Professor
Robert Watson
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Most Helpful Review
Dr. Watson is one of the best professors I have encountered at UCLA. His ENGL 19 seminar on poetry was phenomenal. We read a few poems a week and then discussed them in a small classroom setting. Dr. Watson is brilliant and what is he has to say regarding poetry (or anything) is engaging. He would invite us out to dinner weekly, which was pretty cool. Dr. Watson has taught at UCLA for over thirty years and at Harvard for a sometime, too. Our group was pretty exceptional, though, which I know made a big difference in how enjoyable the class was. At the end of the quarter, we all signed a card and gave it to Dr. Watson—we liked him that much! (I can't comment on his graded courses.)
Dr. Watson is one of the best professors I have encountered at UCLA. His ENGL 19 seminar on poetry was phenomenal. We read a few poems a week and then discussed them in a small classroom setting. Dr. Watson is brilliant and what is he has to say regarding poetry (or anything) is engaging. He would invite us out to dinner weekly, which was pretty cool. Dr. Watson has taught at UCLA for over thirty years and at Harvard for a sometime, too. Our group was pretty exceptional, though, which I know made a big difference in how enjoyable the class was. At the end of the quarter, we all signed a card and gave it to Dr. Watson—we liked him that much! (I can't comment on his graded courses.)
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2026 - I loved taking this class. Professor Watson has so much energy and passion that it's hard not to love his class. The class was not hard as long as you kept up with the reading and payed attention in lecture (I got 99% on both the midterm and final with minimal studying). The papers can be tough, but you have a short one to accustom to the writing style they want before a longer paper. Just go to office hours to ask for help and advice and you'll be fine (Shoutout Ren! Best TA).
Winter 2026 - I loved taking this class. Professor Watson has so much energy and passion that it's hard not to love his class. The class was not hard as long as you kept up with the reading and payed attention in lecture (I got 99% on both the midterm and final with minimal studying). The papers can be tough, but you have a short one to accustom to the writing style they want before a longer paper. Just go to office hours to ask for help and advice and you'll be fine (Shoutout Ren! Best TA).
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2017 - Professor Watson is so genuine, kind, and hilarious. He is also unfathomably smart--I was constantly blown away by his level of intelligence and knowledge. Watson thrives in small classroom settings (I believe he only teaches seminars), and it is really cool to be able to be in such a small class with such an esteemed professor. Honors 115 meets once a week for three hours. You read a considerable amount of poems that are assigned each week, in addition to some background reading on the history of England and whatnot. The first five weeks of class, you have to post a weekly response on CCLE--nothing crazy, just 300 words or so. Watson wants to see that you are passionate and really engaging with the material--as long as you show interest, actually try to close read the poems, and engage in the class conversation, you will do fine. The big part of your grade in this class is the final paper. This is in place of a final exam, and Watson is super fair about it. After Week 5, the essay is your only assignment (other than the weekly readings). It is 10-12 pages long on any topic you like, using the poetry you've read in class. Seriously, Watson is so understanding and chill about this paper--he let our class turn it in the Tuesday after finals week if we needed more time. Watson truly is a lover of learning and discussion, and as long as you enjoy those things too and come to class ready to engage you'll do great. Watson isn't one of those professors on an egotistical trip--he really cares about his students and loves hearing their thoughts. 10/10 recommend taking class with him!
Winter 2017 - Professor Watson is so genuine, kind, and hilarious. He is also unfathomably smart--I was constantly blown away by his level of intelligence and knowledge. Watson thrives in small classroom settings (I believe he only teaches seminars), and it is really cool to be able to be in such a small class with such an esteemed professor. Honors 115 meets once a week for three hours. You read a considerable amount of poems that are assigned each week, in addition to some background reading on the history of England and whatnot. The first five weeks of class, you have to post a weekly response on CCLE--nothing crazy, just 300 words or so. Watson wants to see that you are passionate and really engaging with the material--as long as you show interest, actually try to close read the poems, and engage in the class conversation, you will do fine. The big part of your grade in this class is the final paper. This is in place of a final exam, and Watson is super fair about it. After Week 5, the essay is your only assignment (other than the weekly readings). It is 10-12 pages long on any topic you like, using the poetry you've read in class. Seriously, Watson is so understanding and chill about this paper--he let our class turn it in the Tuesday after finals week if we needed more time. Watson truly is a lover of learning and discussion, and as long as you enjoy those things too and come to class ready to engage you'll do great. Watson isn't one of those professors on an egotistical trip--he really cares about his students and loves hearing their thoughts. 10/10 recommend taking class with him!
