Class record · FREN · MCAS

FREN 4404

How to Begin Thinking: Aftermaths of Twentieth-Century Literature, Philosophy, History · 1 instructor on record · 2 sections

What the course score is made of

86BC evaluations2 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2023 – Fall 2024

—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of

92ndMore challenging than 92% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

98BC — “Intellectually Challenging”2 records · raw score out of 100

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.

What the workload rank is made of

78thMore work than 78% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

60BC — “Workload”2 records · raw score out of 100

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.

Conducted in English: Undergraduate Elective. Cross listed with English and Philosophy "Thinking," the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas once suggested, "probably begins through traumatisms." This course will study a series of disruptive and transformative events that have indelibly marked the twentieth century. What is the task of thinking for a European tradition displaced internally by the Holocaust and externally by the end of colonial expansions into other continents? Authors will include Levinas, Derrida, Nancy, Saussure, Barthes, Duras (in English translation from French); Borges and Dorfman (in English and English translation from Spanish); Calvino (in English translation from Italian); and Descartes (in English translation from Latin). A German component (in English translation) will consider Husserl and Heidegger as a counterpoint to the European tradition of Romance languages, literatures, and cultures.

The only instructor on record

2 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge	RMP overall
Kevin NewmarkProfessor of French · Romance Languages and Literatures Provisional	892 records	78th	92nd	1001 rating · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Kevin Newmark is the only instructor with evaluation records for FREN 4404, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 2 records, 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 Kevin Newmark

6 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
FREN 3306Narrative and Identity: The Story You Tell Yourself	410 records	86
FREN 3307Great Books in French	59 records	77
FREN 4433True Fiction: From Philosophy to Literature	13 records	83
FREN 4439Painters of Modernity: Baudelaire and Flaubert	12 records	84
FREN 7750Reading Jacques Derrida	12 records	88
FREN 7780Readings in Theory	12 records	92

Other FREN classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
FREN 1110Intermediate French II	1858 records	79
FREN 1109Intermediate French I	1847 records	79
FREN 1010Elementary French II	1434 records	87
FREN 1009Elementary French I	1123 records	86
FREN 2210French Conversation, Composition, and Reading II	318 records	85
FREN 2209French Conversation, Composition, and Reading I	417 records	77

The line

All 13 items · means across 2 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

9030th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

9672nd pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

9240th pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9551st pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

8418th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

8623rd pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

9672nd pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

9045th pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

470th pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

765th pctl

Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings

WorkloadHow 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.

6078th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9892nd pctl

Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.

9674th pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. 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

2 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Kevin Newmark	Fall 2024	01	78	75	—
Kevin Newmark	Spring 2023	01	100	96	60

How to read this boardInstructors 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.