about Asia than I did 3 months ago. He talked primarily about Europe and expansion and he 'taught' / tested us ONLY on PDF articles of 50+ pages that his peers wrote: never did HE talk about Asia in lecture with ANY kind of clarity. I dropped. Useless waste of money: MTA should fire this man.
I think Griffiths is generally a nice guy, but his class is kind of useless. he teaches one or two concepts and then talks about nothing for basically the whole semester.On the midterm, we were tested on a LOT of things we never learned (for example, the class avg was in the low 50's). unless it's a complete last resort, don't bother
Seems like a good guy, also seems like a bad prof. Invented tangents. Loves to steer any conversation back towards Japan and his stories there. Rough marker - lot of reading, doesn't really specify what to look for on tests and assignments.
He is good guy but a terrible teacher. You will be expected to read many hard scholarly articles, and he will barley explain them. He is so self-centered that uses the classes to tell little stories bout his life. I have learned very little from his class. In addition, he is not very helpful during office hours.
Be well advised and listen to the people who have reviewed him here. I took a course with him figuring "how bad could he be?" He was much worse than I expected, so much so that I couldn't bear to finish a whole semester. He's beyond useless, chooses readings then complains about how crappy they are and how much smarter he is than the author. AVOID!
He is 1 very smart and 2 wants to challenge his students. However, this can lead to 1. him lecturing on topics he's an expert in that aren't course related and 2. a very difficult marking scheme and an in-your-face approach. If you want to work hard, and you're cool with a mark a letter grade below what you're used to go for it. He is a character!!
An elitist who believes he is smarter than he is. While his lectures are interesting, as many have indicated, most of his testing comes from lenghtly PDF artciles. He also likes to single out people, I was the token Acadian of the class. Was also oblivious that Mt A is considered a hard school by many, when a student made comment about it. :/
Really interesting prof, has lots of great stories, but often gets side-tracked from material so students have no idea what to expect on midterm/final. Has very specific expectations when it comes to papers, but doesn't tell you this until after. I enjoyed his class, but found it challenging and I think he could have been more clear and helpful.
If he were funny, he'd be a joke. Does not prepare for lectures; does not care for course content. He just blathers on about whatever happens to be on his mind. I have had to take three courses with him, and they have all been a waste of my time and money.
Do the readings and go to class. If a question on a test is a shock that is your fault. Also pick an essay topic that fills one of your knowledge gaps this will help when it comes to short and essay questions.
Tries too hard to be the proff who changes your outlook on life. Shy but thoughtful students may be overwhelmed by his in-your-face approach. I got tired of the long diversions from the course material and started using class time to read the text books. By studying and engaging with the material in my own way I managed to do quite well.
Very knowledgeable, but doesn't listen to his students to the point of being unbearably rude. Expects questions and for students to come in to talk to him. If you spent 100% of your waking hours on a class with him, you would get a good grade. If only 20% (100 % by 5 classes), you will not.
He tells you not to take notes and that all course material will be up on moodle before midterm.... I think he forgot to put some content up or just didn't put it up at all..
He tells you not to take notes and that all course material will be up on moodle before midterm. I think he forgot to put some content up or just didn't put it up at all.
He's Gutsy but, he is not clear with his teaching and doesn't focus on coarse material.
Awful prof. Did not stick to the topic of the course AT ALL and created ridiculous lectures that were impossible to take notes on. I did well in the class but the exam, again, had nothing to do with the course topic. Useless teacher.
Dr. Griffiths is a stand up guy. All of his students should visit him during office hours. He encourages students to think for themselves. He chooses horribly dull readings, but if you show up to class from time to time and do the work it is fairly easy to get a good mark.
At least he tries to be nice. However, he demands answers to questions from even the most timid of his students, marks extremely harshly, and get's off topic often. Also, if you're taking English courses, good, you're gonna need to know how to improvised writing. His exams are basically only tangentially related to the course you're in. Good luck.
Honestly one of my favorite classes. Griffiths knows a lot about history and I felt like I learned a lot. You only have to write two short papers (500 and 800 words) there's one midterm and one final, that are based on papers that he gets you to read for homework. Skim the papers and then take notes when he talks about them and you'll do fine.
I was really interested to learn about what he was teaching, but I found his lectures extremely difficult to may attention to. It's very challenging to wade through his tangents and a lot of his comments can sound a little prejudiced. Sets the same amountlengthdifficulty level readings for his 4th year classes as he does for his 1st year ones
He has three very short essays and a midterm and exam. He always tells you exactly what he expects for each assignment, if you do poorly that's on you. DO THE READINGS!
There's no textbook for this class, and you really need to do like three readings of the online ones assigned. His lectures aren't very structured, which can be frustrating for note-taking, but he repeats himself often enough that you'll retain the information anyway, esp if you copy from his slides. Easiest exams, just remember to cite authors!
I was nervous as his was my first university lecture ever. Best prof to start my year! His lectures are a little dull but he makes up for it with no textbook. The material is very interesting. Definitely recommend him to all you history buffs. He really knows what he's talking about.
Take this class if you want Dr. Griffiths to inspire you. I went in thinking one way and after a few lectures my entire view on history itself was changed. Very accessible during office hours. He even encourages students to visit him. I went for every essay at least once. SUPER helpful. 100% recommend this course with Dr. Griffiths!
WORST history prof hands down at MtA. His lectures did not teach you about anything other than his opinions, even to the point where you had to use his own writings for a paper! Tells you not to take notes in class and then doesn't provide you with enough information to study. Had to take two of his classes and dreaded every minute of them.
