[ENVS 0215]
Nature’s Meanings

Rate This Class

Professor: Morse K

Value of Course / Overall Score

Not Much (0%
Average (35.7%)
Valuable (64.3%)

Material

Friendly (0%)
Average (50%)
Competitive (50%)

Class Atmosphere

Boring (78.6%)
Average (21.4%)
Fascinating (0%)

Prep Time Needed

1-2hr (0%)
3-5hr (64.3%)
6-8hr (35.7%)
9-11hr (0%)
12+ hr (0%)

Grade Weighting

Harder (21.4%)
Average (0%)
Easier (78.6%)

Adequate Assistance

Yes (100%)
No (0%)

Would Recommend Class

Yes (92.9%)
No (7.1%)

Evaluation Comments for Morse K

  1. No Comment
  2. No Comment
  3. This is a good course. Professor Morse often includes various other forms of media (photographs, portions of movies, recordings) in her lecture, which nicely supplemented the homework assignments. Work is graded fairly on criteria emphasized very clearly (she takes bibliographies very seriously). I liked the dynamic of having two large lectures followed by a small discussion section later in the week. It was not the best class I have ever taken, but I enjoyed going to it every week.
  4. Great Prof, Kathy Morse made me think about nature and our relationship with nature in a new way. As head of the ES department, she incorporates other areas of study into her course, though she is aware of non-majors in lecture. Great discussions, friendly and fun. Interesting readings for the most part, though some were unexpectedly long. Tough essay grader, will push you to become a better writer.
  5. There is a lot of reading, but it is fun. Kathryn Morse is an amazing lecturer and directs discussion extremely well. She is very understanding. She grades essays tough.
  6. Professor Morse is very kind, approachable, and articulate in her lectures. Unlike many lecture courses, I found hers to be very engaging. Like the author of the previous comment, Morse brings in a variety of media into her lectures in addition to a trip to the college organic garden, a few films, and fascinating contemporary excerpts to make for a rich learning experience. Discussions were very friendly, but perhaps Morse is sometimes too easy on students and could push them more. Professor Morse grades very fairly, and the class doesn't require too much of your time. A great class for thinking about our current and future relationship with Nature (and what exactly we mean by "nature").
  7. Nature's Meanings is a great course with fascinating readings. Prof. Morse does a great job leading discussion even when few have done the reading. Her style: introduce a topic by asking you what you know about it. Sometimes her lectures can get a little dry but she tries hard to mix things up on a daily basis with songs playing when you walk into class, movies, blog entries, photos, slideshows, etc. Her "supplemental reading" thing works well and is flexible for students to do an anylsis of extra readings on top of the assigned work. Overall, prof. Morse is very kind. She may be somewhat tough on the essays but she means well. Participate and have fun!
  8. My favorite part of this class is the discussion session. Morse led it well, and the students were more than great. Very inspiring. The lectures are not as interesting, though. She's fair on grades, but she just consider the quality of writing but not your effort,. If you're really bad at writing, you'd think twice if taking this course, because the grade may be bad even if you tried your best.
  9. She is fair.
  10. Prof. Morse is great! she's really passionate about teaching the environmental canon. she was very fair and balanced in her approach to the material and to grading. there are several great professors who teach this class, and Morse certainly deserves to be one of them.
  11. This is a great course!
  12. TAKE NATURES MEANINGS WITH PROFESSOR MORSE!! this was one of my favorite classes at midd so far -- the readings were amazing (sometimes a little long), and lectures were great. morse focuses a lot on history during the lectures which puts our readings in much better context. the discussion sections are amazing. and not too much work -- two 6 page papers and a midterm.
  13. This class is fascinating. Morse is a great lecturer and really insightful and knowledgable. She loads you up with readings but they are all so interesting that I tried my best to do them all even if it wasn't necessary. I learned so much about American nature culture in this class and it has changed the way I think about "nature" and made me more critical of how it's fed to us.
  14. This course is an introduction into American environmental writing, and looks at how Americans defined, perceived, and interacted with nature over time. Morse is a great professor who makes the subject very engaging and relevant. The readings, for the most part, aren't bad at all, though they are usually excerpts from longer works that you won't have the time to read in full, such as Walden or Silent Spring. Lectures aren't always the most interesting, especially since sometimes Morse merely goes over readings without delving further into them, but she does shake things up sometimes with songs, videos, and PowerPoint. She does a great job with discussions, though, allowing you to come up with your own ideas about the ideas being discussed. The workload beside the readings isn't terribly unmanageable: 2 essays (the first one 4-5 pages, the second one 6-8), one midterm, and one final. My only complaint is that we did not need to read entire monographs about the role of gender in nature and black environmental writing -- while the subjects certainly need to be covered, I think we would have been better served with excerpts from the monographs accompanied by primary sources instead. Overall, a great class with a friendly atmosphere, one that will make you look at the concepts of "nature" and "the environment" differently, and one I certainly don't regret taking. If you must take Nature's Meanings, take it with Morse.

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