Reviews for John B. Carlson
Average Rating:| Anonymous Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A October 24, 2011, 6:42 pm | Don't take this class. Just don't. You get an insane amount of useless, redundant busy work on a wide range of unrelated topics that leaves you considerably less time to work on your real classes. Rather than being a discussion like the class is supposed to be, the professor will blatantly disagree with you if you say something intelligent, such as asserting that the ancient Greeks made great contributions to science. Their is no real topic to this class, and it basically consists of memorizing a set of utterly useless and not cohesive facts. The only plus side is that he grades the essays nicely. |
| Anonymous Course: HONR216 Grade Expected: A April 18, 2010, 11:20 pm | Only take this class if you are EXTREMELY interested in ancient Maya and Aztec culture. The class name is deceiving... this class has basically nothing to do with astronomy and never once do you actually look at the stars. If you were thinking that it's at 7 oclock at night so you can actually partake in naked eye astronomy, you will be proven very wrong. Instead it is 2 and a half hours (and for most of the semester very close to 3 hours) of sitting and listening to Carlson rant about a broad range of random topics that are completely pointless. The plus side: he grades the tests on a huge curve. But the tests are on random facts that oftentimes he never even taught and the homework assignments are all pointless busy work. Avoid this class at all costs unless the topic is one that extremely interests you. |
| Anonymous Course: HONR216 Grade Expected: AB April 12, 2010, 8:43 am | The worst class to sit through for this long. Has nothing to do with astronomy if that's what you're thinking. If you're really interested in talking about temples being in line, and making up random theories about why that is significant, then sure this class is for you. If you want to listen to a teacher go off on tangents every 30 seconds, then talk about getting off topic...then this is the class for you. If you want to be held over an extra 15 minutes every class period after the big snow storm, besides the fact that we had already made up all our class time.. this is the class for you (and yes he held us over 15 minutes the night of the Duke game.) If any of that doesn't sound appealing I'd highly recommend a better way to spend your Tuesday or Wednesday night and any other Honors seminar. |
| Fargalas Course: HONR216 Grade Expected: A January 18, 2010, 1:32 pm | Much of the assigned work for this class is, as others have noted, basically busywork. The general reason for this, I think, is to keep people directly involved with the material, since otherwise it's pretty easy to get away without doing much of anything. Even so, the class was very interesting to me, and Carlson is genuinely a very nice guy. He's opinionated, and will try to change your views sometimes, but he is civil and passionate. He likes to teach, so despite his frequent tangents, he's usually fun to follow in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way. Also, if you take his class, please understand that he is trying to be funny, not narcissistic or paranoid. ("Favardin" is discussed often. Most of you probably don't know who that guy is, but if you did, you'd find Carlson's jokes more humorous.) Finally, I did learn a lot about Mesoamerica during the class, and the experience has affected my views on the interaction between various cultures. |
| Anonymous Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A December 23, 2009, 7:20 am | Easy class, a bit of weekly busywork, two essays, and two exams, all of which are extremely easy. The professor is really nice but may tends to drift off-topic and fall well behind the syllabus (not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that). Most of the material may not be exactly life-changing, but you'll almost certainly learn more about the universe than you knew coming in. At the very least, you'll know plenty of random facts about it. |
| BreakfastBaby Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A November 30, 2009, 11:11 am | The course and the professor are not for everybody. The class is niche in that the students were extremely well-informed and intelligent. You will easily feel lost/confused if you do not have a serious interest to learn about the universe. The professor digresses too much and is rather self-important (as are some of the fellow classmates). You will learn a lot though. |
| Stacks Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A October 22, 2009, 8:17 am | I love this professor. I think he has been misunderstood by some of the other reviewers. If you are not a science type you may not like the material of the class, but it is presented in a mind-expanding, fascinated sort of way. I you cant understand his simple sense of humor, you may perceive him as narcissistic. Definitely recommend this class. |
