PUBPOL-171FS
BEYOND DENIAL
Offered Fall 2026
Term
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Difficulty runs on the high side even without a single dominant complaint theme. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
DepartmentPPS
Terms offeredFall
Typical enrollment16–18
Semesters of data3
5.1
Hrs / week
39
Responses
51
Enrollment
76%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.2
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.8
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.2
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
3.9
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysishigh
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 93 comments across 3 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Difficulty runs on the high side even without a single dominant complaint theme. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
A is doable but not automatic
The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.
Homework Load
Moderate homework load
Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.
Lecture Load
Lighter lecture burden
Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.
Strengths
• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.
• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.
• Students repeatedly say the course teaches something concrete, whether that is content mastery, research skill, or a strong foundation.
Tradeoffs
• Difficulty runs high even when comments do not settle on one dominant complaint.
Best fit for
Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
Watch out for
• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.
Student Responses
- critically examining common rhetoric/history - questioning the status quo - thinking outside of the system(social norms, etc)
Fall 2023 · Philipsen, Dirk
1. Why capitalism exists 2. The impacts of capitalism 3. How to build a better future
Fall 2023 · Philipsen, Dirk
This course expanded the way I think about both the past and future. It caused me to question why I hold the ideas and do and who benefits from me doing so. It also taught me how to ask questions and think critically about neoliberal capitalism.
Fall 2023 · Philipsen, Dirk
I learned a lot about early and indigenous human societies, how to look at things critically, and how we arrived at our current society.
Fall 2023 · Philipsen, Dirk
I learned a lot about building a utopia and the ways in which today's system fails us. We talked about collective housing, eliminating private property, fostering greater income equality, and much more.
Fall 2023 · Philipsen, Dirk
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | Philipsen, Dirk 4.4Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.4Difficulty3.0Would retake85%Based on 60 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 17 |
| Fall 2024 | Philipsen, Dirk 4.4Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.4Difficulty3.0Would retake85%Based on 60 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | — | — | 4.6 | 16 |
| Fall 2023 | Philipsen, Dirk 4.4Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.4Difficulty3.0Would retake85%Based on 60 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.4 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 18 |
Instructor
Also teaches
PUBPOL-249 LIFE WITHIN CAPITALISM4.7PUBPOL-546 WELL-BEING ECONOMICS4.0