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Some people will staunchly sing Watson's praises. However, I'm taking his class and he dropped a lengthy midterm on us four days before we're due to take it. You'd need to memorize a sonnet word for word, be able to identify passages, write a short essay, AND recall his 2-hour lectures in order to answer written questions. He will not warn you of this beforehand. This is just the midterm. You also have to write two essays (one short, one long) and take a final exam. I'm sure this is great for people obsessed with Shakespeare and already familiar with his work. If that isn't you, maybe pick a different class or instructor.
Fall 2024 - Some people will staunchly sing Watson's praises. However, I'm taking his class and he dropped a lengthy midterm on us four days before we're due to take it. You'd need to memorize a sonnet word for word, be able to identify passages, write a short essay, AND recall his 2-hour lectures in order to answer written questions. He will not warn you of this beforehand. This is just the midterm. You also have to write two essays (one short, one long) and take a final exam. I'm sure this is great for people obsessed with Shakespeare and already familiar with his work. If that isn't you, maybe pick a different class or instructor.
Most Helpful Review
Watson is phenomenally engaging and inspiring, very humble, and somehow speaks in perfect sentences while lecturing. Cant overstate how much he brought to the plays. I had never taken a Shakespeare class and left 150b wishing the english major still demanded 3 quarters of shakespeare.
Watson is phenomenally engaging and inspiring, very humble, and somehow speaks in perfect sentences while lecturing. Cant overstate how much he brought to the plays. I had never taken a Shakespeare class and left 150b wishing the english major still demanded 3 quarters of shakespeare.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - This class is not great for individuals who do not like A LOT of reading. Overall, I found the workload to be unmanageable, the lectures were very unclear--the professor does not ask students questions and lectures for the entire time. His exams are a strain and they're in person. If you really like Shakespeare and have taken classes prior to this, definitely take it--this course is interesting but very challenging to understand and hard to receive an A.
Winter 2025 - This class is not great for individuals who do not like A LOT of reading. Overall, I found the workload to be unmanageable, the lectures were very unclear--the professor does not ask students questions and lectures for the entire time. His exams are a strain and they're in person. If you really like Shakespeare and have taken classes prior to this, definitely take it--this course is interesting but very challenging to understand and hard to receive an A.
Most Helpful Review
So I have heard so many great things about Professor Watson, both from personal sources and online reviews, but I have to say that his 153 Early Renaissance Literature class was uninspiring. We read so much material for each class meeting and either talked very briefly of them all or talked in depth about a third of them. This makes it really hard to study when the midterm and final come around because there are texts you're supposed to know about and be able to identify even though they had never been discussed in class. All the things I've heard people say about his Shakespeare classes just didn't happen in this class. We read a load of poetry that all sounded the same, and then had a few inspiring texts that we spent no more than a day on. All in all, I feel like Professor Watson knows so much and can teach so much, but the class somehow ended up being more overwhelming than interesting.
So I have heard so many great things about Professor Watson, both from personal sources and online reviews, but I have to say that his 153 Early Renaissance Literature class was uninspiring. We read so much material for each class meeting and either talked very briefly of them all or talked in depth about a third of them. This makes it really hard to study when the midterm and final come around because there are texts you're supposed to know about and be able to identify even though they had never been discussed in class. All the things I've heard people say about his Shakespeare classes just didn't happen in this class. We read a load of poetry that all sounded the same, and then had a few inspiring texts that we spent no more than a day on. All in all, I feel like Professor Watson knows so much and can teach so much, but the class somehow ended up being more overwhelming than interesting.
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