| Anonymous Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: May 11, 2009, 8:42 pm | This guy goes completely off the deep end in almost every single class. Discussion topics ranged from string theory to his near- death experience on a motorcycle. Carlson will certainly challenge your viewpoints, but sometimes will make you feel completely wrong about how you view a certain topic. Some of the class is interesting, but much is just useless knowledge. To do well in this class, simply listen for Carlson to say "this could be on a test" when he is writing notes on the board, and copy what he writes. Then simply memorize what you have in your notes and your almost guaranteed an A. The video assignments are simple but tedious, while the paper is easy but takes a while. Overall, this class is an easy A if you do things properly. |
| Anonymous Course: HONR216 Grade Expected: A May 4, 2009, 6:15 pm | The title of the course is misleading. It has almost nothing to do with astronomy, but instead it's about Mayan and Aztec culture and traditions, mixed with a bit of modern religion. However, Dr. Carlson is very knowledgeable about the subject and I thought it was an interesting class. He goes over time almost every class, but not by much. As the other reviews have stated he starts talking about irrelevant or off-topic stuff all the time, but he usually has a good sense of humor. I don't really think he was condescending to anyone like some other reviews said. Overall I recommend this class. |
| terpstudent Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: November 12, 2008, 8:50 am | Possibly the worst professor possible. Not necessarily due to a lack of knowledge, but due to a level of narcissism I have never seen in anyone. He believes he is perfect and promotes a class environment that is awkward and unpleasant. He thinks he asks the big questions and is opening your mind, but he is just asking stereotypical "I am smart" questions that are truly meaningless and almost always completely off topic. He prides himself in his distrust of everyone else, as he frequently mentions "big brother" and on the first day of class shows off the large concealed blade he carries around. I thought this course would be stimulating and interesting and it is the biggest disappointment in my college career. DO NOT MAKE MY MISTAKE! Avoid this class and this professor. |
| Anonymous Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A October 1, 2008, 7:46 pm | This professor is just about everything I dislike in a teacher or mentor. He is self-important, tries to trick students so they feel dumb, and, though he considers himself very progressive, harbors some of the most blatant biases I have encountered in a teacher. He comes off as knowing a lot about the subjects he discusses (probably due to his arrogance), but ask more than one question and his "ADD" conveniently kicks in and he goes on a tangent that is totally irrelevant to the discussion. If you are a true intellectual who likes a healthy competition of ideas, do not take this class. You will be very disappointed. |
| Anonymous Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: December 22, 2007, 1:39 pm | I did all the assignments, participated a LOT in class, and did well on the only exam. I am one of the few (i imagine) who got a B in this class. The only reason could be the paper. The paper for this class is supposed to be very open-ended, and as such I was astounded when in class, the day he handed the papers back, he openly rejected the entire premise of my paper in front of everyone, then continued to mock it several times during the class. It is one thing to challenge us to defend our views, but another to flatly reject them without providing any reasoning. I am disappointed in the class |
| TVanBlar Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A November 28, 2007, 7:05 am | Great guy. Very interesting to talk to and nothing is off the table. His classes range from scientific babble to intense debate on society. Carlson always has something to say and his whole goal is to challenge our own belief systems. Very interesting class. |
| LHaggerty Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A November 20, 2007, 10:08 am | Very fun professor with interesting experiences and perspectives to share. Work consists of readings and outlines on films found on dial-access that take a couple of hours every week but are not difficult. One paper assigned in two drafts. He has a lot of valuable information you might not learn anywhere else or on your own initiative and he makes the class fun. |
| trillian42 Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A | He's a great guy to spend two and a half hours with every Tuesday night. The work he assigns is extremely easy but takes a long time. It's busy work. But the class was fun and a nice break from the tedium of other courses. |
| kbe12478 Course: HONR217 Grade Expected: A | This guy loves to go completely off topic in every single class. We really did not learn a whole lot about ancient astronomies, but rather, learned a lot about trivial information about random societies, and heard stories from his past visits to Mexico, etc. However, he was a really nice guy, and you do get to go on a really cool trip to the planetarium. The work for his class was not tough, but was extremely tedious. He grades fairly easily. |