I did not enjoy this subject. It was very disappointing considering how fascinating of a topic the French Revolution is. The lectures were recordings made in the previous semester which they didn't even bother redoing for our class, so I'm not sure what the lecturer even DID to get paid as they also didn't teach tutorials... The questions that were created for discussion in tutorials seem almost irrelevant as do the readings. There was a whole week focused on pregnancy before marriage that just had nothing to do with it, and a lot of focus on pants... It's not an easy subject either and the assignments are marked harshly. Overall, I really don't recommend.

This subject is not easy, and I think you should be versed in the basic events of the French Revolution before taking it. I hate to speak ill as he just retired, but i agree with the review below, I didn’t quite understand why peter would spend so much time on specific regions and little details instead of more on the bigger picture..

I enjoyed this subject overall. Having not studied the French Revolution before I definitely don't think prior knowledge is necessary for this subject however throughout the lectures it does feel at times that major events are being glossed over and instead there is a lot of focus on small cultural/social details and overall the lectures were not engaging. I also felt that the subject jumped around a lot and at times it was hard to follow the continuity of events. I found the workload manageable and assignments were standard for an arts subject. The best part of the subject was definitely the tutorials great discussion and the readings are good for starting debate.

If you're looking for a subject that is dominated by know-it-all students who did the Year 12 equivalent and won't dare question the lecturer because of his prestige, this is the subject for you. McPhee is a poor lecturer who goes on about irrelevant details instead of thoroughly explaining the content and events. His lectures have nothing but pictures on them which he says is because he wants us to summarise what WE think the most important aspects of his lectures are. But then in assessments, if you don't approach the question in a specific way the tutors want you to, or do not talk about a particular event, or do not use a specific set of evidence, then you're marked down a lot. On the surface there was a lot of "interpret the revolution however you want!" but if you didn't regurgitate McPhee, then you're wrong lol. At times it felt like the subject was geared towards people who already had some knowledge of the revolution because there were key events that were glossed over during lectures but would continuously come up again in debates and readings, despite us not having a solid understanding of what the event entailed. The tutors were great and their feedback was helpful. Though overall the subject was a disappointment.

Peter McPhee is the greatest history lecturer I have ever had. The tutes were also well-run, very closely connected to the lectures and readings and offering plenty of opportunity for discussion and debate. The assessments were relatively straightforward (the research essay even gave you a list of readings to complete) although marked quite stringently. It was great to go into such depth regarding one of the seminal events of modern history, and the anedcotes/sidenotes that Peter shared with us made it all the more interesting.

Very interesting and McPhee is a great lecturer. Relatively light load and the tutorials were real fun!