2.1
Quality3.8
Difficulty18%
Would Retake88
Reviews18%
Would Retake
88
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
6
4
11
3
10
2
26
1
35
What Students Say
“Kurland is THE WORST POSSIBLE TEACHER TO GET FOR A CORE CLASS”
UCOR102 - 1.0 rating“For the love of all that is literature, DO NOT PARTAKE IN THIS HELL”
IHP200W - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
82%
Textbook Required
15%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.34 avg changeRatings by Course
SHAKE101
5.0
(1)DISASTERINLIT
4.0
(1)ELIZDRAMA
4.0
(1)IHP101
4.0
(1)ENGL0145
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ENG00
5.0
ENGL201
5.0
ENGL316
5.0
HON104
5.0
ENGL317
5.0
Reviews (88)
VERY snotty ivy guy - completely unhelpful and very hard to please
No Comments
Good students like him. Whiners, lazy, stupid students: Stay away.
Pretty easy class, but very boring. Talks and talks and doesn't have much student participation. Also, he speaks about things that no one but an expert in British Lit. would know about.
No Comments
Team taught with Kloo, and completely dominated over her, did not let anyone express an opinion that differed from his, expected waayyy too much out of his students, and went at such a fast pace that even he couldnt keep up with. don't take him!
Nice guy, good core english teacher. Whoever complains about his courseload must be a grade-A slacker...
hard to please...is not open to any suggestions or opinions...he wants students to participate, but he discourages them because his opinion is always better or right (so he thinks)
This professor said he did not want to be teaching the course. He said he and the students would wing it together. He doesn't like what he does, and it shows.
Worst professor I ever had. Never take any of his classes. They are boring and worthless. I think his class made me more stupid after taking it
Bad news. Very unorganized. No structure to classes. Tries to get students to talk, but cannot organize what is said to reach a point. Most students give up and go silent.
I strongly encourage all undergrads to avoid this professor. He does not facilitate class discussion, does not prepare or organize for classes, and compounds VERY unclear assignments sheets with an inability to communicate what his expectations are.
Kurland is unclear about practically everything, he's an ego-maniac, will not listen to anyone else's opinions, acts like everyone is wrong and he is right, and he's just plain rude to the students. Plus his handwriting is almost impossible to read.
Possibly my FAVORITE class in all of college. 'Stewy' Kurland is a total nut. I made fun of this guy so much that it was incredible. I watched him trip over a carefully placed garbage can, twice. Threw paper **** at girls and still got an A
Unclear, disorganized, boring, and is not open to opinions of any kind. Class was extremely boring and the readings were entirely too long. Don't waste your time because believe me, he will waste yours.
No Comments
Great Professor, Very reasonable with grades, Understanding about absences, Tests are multiple choice and not ridiculously hard
i really enjoyed this intensive summer course--and learned a lot about myself and about shakespeare and his contemporaries. dr. kurland continued to be helpful and kind far after the course was over.
I have taken this teacher several times now, and no matter what hes teaching, or what the subject is, the class will be boring/unclear/ and pretty much dumb. He is so weird....has no sense of humor, and pretty much will waste your time
I very much enjoyed the course I took with Dr. Kurland. We covered a lot of difficult material, and he did his best to keep the course interesting and engaging. We had a small and relatively quiet group. I'd imagine he'd be an even better teacher with a stronger group of students. He was very patient and helpful when I was having difficulty with the final course paper. And finally, I think that he has an incredibly good sense of humour. Dry, yes, but most of you probably just didn't catch his wit :P
No Comments
the worst expierence i've ever had. he is a horrible teacher who never answers any questions and is very rude. not to mention very boring. he doesnt teach you how to write and then grades unfairly. do not take any class with this man. you will regret it
Worst class I've taken. Grades are unfairly assigned and he gave us 2 weeks to write a 15+ page paper. I was expecting the class to be very helpful, but it was a complete waste of time.
I actually enjoyed his class. He's a nice guy and always gave us extensions on papers when we asked
The class was completely on Shakespeare. Professor Kurland is a nice guy who is very willing to help. Final and midterm were not extremely difficult but not really easy either. Class was quite boring sometimes though. Overall not too bad.
Would not recommend.
Dr. Kurland is articulate about his beliefs in the students and his passion for the written word. In addition to that, he's funny.