Very dry and boring lectures. However, is a nice prof.
Very bad prof!!! Does not teach you a single thing. It takes him about 1 hour to get through one slide which is the title page. He grades like satan and I think he finds enjoyment failing students. Kind of upset that I spent money on such a bad class.. His assignments make absolutely no sense
He is fair, smart, and knowledgeable. I loved his class.
He never really explains what he wants from you and your work so it is hard to hand in work that you are confident in. Very egotistical and like to talk about his own work a lot. Nice guy but not the best teacher.
The course was not what I was expecting and was focused on why we learn history, it was quite boring. Professor Griffiths' lectures were long and hard to sit through. He is a hard marker and he is never really clear on what he wants when it comes to course work. He doesn't shy away from heavy topics so if you are easily offended I would steer clear
Very difficult to understand what he truly wants you to write as the guidelines are vague. The material is interesting and the lectures were passionate but can ramble on. Be prepared to have several long conversations with him before handing in work to understand what he wants.
Never really explained himself. Had some questionable opinions as well. Be ready to write very little notes and then expect to capitalize on 3-4 assignments all year.
Don't take this class if you don't like History and are just taking a distribution. The lectures are long but they all have a point - to think critically about history and why we learn it. Assignments are vague because he wants you to take liberties. This is not about facts or dates but learning how to think critically when it comes to history.
Do your best to avoid having this prof - he gives little to no feedback and takes off grades without giving feedback. His grading seems to be based on how he feels in the moment. His lectures are impressively boring - class of 80 had 20-30 people showing up each class. He talks and talks about almost nothing at all. Avoid if possible.
Dr. Owens is a good speaker, and that's about all I like about him. His assignments are structured so that unless you respond with exactly what he wants you to say, you are going to fail hard. Even then, if you show up to every lecture, you're still not going to have any idea what he expects you to say. Don't expect any feedback on your papers.
A lot of students told me that Grif was a tough marker and not interesting. I really enjoyed his classes and lectures. He doesnt have good lectures but writing what he says is important.
Was able to make an 8:30AM class interesting, which is quite impressive in and of itself. Assignment instructions tended to be quite vague, but overall Mr. Griffiths was reasonable with paper grades despite the unorthodox guidelines
HIST 2741: This is listed as a history course but it is science-heavy. The course is called Asia, the World, and Big History but has nothing to do with Asia. He is only concerned with Big History.
Dr. Griffiths is a good professor, who gives good feedback, sometimes lectures could get a bit off topic and scattered. In upper level courses he also makes use of some group projects, and gives good feedback. Griffiths does not do final in-person exams, but does do take home exams, assignments and exams are not very hard and graded fairly.
Dr. Griffiths is a great teacher. He genuinely cares for his students and is not picky with deadlines. He is always available to talk outside of class and loves group participation. Beware of group projects. They can either make or break his classes, for about 30% of your grade rests on others. Great Proffessor!
Professor Griffiths's teaching style is a little more chill than most others; he picks a couple of big ideas and runs through them consistently throughout the term. This class, Big History, was extremely interesting to take; however, sometimes, he can be insensitive to different perspectives. He loves presentations and being entertained!
Very old-school in the worst possible sense. He clearly thinks he's some kind of era-defining history genius, but his ideas feel very "vibey" and are not clearly rooted in historical evidence. Especially compared to other profs in the department, things did not feel very rigorous. This would be ok if he was chill, but he is not.
This prof appears to prefer the sound of his own voice. It got dull fast. It should have been a great class but I was disappointed. His teaching style is vague and he enjoys a one sided communication style. I would have appreciated any feedback. Easy to feel invisible in his class and in his presence. I used to love history at this level.
I met Griffiths during a seminar and was not impressed. He publicly embarrassed himself by "challenging" a presenter; little more than academic bullying in a room of lauded historians and scholars who collectively cringed. He went on to tout extremely controversial opinions of a field he was not specialized in with little proof or factual evidence.
He is one of the few Profs that I felt was genuinely passionate about the course he is teaching. There's a manageable amount of readings, but they are notable as they are crucial to understanding and doing well on the tests. Overall it's a course where it's not annoying by any means to talk, in fact, he likes, so don't be afraid to.
Nice guy, but this is an act to push his pseudoscientific, eccentric study of History. He brags about how he is "brushing against the grain" but really means none of it is based in historical fact. Any pushback on his views and he resorts to academic bullying, often singling out students the class or tearing down group projects.
Definitely would NOT be everyone's favorite due to how he teaches and his personal views in the class, haha. The way he teaches is a little unorthodox, not much of remembering theory but more of UNDERSTANDING it and thinking about how it can be applied to events. I'm sad that he's retiring :( wish I could take more classes from him.
Grades tough and doesn't make it clear what he is marking on.
He is either really nice or really mean but you never know which. He has an obvious asian fetish (I'm Asian) and spends a lot of time discussing his time living in Asia and talking about his "Chinese wife" and how his son is mixed, all of which have nothing to do with the course. However, he is really passionate about what he is teaching.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
21%
Textbook Required
46%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.16 avg changeRatings by Course
HIS2700
5.0
(1)HST2733
5.0
(1)3000
4.0
(1)HIST3571
4.0
(1)JAPAN
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
3000
5.0
ASN4002
5.0
HIST3571
5.0
JAPAN
5.0
CHINESEHISTORY
5.0