Class is extremely challenging, but Dr. Murphy is more than willing to help. :)

Very tough, though nice. Expects a lot, but is never clear what that is.

No Comments

He expected a lot, but was fair and friendly.

Very demanding prof., helps as much as needed, teaches a lot in his class

Lots of hard work, but well worth it.

I call him the "blind eagle" (you'll see). good prof. rips papers apart. read

His tests (essay and identification) are a pain in the butt, but he's good.

Very nice guy, really knows what he's talking about. TOUGH on papers though.

tough grader but very approachable and helpful

What a cool guy. Awesome lectures, but really hard on essays

pretty tough

Tends to be vague in some of his lectures.

Great teacher who will help you anyway possible

nice guy, but grades hard on essays

HARD grader on papers but really interesting and helpful

Excellent Prof, hard exams and he is BRUTAL on papers

Great prof. knows his stuff, study for exams and work HARD on the papers!

Not much work for an SWS class. Go to class and you will do well on exams.

Nice guy; REALLY goes over your papers. Make sure you listen to lectures.

No Comments

No Comments

No Comments

Best history prof ever! Pay attention in class and it shouldn't be too hard. I loved the books he had us read for papers. Great class!

One of the best profs. at GV. Genuinely cares for student's performance, great lecturer, great reading assignments. I'll defninitely take him again. :)

i understand what he is saying, he gives way too much homework and expects a lot, but i guess thats normal. i hear he grades papers hard so i write base them on what he tells us in class

He's serious about his teaching, will challenge you, sometimes a little stubborn. Hard grader. Nice guy overall.

Very passionate teacher. Gives lots of homework and challenges the student but it is expected at the honors level. Is very helpful and understanding, decent grader. Good prof!

Good class, goes over papers with a fine tooth comb, checks everything, very approachable though

GREAT professor, you will learn a lot, the class was fun, no tests, but he grades strict on papers. A good amount of reading but what history class doesn't have that. I highly recommend.

The most brilliant prof I've ever had, and the sexiest man alive. But I still say he doesn't know jack about the southern agrarians.

A nice guy, trickier on papers than he may originally seem. Has some funny quirks and has fairly high expectations, but good lecturer and strong at making history interesting. Pretty reasonable w/homework.

Excellent lecturer and really goes out of his way to help you if you need it. Grades papers tough, but you can get an A if you put in the time.

Lots of reading and lots of learning. He is very helpful in getting you a good grade on the papers that you will write for him. I loved having him as a teacher, I had him 2wice. Prepare to work and learn.

something about him is totally cute! this guy just oozes knowledge. learned so much from him. he wants good papers and ON TIME, and he is a great quiet sidekick to avis hewitt. take him! highly recommended.

Makes Einstein look like a retard. This guy should be king of Grand Rapids, though I'd rather be a peasant just about anywhere else. Keep up the good work you brilliant sexy man.

Super nice guy that knows his stuff. Decent lecturer who does get you to think. Don't try to BS him on papers; he'll eat you for breakfast.

Very nice guy. Definately knows his stuff. Brings a lot of info into the lectures. Assigns a lot of reading and writing though which is expected.

Rough on grading papers, asks for a lot of outside sources, which can get tiresome. Good guy though. Lectures arnt too bad, and he can be funny. Open to all comments, and willing to help you out. This wasnt a breeze course, but few 300 levels are. Overall I would grade him as he graded me. B

Good prof, a lot easier than I though a writing in History class would be, he lectures, we talk about the four books we read and write papers on, gives you full rein on the research paper. Nice guy, watch movies and videos, recommend if you have to take this class.

Hard grader but it was very hard to get mad at him cause he is prolly the nicest teacher i have ever met. Helps u alot if needed too. Dont try to b.s. on papers as i found out on my first one cause he knows about ever damn thing from his books. Overall, thought he was pretty good

Very nice guy. Lectures didn't seem to help much considering we just talked about random stuff from teh book that had nothing to do with what was on the papers or tests. Overall I liked the class, but half the days I walked outa thier wondering why I showed up, because we didn't do any thing all day

Paul is awesome. He knows everything but he's not arrogant, he's so easy to talk to, and so willing to help. I have HUGE respect for this guy. People say he's a tough grader, but he just expects a lot - after all it is honors. He's not unfair at all. Do your best and definitely go to his office hours to talk about your papers. I LOVED him.

Such a kind, cheerful man! I loved how he always asked us for "happy thoughts" at the beginning of class. :-) He is extremely knowledgable about American history, helpful in and out of class, and ALWAYS treats his students with respect. Take him if you can!

He explained the material well and was very helpful about answering questions. Some of the readings were difficult, but if you stay on schedule, the discussions will help sort them out. Not a hard course, provided you do the readings. Also, his handwriting is illegible, ask for comments on homework in person...

Paul is hands down the best professor I have ever encountered. Not only is he brilliant, he is also very down to earth nd exceptionally willing to help his students on their work. Though he may expect a lot, his classes are intellectualy stimulating and you walk away a much brighter, well imformed student. Take him if you can!

He was probably my favorite professor I've had. He is a great guy and cares a lot about his students. There's a lot of reading, but there are class discussions about what happened if you didn't read. Overall was a good class; I would recommend it for others.

Genuinely cares about his students' success and is a really nice guy. Lots of reading but it is possible to get by with not reading because he discusses them in class. Very clear as to what he is looking for in papers and essays, make sure to have a clear thesis in your papers. Overall I thought this was a reasonable workload for a gen ed

Great professor! One of the best! Take him if you get the opportunity.

Very helpful, knows his material, and has a special interest in the topics discussed in this course. The guidelnes he sets for this class are easy to follow as it is a survey course. Exams were mostly essay and you received the questions in advanced. Make sure you read EACH reading assignment prior to lecture.