No Comments
I wish I would have read this before taking him. Not only is the class boring, his grading is unfair and unclear. Don't bother asking questions either, because you will get nothing but an ambiguous answer that leaves you more frustrated than before.
Thought this would be a fun class. Boy, was I wrong. VERY rude to students- encourages us to participate yet would shoot down any person's opinion that doesn't mesh with his. For being a drama teacher, he doesn't express a lot of emotion. Handwriting incomprehensible, goes overboard with midterms (six pages!!!). Sorely disappointing. DO NOT TAKE!!
I wanted to take this class to consider Shakespeare in a different light. However, I lost interest in Shakespeare because of this class. Prof. Kurland is a very nice man, but he just lectured the whole time and when midterm time came along, he expected us to know a lot of material that we never even covered. If you can, try and avoid the class.
For the love of all that is literature, DO NOT PARTAKE IN THIS HELL! Literally, he claims that the class is a seminar that belongs to the students, but that really means that he will only comment into material discussions without actually teaching. Best thing to do is to agree with him whenever and his office hours do not help. Teach yourself.
Absolute worst teacher at Duquesne. Period. Pretentious and unfair. Lecutres for personal pleasure, never to help students. Kind person outside of the classroom; in the class, huge let down. Overly obsessed with Shakespeare and his tests are always without a doubt too hard. Thinks his students revolve around him and his material. Avoid at all cost
Unorganized, egotistical, and can't facilitate class discussions. Messy handwriting with unhelpful comments on papers. Expects too much for exams -goes WAY overboard, expecting students to know minute details. We were REQUIRED to watch a play outside of class with our own money; we spent no time discussing it in class! NOT worth it. Avoid Kurland!!
Stu Kurland is a pretty cool guy. Eh teaches you how to analyze literature like an adult and doesn't afraid of anything. Seriously, though. Good guy. Learn to deal with teachers that have a subdued level of excitement.
He's a kind man outside the classroom but struggles to connect on any level with students inside the classroom. His reading assigments are lengthy and you often don't know what to focus on in each of the texts. The material is dry and his lectures even drier. It's often a struggle to remain awake in his class.
One of the worst teachers I have ever had. The only comments I have ever gotten on papers "develop" and "analyze" because I doubt he really has any idea what he is talking about! He can't lead class discussion, let alone talk with any enthusiasm, and is just rude. He interrupts students and disagrees with them on everything. Do NOT take his class!
worst teacher i've ever had. So rude to students, screamed at one because of an accidental misquote. Expects you to write a six page paper in class for a midterm in 50 minutes. Does not allow anyone to address their own opinion, there fore avoid him no matter what.
Tough Grader, None of Suggestions were useful. Office hours did absolutely nothing to help.
Going into this class I was very nervous because of all the other reviews about this professor. I thought that he was going to be very hard and it was going to be all shakespeare. It ended up not being. The professor is a nice guy. He does grade papers hard but he is willing to sit down with you and help you. Overall, I enjoyed the class.
Kurland is an interesting character with a lot of knowledge. His lectures get tedious and his fascination with Shakespeare is a little peculiar, but deep down he's a swell guy. Soft spoken and generally witty, I'd say he's a better person than a teacher. Tough essay grader. Don't know what the girl below me is talking about though.
His lectures have nothing to do with what you are supposed to be learning and they are extremely boring. Tough grader. suggests that you rewrite your paper after every rough draft you get back.
Kurland is a nice guy but his class is very confusing. He assigns papers but does not explain what he wants you do on them. His directions do not make sense either. I have taken some of his assignments to the writing center and even they did not know what he wanted you to do on his papers. He will rip your papers apart. 9/10 would not recommend
Kurland is THE WORST POSSIBLE TEACHER TO GET FOR A CORE CLASS. You can't read his hand writing and notes on your papers (if he even returns your rough draft back before the final is due) and he never grades anything so you don't know if you're failing. The assignments are not clear and his monotone voice puts the class to sleep.
He was a very boring lecturer and would always complain about trump. He wore really ugly ties and his handwriting was terrible. The essays were required to be too long
He grades everything super hard and makes the papers extremely hard. Awful.
Kurland is so boring. I cant even explain how boring he is. And the lectures don't matter, as you are never tested on any of the information. And you don't need to read any of the books because we were never quizzed or tested on them. All you need to do is do a solid job writing 3 papers over the semester and you'll get a solid B.
