The clarity in which he presents the material (not always the easiest material to digest by the way) is second to none. Great lectures, very organized,and very helpful. One of the best professors I have ever encountered.
Professor Holden presented the course material in a very interesting, intelligent manner that made me genuinely enjoy coming to his class. He's a smart guy and he takes time to get to know the students he's teaching. Overall, I would definitely recommend.
This is a professor with charisma and style. His was one of the few classes in which my mind never wandered. Holden really brings dead philosophers back to life. He has a very British sense of humour, and injects dry often subtle jokes into all of his lectures. Great guy, great course, I would recommend him for any *serious* philosophy student.
He is very clear and fair. He does have expectations, but they are reasonable.
Holden is a great professor. Many find him tough, but he makes his expectations very clear, and so you have no excuses if you don't deliver. He is remarkably articulate and knowledgable about the issues under discussion, and brings the material to life. Great sense of humor too.
He grades papers pretty hard, but tries to scare you at the beginning by saying he is harder than he actually is. Final was super easy. Lectures are somewhat interesting, but they are online, which means you don't have to take any notes. Not necessarily the easies or best class, but not too bad.
Prof. Holden has created the best of all possible courses on Leibniz! What is an otherwise esoteric and complex topic was made approachable, thanks to his highly organized and enthusiastic teaching style. I'd recommend him to any serious student of philosophy.
Loved going to class just to see the TAs suck up and laugh at his extremely British intellectual jokes. Most organized professor I've ever had, but make sure your TA isn't Craig because he's completely incompetent.
Great phil professor. Engaging, clear and organized. He gives you questions on exams in advance and is very willing to help. He keeps a great balance between lecture and discussion. He seems to really care about what the students have to say and always finds a way to clearly link it to his lecture. And I just love witty british guys
Holden was a great professor for Phil20c and will actually keep you awake during lectures. He takes a very active role in teaching, extremely prepared with Powerpoints and presented theories pretty objectively. One of the best Phil profs out there, and a good class. Grade depends on TA, but paper topics not too bad. Oh, and English accent.
Very engaging and lucid teaching style; more organized and systematic than other phil profs. Genuinely attentive towards students' understanding. Materials were appropriate and relevant to current affairs in int'l relations. Somewhat tough grading, but not a problem if you put in the effort proactively. (Took this class S'05 but forgot to rate.)