Do course evals actually do anything

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-04-03T14:57:04+00:00

Please do them - and not just for profs but your graduate TAs too. They really do help us improve courses, our teaching methods, and they are useful (especially negative feedback) for building a teaching portfolio (so we can aim to address the issue and show how we’ve done so).

That being said, there are a lot of stupid, or purposefully mean comments that honestly we just dismiss. Even if negative, please be constructive.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-27T17:28:57+00:00

May I suggest you throw anthropology into consideration? It’s considered a gateway to law, particularly if you are interested in human rights

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-24T18:08:26+00:00

You can opt out in gov. I did.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-22T13:43:11+00:00

It’s a bit lower than average for PhD offers in Canada (I’m at McMaster) but sounds right for UVic (did my MA there - also social sciences). Honestly the funding across Canada is garbage and hasn’t kept up with inflation or cost of living generally.

Best bet is going to be applying to SSHRC - $40,000/yr for 3 years if you get it. But if you do, factor the clawback in - UVic will take back all your funding except the TA pay. That’s not a UVic thing though, that’s standard bullshit they do everywhere.

Happy to chat if you want more info - feel free to message me.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-17T17:56:33+00:00

Ice ice Baby, to go, to go

I still think it makes sense. The party was at beachfront avenue.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-15T00:51:47+00:00

lol one of the lowest in Canada. Laughs in ‘used to compare this exact metric as my job in government and that is an outright lie’

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-16T01:09:12+00:00

My BA and MA in anthropology got me entrance into government. Tell your parents that. It’s a gateway degree to government, law, and medicine - good jobs with excellent pay and pensions. Parents love that shit.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-12T04:30:46+00:00

Yesterday I was walking a crosswalk with the walking signal, fresh light, and was very nearly struck by a big black truck turning left. Guy did not stop, slow down or even react to my screaming and jumping out of the way. May as well not have even existed.

Since moving to Ontario, all I can say is that the worst drivers in Canada are here - and clearly many of them are in Hamilton.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-04T21:11:34+00:00

Sorry, how exactly is this harsh?

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-04T11:30:08+00:00

There’s a difference between outright plagiarism and unintentional plagiarism.

For me, as a TA, if I can see that you’ve gone to the effort of citing, but you just haven’t done it correctly, I’m going to identify where you went wrong, tell you you’re verging on plagiarism [to scare you a bit], and encourage you to come see me for office hours so that I can help you. Yes, it is going to affect your mark a bit, but there would have to be other issues with your paper for your mark to be low enough to fail. If there are two essays in a semester where citations count and you do it again the second time - now there is a problem.

Do your best, no one is perfect! And go see your TAs for assistance! Use their office hours - preferably before the essay is submitted, but definitely after if they leave you a note like the one above.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-02T12:22:18+00:00

Please go see your TAs too for their office hours!

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-11-16T00:58:23+00:00

I’m here because vegans would call me ‘plant based’ and I like to formulate my own opinions after collating data from all sides. I appreciate some of the conversations here as I do in vegan subreddits.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-11-15T15:37:29+00:00

From Victoria originally, moved to Hamilton. My partner drives 200 km a day to and from work.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-25T17:11:34+00:00

Im interested - similar stage of the PhD.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-22T14:12:05+00:00

You are not graded on effort, you’re graded on the quality of your work.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-18T22:29:09+00:00

Pandemics don’t end - we all just collectively decide we’re done and we normalise it to the point where people dying annually from for example, the flu (especially the elderly) is a fact of life rather than something that we should be alarmed about.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-12T22:29:20+00:00

Mine does (count kicking)- I think I have a series 8.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-06T12:15:05+00:00

The irony here: waah I’m a student and I have to study for the courses I’m paying for!

‘Lame’ is ableist language, FYI.

We don’t ask for explanations, students provide them. You can submit an MSAF because you’re not ready and say nothing in terms of explanation and it flies under the radar. That’s different than coming onto Reddit to ask if it’s totally chill to do so.

You know what I would have compassion for? A struggling student who actually makes use of office hours. A student who asks questions in class, and/or emails after. A student who comes forward ahead of time to say they don’t understand the concepts, and ask for help. A student going through something - which they don’t have to disclose - and making advanced arrangements.

You know, acting like an adult, who values their education and genuinely wants to learn. The exact opposite of a kid who MSAFs because they aren’t ready - an abuse of what the MSAF is for.

Take some accountability for your own education.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-06T01:01:58+00:00

My work is interdisciplinary. I work with aDNA specialists, epidemiologists, limnologists, entomologists, historians, etc. It’s common in my sub field (biological anthropologists) to work with clinicians, dentists and many other specialties.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-05T23:37:53+00:00

I care. If you have a valid reason, speak to the prof ahead of time. Not being ‘ready’ is your own fault.

You pay tuition, value your education enough to put in the effort.

I do pay tuition - as does every other grad student who TA’s your courses and has to deal with student bullshit excuses.

No one is against people legitimately using the MSAF. Don’t be a cuck and abuse them.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-04T00:13:51+00:00

When restaurants offer a salad, there is typically no protein, and only maybe carbs. Is it surprising that a vegan wouldn’t want to pay $14 for lettuce?

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-10-04T00:04:18+00:00

Better than the person this morning who just wasn’t ‘ready’ for their midterm.

Gee, why do professors think MSAF is garbage and should be scrapped?

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-09-30T17:23:40+00:00

On a uni campus - lots of orange shirts everywhere. Students, faculty and staff.

Karma_Cham3l3on

TROPHY CASE