So here's the deal with Kurland, he's a solid teacher. He knows a lot about Shakespeare and even if your class isn't supposed to be about that, he'll find a way to read a play. He's a tough critic of papers but ultimately it makes you better, just have someone on hand who can read his handwriting. Don't take him if you don't participate in class.
Kurland is the head of the English Department, yet barely merits the title. He belittles your work to the point of feeling that you've failed when you actually received a B+ on the paper. He is severely unorganized and does not deliver on time yet expects your top work which is hypocritical. He does not lecture well. Avoid at all costs or else.
It's ironic that he is an English professor and can't communicate well with his students. I was told of corrections/new assignments with less than 24 hours before their due date. His feedback does not help long term. But if you have to take him be warned of a TON of late semester assignments and a visit to the theater.
Each paper increases in length and it seems like we got less time to work on each one. His feedback is not helpful but he offered revisions if you weren't happy with a grade.
He is a nice guy and is willing to make himself available to help. He is rarely at his office hours so if you want help do so in class. His lectures will put you to sleep as he is very dull. Dont expect to do anything you are interested in. His papers are lengthy and he is specific about what he wants but also confusing and unclear.
Stuart Kurland is obsessed with Shakespeare, and asks very specific questions about Shakespeare's work. However, he is not incredibly open to hearing students' answers. He only assigns 3 papers the whole semester, but your grade is dependent on whether he agrees with your thesis. Do not take his class if you have a heavy course load. He is nice tho
While Dr. Kurland serves the community by protecting us from fires in his spare time and actively ventures across the country to Shakespeare conferences, no amount of heroics could make me want to take this class again. He takes forever to grade and adds pointless comments asking you to completely change the topic of your paper. It's not worth it.
His class is very boring. I began the semester paying attention but by the end I ended up playing around on my laptop. His papers are a lot to handle and are unnecessarily long. He requires lots of unneeded research for the papers. He does grade them easy, but will make it hard if he does not like your topic. He really does want the best for you.
While this class is excruciating, Dr. Kurland wants you to do well. As long as he agrees with your argument.
Hes a very kind man, but he kinda sucks as a professor. Not an open minded professor. He doesnt hear other viewpoints to parts of Shakespearean plays other than his whether in class or in papers. His feedback on many of his students papers is for them to completely revise their thesis to what he wants to see. Easy grader, but a real pain to have
Hes very monotone and being is class is useless, hes a little hard of a grader but if you go to him in office hours for help and ideas youll be good
Dr. Kurland is very nice and knowledgeable about Shakespeare but he grades very specific to his own views and opinions so I found it difficult to find a topic for my papers that he would be able to grade without destroying it. Hes also super picky about formatting, wording, and MLA citations.
Stuart gets bad reviews because he is VERY opinionated, comes off as rude sometimes, and takes eons to give back assignments. Besides those little quirks, he is extremely caring, tries his best to make sure his students are having fun, is very knowledgeable on his subject, and overall a great person once you get to know him.
He insists that his opinion is the right one? What's he think he is, a phD?
Very good despite the bad reviews. opinionated but open to hearing others opinions. very good feedback on rough drafts in order to fix it before you turn in the final copy.
He sucks.
Kurland demands participation or he will start to get angry and then it just gets awkward. His handwriting is like trying to read hieroglyphics, and if you disagree with him then you're wrong. The essays are pointless and he grades them way too harsh for a 100 level course. Find someone else to take this class with.
Crazy hard grader, and does not give proper feedback.
The worst professor I've ever had.
Dr. Kurland is kind of difficult and a harsh grader, but at the end of the day, he cares about his students and is incredibly passionate about his field. He rewards hard work and participation and tried his best to listen to students and shape his class around what we wanted.
Dr. Kurland is a nice guy and is available for office hours when needed, but his class is a bit much. He moved very fast through the readings and included a lengthy paper for almost every one of them. For papers, he was never clear on what he wanted, his feedback was not helpful for developing as a writer, and it took him forever to grade them.
He is a really harsh grader on essays. Despite attending multiple office hours with Dr. Kurland, getting help from the university writing center, and having multiple people proofread my essays, I never did well. Too much time and effort put into this mandatory writing class.
Not the worst professor ever, he just assigns a lot of work and takes weeks to grade assignments. He is willing to work with students when it comes to deadlines and topics, so he does care and will give you individual attention if you need it. I got a good grade because I took advantage of every opportunity for bonus points.