Professor Murphy is incredibly smart and witty. However, he tends to be unclear at times with what he expects from students. He puts way too much emphasis on thesis statements and his handwriting is illegible. However, he is always willing to help and he does care about his students.

Good professor, knows his stuff. A little tougher than average for a gen ed, however, he's an enjoyable prof. who demonstrates great knowledge. He grades papers pretty leniently although he butchers them with red ink.

Very nice guy. Hard grader. Will read and write a lot. Most reading is not mandatory. Lectures are a little unclear. Essays for midterm and final, was not hard. Not many assignments (small paragraphs) and only one large essay.

Very good professor. What is expected is very clear and not that hard to comply. I highly suggest prof Murphy

Very challenging class. I learned a lot throughout the semester. Their is a lot of reading and writing and is hard to keep up with. Professor murphy is a excellent teacher, he speaks well but you can't read any of his writing or notes. He is a hard grader and is very specific.

Really good professor. He both makes you work hard but keeps you interested in the material you're working on. A bit of a tough essay grader,but he will help make you better at it.

I love Prof. Murphy! This class wasn't the hardest I've taken but he does make you work for your grade. Sometimes his prompts for papers are confusing or very vague so don't hesitate to ask him what he means, he's great at helping!

Murphy is a fantastic prof. His SWS classes involve a lot of reading and notes. He is a tough grader, but if you go to his office he lays out everything you did well and wrong and how you can fix them for the second and final draft of each essay. I would highly recommend him.

Murphy is one of those professors that you need to meet with to do well, because he is understanding and will work with you on his papers. He is not a tough grader, though. He told me straight up that if I summarized a book instead of analyzing it like I'm supposed to, Id get a solid B. He does lecture all class period though, which was hard for me

He's a chill dude. He grades somewhat harshly, but getting the grade you want is very doable if you put in at least a little effort. His handwriting is borderline illegible, but the notes he writes on the board aren't very important anyway. If you ask for an extension on an assignment he will almost always give it to you.

Professor Murphy filled in for a semester and handled it very well considering he had never taught the class before. Class was reading and writing heavy. He is a tough grader, but very willing to work with students on how they can improve. If you ask for an extension, you will more than likely get it. Handwriting is impossible to read.

Great professor overall. Since it's an SWS class, all of the graded assignments are essay based. The same is true with the exams. He gives a list of terms to study, and he will choose a few of them to write about for the exam. Grades pretty fairly. This class may be a little challenging if you're not a decent writer. Great guy.

Dr. Murphy is hands down one of my favorite professors. He is incredibly knowledgeable and he gives very interesting lectures. He is a hard grader, however most professors in upper level history classes are. He makes up for his hard grading criteria by being flexible and accessible. You will leave the class having learned a lot!

Murphy made an effort to apply concepts to the world today and explained lectures well. The online class had a TON of homework, but that's just bc its an SWS and condensed to 6 wks. He's inconsistent with grading. I got an 84 on a paper that took me 4 days to write and 96 on the next one that I wrote in 2 hours. Just write a good thesis statement.

Professor Murphy was very understanding when I asked for clarifications or guidelines during the semester of this asynchronous class. There were four papers and extensive readings. I recommend watching the lecture videos while typing notes and then start reading and annotating the weekly texts.

Professor Murphy kept me engaged. The information he gave was interesting and came from a variety of ways. We had to read 5 books for his class. Though most times he gave us an adequate amount of time to read. We also had two essays, one research paper, a midterm, and an exam. Lots of papers and exams are take home.

Professor Murphy was a great professor. He's a great professor, he really cares if you succeed or not. He responds to emails quick, and is a good professor overall. However, there is a pop quiz every week, 3 papers throughout the semester, along with both exams being essay questions. He's a very tough grader, but will recognize your hard work!

Professor Murphy was very good. He kept the lectures interesting. We did have a paper due every week, so only sign up for his class if you like to write. Overall, he was a difficult grader when it came to midterms and finals, but otherwise his grading was fair.

Professor Murphy gave fantastic and interesting lectures that kept my attention early in the morning. Pop quiz once a week based on reading, one short answer question. Lots of reading but he reviews reading in class, three papers and two essay-only exams. Willing to be flexible on due dates, meet outside of class and emails back quickly

His lectures were always engaging and he made participating in class discussion fun! He did require a lot of reading, but nine times out of ten they were short and easy to understand. You do need to do the readings because the quizzes are based on them, but the quizzes are easy. He was super flexible and willing to work with students when needed.

Prof Murphy is such a sweet and caring professor. He is passionate and knowledgeable in his content. He is very approachable and always willing to help on essays and answers emails super fast. He does have high expectations and has specific things he grades in essays, but it is laid out in the instructions. I would highly recommend him.

Lots of reading, but he assigned it in manageable bits. Lots of class discussion based on said readings, so at least read a little before class. He is very enthusiastic about the subjects covered too, and is willing to work with students when needed. He assigned 4 essays throughout the course and 3/4 were only 5 pages. Overall great prof!

There is a lot of reading for this class with over 100 pages a week to cover. There were four essays throughout the semester and two exams. The exams were essay style so make sure to study and the essays are either based on the books you read or the final research paper. He is a good professor though and very nice.

Professor Murphy's HIST206 class has a lot of reading and writing, but engaging lectures make it worthwhile. The grading can be tough, but using resources like unstuck AI helped me prepare. Overall a challenging but rewarding course.

Dr. Murphy is an incredibly knowledgeable and caring professor. His HST 318 course was heavy on the reading side; it is so worth it for the quality of knowledge and perspective that you gain from the course. If you show up to class and really read the content, you gain so much from it. His lectures are great, and his humor is even better.