COMM 4477
Fashion as Communication · 1 instructor on record · 1 section
Boston College's ratings are bunched at the top — the median instructor averages about 88 out of 100 on the raw scale, and 44% of them clear 90 — so a raw score cannot separate anybody. Every figure here is ranked against BC classes and that rank is re-expressed out of 100, which is what turns a raw 88 — the middle of the university — into a figure that says where somebody actually stands. On this scale 77 is the median, 84 the top quarter and 91 the top tenth. Workload is then an adjustment on top of that, worth nothing at all for an ordinary one. Lighter work than 75% of BC classes.
The class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it — who taught it is the board below.
How is this worked out?
That is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between: the board carries each instructor's own score for this class, and the score above is the class averaged across all of them.
Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question. It is not a measure of difficulty, grading or workload.
How is this worked out?
Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.
One of Boston College's five workload bands, not a number of hours. Higher means more work, not worse.
How is this worked out?
Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.
Satisfies one of two writing-intensive courses required within the Communication major. Restricted to Juniors and Seniors. This writing intensive course approaches fashion as a social practice that functions not only as an aesthetic performance, but also communicates messages concerning one's gender, sexual, racial, and class identities, affiliation with (or opposition to) resistant political movements and subcultural groups, and their attitudes towards the ruling ideology. When we get dressed, we are always broadcasting to others resonant signals about who we are, what we value, and how we wish to be treated. While sometimes dismissed as a "superficial" cultural phenomenon, fashion serves as a key site at which struggles over social power and the equitable and sustainable distribution of resources are staged. In this course, we will conduct a historical survey of fashion trends in their sociopolitical contexts, examine the complex intermingling of fashion's aesthetic impact and its cultural effects, and study changes in the fashion industry that have profound implications for human rights and the environment. Students will conduct a research project (culminating in a 25-page paper) that analyzes and critiques stylistic objects, fashion trends, or industry developments in light of their relation to cultural, social, or political change.
| Instructor | Curve | Easiness | Challenge | RMP overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett IngramCommunication Provisional | 7282 raw · 1 record | 84+2 to the score | 21st | 6234 ratings · all classes |
There is no ranking to read here: Brett Ingram is the only instructor with evaluation records for COMM 4477, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 1 record, which is thin — read it as provisional. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.
Also taught by Brett Ingram
6 other classesOther COMM classes
All of them| Class | Instructors | Course score |
|---|---|---|
| COMM 1030Public Speaking | 1166 records | 83 |
| COMM 1065Fundamentals of Creative Communication | 746 records | 79 |
| COMM 1010The Rhetorical Tradition | 320 records | 83 |
| COMM 1020Introduction to Media Studies | 220 records | 83 |
| COMM 2213Fundamentals of Audio I | 120 records | 85 |
| COMM 1060Anti-Social Media | 217 records | 95 |
The line
All 13 items · means across 1 recordBars are ranks, not raw scores. Nothing here is graded good or bad.
What each item asks
- Explains Clearly
- The instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
- Available
- The instructor was available for help outside of class.
- Motivating
- The instructor motivated me to do my best work.
- Sparks Interest
- The course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
- Organized
- The course was well organized.
- Clear Goals
- The learning objectives for the course were clear.
- Useful Later
- What I learned is applicable beyond this course.
- Assignments
- Assignments and exams contributed to my learning.
- Fast Feedback
- I received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
- Useful Feedback
- The feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
- Workload
- How much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.
- Challenge
- The course was intellectually challenging.
- Attendance
- Attending class was necessary to do well in this course.
Why these numbers are curved
Both the number and the bar are the rank against every comparable record we hold, printed back out of 100. BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so on the raw scale every cell here would read in the high eighties and every bar would be nearly full — thirteen numbers that tell you nothing. Each cell prints its raw BC figure and its percentile underneath, so nothing is hidden by the transform. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.
Game log
1 section · newest first| Instructor | Term | Sec | Instr | Course | Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Ingram | Spring 2024 | 01 | 82 | 73 | 40 |
How to read this board
Instructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.