The WORST professor I have ever encountered in my academic career - no hyperbole. Dr. Kurland assigned so many difficult essays and presentations with a short notice. The assignments had very unspecific rubrics and terms, yet were graded extremely harshly. He's a jerk too! I took Chemistry 1 and 2 and it was easier than this. DON'T take his class.
When I found out that I had Dr. Kurland for English, a lot of students warned me about his tough classes and tough grading. I found Dr. Kurland to be an amazing professor. He is very knowledgeable about what he teaches, and he truly cares about the students. He is more than willing to put in extra time with you outside of class. Overall I recommend
This is the worst professor I have ever had. I cannot believe that the university would even hire someone with such low competency. This man only cares about what he wants to read. He refuses to grade anything on time but expects that you give him assignments on time. He assigns busy work and lectures about absolutely nothing. Avoid him at all cost
most opinionated professor i have ever had. I have always been a strong writer but he absolutely tore every one of my essays apart. nice guy but he needs to realize we arent english majors. be prepared to put so much time into this class. it sucks
A terrible teacher. Never take is class and if anything withdrawal as soon as possible. I am warning you. NEVER STEP FOOT IN HIS CLASS. NEVER
terrible. simply terrible. he takes so long to grade things. he does not provide feedback on rough drafts until after we turn in the FINAL draft. all of the essays we have to write are about things we do not even read or go over in class. he simply mentions it in one class and then we go off and have to interpret things on our own for the essay.
Extremely inconsiderate and disrespectful of his students' time and efforts. I am currently writing a 10 page paper during my Easter break because he didn't get done grading the rough drafts until 4 days after the original due date. The due date is now 11:59 the night before Easter. Genuinely, please do not take a class with him.
Dr. Kurland is a VERY tough grader on essays. Takes FOREVER to grade. Too difficult for a 100 level class. Unless you are an english major or particularly enjoy writing, do not take. It is too much work & too stressful to be taken just as a core requirement.
Dr. Kurland is definitely a difficult grader, and does so by the use of letter grades, but he genuinely wants his students to succeed. He is a very sweet guy and is willing to help you if you need it. If you are a strong writer and put effort into your essays, you will be fine. But, do not take it if youre looking for an easy A.
Please do not take this professor's class. He is literally the worst professor I have had. He is a very tough grader and will give feedback on essays and even if you follow them perfectly, he still gives a bad grade
Dr. Kurland means well for students but I could have taken his entire class just online. You have to attend class for participation but you end up just sitting there listening to him ramble. He tries hard to help students improve their writing but his advice is always the same or just confusing.
Worst professor I have ever had in college. I can not describe how much I dislike him. He is rude and honestly does not care for his students grades.
I had Dr. Kurland for a class which included a trip to Italy over my spring break. I found his classes to be very long and boring. He rambles about Shakespeare endlessly. He gave us pop quizzes towards the end of the semester too. He grades very tough and rubrics were unclear. The trip was very fun, but be prepared for this dreadful class.
This professor was incredibly disrespectful of his students effort and time. Assignments took weeks to be returned, midterm and final were impossible to finish with the alotted time period, readings ranged anywhere from 20 - 60 pages a night, and he refused to listen to student feedback and suggestions, even when he asked for them himself.
This wasn't as bad as I was told, but I still wouldn't recommend. He gives very clear feedback which I do feel improved my writing. However, it takes forever to actually get that feedback. Very slow and tough grading. If you aren't already a strong writer avoid this class.
He is not that bad. you write 3 papers in writing and literature, you can literally write anything and still get a good grade. I feel like as long as he likes you then you will get an A or B. So just don't go on your phone during class, basically be respectful and he won't have a problem with you.
He was sometimes nice, sometimes rude. You have to be a very strong writer in order to get an A. It was definitely a struggle for me, but it was possible. I would not suggest him.
Among the worst professors I've had. Strongly favored a group of the class whom he would assist in answering questions. Ridiculed students during office hours as freshmen.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
82%
Textbook Required
15%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.34 avg changeRatings by Course
SHAKE101
5.0
(1)DISASTERINLIT
4.0
(1)ELIZDRAMA
4.0
(1)IHP101
4.0
(1)ENGL0145
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ENG00
5.0
ENGL201
5.0
ENGL316
5.0
HON104
5.0
ENGL317
5.0