Professor Duffy is great, he is very enthusiastic and cares a lot about his students. However if you are taking this course for a GE and do not absolutely LOVE literature then don't take it. This is a UD course in which the professor and the TAs expect you to be extremely passionate about Irish literature. Tons of analysis and reading.

Professor Duffy made me excited to be an English major. He is incredibly caring, and his lectures are hilarious. Take his honors section if you can. Duffy worships Ulysses, so beware, and also excited--- He is excellent at breaking down difficult concepts. Midterm, final, short presentation, & 7 page research paper with any topic on Irish culture.

Had Duffy for 150 & its honors seminar. He is a much better lecturer in a small class discussion format. I struggled to learn from his large lectures, as he is unorganized with no visual aids at times. Tests are half IDs, which was frustrating. Midterm+Final+7pg research paper. However, that being said, he is very caring and wants you to do well.

I took this course Spring '22! It was not easy, but it was fun. For exams, I recommend going over the poems + readings and looking into the meaning behind each. Professor Duffy is kind, supportive, and funny. He offers extra cred for the memorization of poems or a performance. I highly recommend this course if you're interested in Irish literature!

Duffy is my favorite professor at UCSB! He approaches learning in a way that includes educating the "whole self," in other words, he emphasizes the importance of life experience and pushes you to be creative, interesting and ambitious in your thinking about yourself, school, the world and others. I took 2 classes with him and would take 100 more

Professor Duffy has been my favorite professor at ucsb! The way he thinks about writing is very interesting. You have to do the reading, but he chooses interesting and distinct (helps with IDs) writing. The tests are fair and he gives freedom with papers and projects. I'm already in another class of his and planning to do a third.

The best English professor at UCSB. No, he is not an easy A, but he makes you think in a completely different way. The rest of the English department could take a lesson or two from him. If you are actually looking to experience the beauty of literature, professor Duffy is a must. The best professor I had at UCSB.

I heard so many good things prior to taking him but he was impossible to follow as he would go on such idiosyncratic tangents that only someone who was an expert in his field could follow along

Kept lecture surprisingly interesting, and if you go to every lecture you definitely won't need to do the reading. The paper is fun enough but the midterm and final is brutal for anyone who struggles with wrote memorization as you will be asked to identify any of 20 works by author, title and date by one quote.

The class itself was pretty interesting and Professor Duffy really made the texts enjoyable. However, the midterm and final were killers. He asks that you memorize the author, date, and title of more than 20 works and then has you identify them by random quotes he pulls. You must go to class in order to pass!

Professor Duffy is one of the best professors I have had while at UCSB. I love how he is very passionate about what he teaches and how he makes the texts interesting.

Took the class for GE requirements and thought it sounded interesting. I was prepared for a really boring lecture but he was pretty interesting. Keeps it entertaining with lots of stories and random rambling, but funny Irish man who knows his stuff. Don't really need to do all the reading if you attend all the lectures!

Professor Duffy is a really sweet guy and an interesting lecturer. The grading for the class was pretty random as there was 20% devoted to participation although there were no sections. Also, he gave very little time on the midterm so make sure you can be a speedy test taker! Otherwise, pretty enjoyable!!

He's just so cute and delightful! He's totally understanding and easygoing, and loves picking on people in lecture - but he's so sweet about it and laughs and makes everyone else laugh and he's just such a good guy! I hope he reads this and knows how loved he is by UCSB students.

The tests are all about the IDs, know the author, title, date, relevance and you will do fine. Just remember what he focused on in lecture. The workload was not overly demanding, midterm, final and 8 page paper. He LOVES the unintelligible Ulysses, so expect to dive into that tome. Good lecturer, approachable, willing to help...unusual for a Prof..

I know it was summer session, but he really fell behind. Obviously accustomed to lectures and I'd have preferred more discussion. We didn't know what the final was going to be (all essay or all IDs) until the week of. Be prepared to cram and pay attention to what passages he focuses on in class.

Professor Duffy is awesome! I love his classes and all of the great stories he has to tell. I also love the way he says "eeehhhh" it cracks me up!

Professor Duffy is the best professor in my college career thus far.

He really knows his stuff, and he gives you a lot of slack (except on the tests).

very humorous. He makes people recite poems.

Prof. Duffy is pretty chill. Lecture was more like a loose discussion forum/seminar where any opinion on the texts is welcome if you can back it up. Disorganized though, w/ no slides, so you have to attend class. 1 creative project/final research paper & 2 exams w/ passage IDs that aren't hard if you've read the books and 1 essay in the final.

Duffy really tries to get to know everyone. Lectures can be a bit disorganized, just make sure to understand the main points and read the book. Come prepared for section, as he expects participation (discussion) from everyone in the class. The final project is really fun! If you don't mind some reading and writing I'd highly recommend.

I took Duffy's summer course, Detective Fiction, and it was amazing. You will have to read a bit but it is an english lit class so that's expected. He managed to make discussions interesting, and made a genuine effort to get to know every student. The exams were also pretty easy, and the final project was fun! Take him if you can!

Horrible unrelated tangents about a random thing. tries to be funny but not my thing. I feel like he is wasting my time and exhausting me with every word he says. He always runs over time and acts like it's rude or people start leaving while he incessantly talking.