Class record · JOUR · MCAS

JOUR 2268

The Cultural Critic Online · 1 instructor on record · 1 section

What the course score is made of

82BC evaluations1 record · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2025

—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

5thMore challenging than 5% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

78BC — “Intellectually Challenging”1 record · 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

25thMore work than 25% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

40BC — “Workload”1 record · 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.

NOTE TO JOURNALISM MINORS: THIS COURSE SATISFIES THE REQUIREMENT FOR AN ELECTIVE WITH A CRAFT" ORIENTATION." What is the role of the critic in an algorithm-driven, high-metabolism, numbers-obsessed society? Today, this question looms large over the practitioners of the craft across multiple disciplines, from food to popular music to architecture. In this seminar, students will learn the history of criticism and read examples from the past and the present, while writing their own capsule reviews and essay-length interrogations of culture. Guest speakers will include modern writers and editors of criticism as well as artists who engage in the practice. Students will be given the chance to cultivate and develop their own critical frameworks based on their knowledge and individual aesthetic leanings.

The only instructor on record

1 section · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge
Maura JohnstonUniversity and Capstone Provisional	851 record	25th	5th

There is no ranking to read here: Maura Johnston is the only instructor with evaluation records for JOUR 2268, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 1 record, which is thin — read it as provisional.

Also taught by Maura Johnston

2 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
JOUR 2226Writing About Popular Music	112 records	89
JOUR 2225Journalism and New Media	110 records	86

Other JOUR classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
JOUR 2000Introduction to Journalism	619 records	86
JOUR 2226Writing About Popular Music	112 records	89
JOUR 2223Sports and News Broadcasting	110 records	86
JOUR 2225Journalism and New Media	110 records	86
JOUR 2231Feature Writing	210 records	94
JOUR 4942Senior Seminar	410 records	91

The line

All 13 items · means across 1 record

The Professor4 items

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

9345th 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.

9136th pctl

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

9666th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

8523rd pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

8727th pctl

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

9138th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

9150th pctl

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

8013th 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.

4025th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

785th pctl

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

9357th 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

1 section · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Maura Johnston	Fall 2025	01	85	82	40

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.