Christopher Dornan - Carleton University, Ottawa, ON

Professor: Christopher Dornan

Department: Communication

College: Carleton University, Ottawa, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dornan's stories were the highlight of the lectures. His exam was easy and fair but that's only if you study hard! He quizzes you on the lectures and specific details out of a 430 page textbook so I recommend getting started on your readings as soon as the term begins (that way, it's only about 7 pages per day). The assignments were fun as well!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1000
• Grade Received: Audit/No Grade
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

His final was extremely difficult. The material was dry, and he would go off on tangents a lot. Really nice and knowledgeable guy, but not the best fit I found to teach JOUR 1000.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: COMS4800
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

CD is a fantastic prof. Lectures are informative and entertaining. Presents material in an inclusive manner that reflects his passion. Tough grader, few assignments. Not a prof for those who skip/slack.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: COMM4439
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Dornan is one of the most underrated professors at Carleton. I had him for Digital Content Entrepreneurship and Space and Sattelite Communication. He is extremely knowledgeable, approachable, hilarious and passionate. He truly is an expert in his field and has a lot of experience from policy to journalism. I highly recommend him.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: J100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Christopher Dornan is one of my favourite professors -- hands down. He reassures you that you will do well with this major with a simple theme that he applies in every lecture: A new form of communication is developed, they don't know what to do with it, they start making money, and so on. The exam is book-heavy so pay attention to detail.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1001
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Made history of journalism as interesting as I think possible. Eloquent way of speaking makes concise note taking hard - I suggest recording lectures and taking notes on them later. Examples are important to note - exam is very specific so pay attention and take notes on the readings to make exam studying less stressful. Overall decent prof.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: J1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He's an amazing lecturer, make sure you pay attention to every detail though because the final is tough!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1001
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

The content of this course is pretty boring, although Professor Dornan does incorporate stories and jokes into his lectures. The exam was very difficult, and half of the questions came from an extremely detailed 500pg book with no study guide provided. There are few other assignments to make up for the bad grade you're destined to get on the exam.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1001
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He really knows how to deliver a good lecture. He's interesting to listen to, and turns what you think would be boring content into exciting stuff. Though his exam is pretty tough, and the readings aren't exactly great fun, the lectures manage to make up for all of that. You REALLY need to pay attention, but thankfully it's not hard to.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Even though the content can be dry since it's mostly history, he tries to make it as interesting as possible by telling stories/anecdotes. He's a pretty eccentric and interesting guy. The assignments require quite a bit of work, though.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

How could someone make learning about the first printing press fun?? He miraculously accomplished this, along with many other boring aspects of the origins of journalism.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1000
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Tests on, as he would say, the "minutiae". Great lecturer, but he'll pick out the smallest details to evaluate you on. Assignments didn't match course content at all. Lectured on 19th century communication, evaluated on filmmaking abilities and a report on a modern communications company. Lectures were fun; the rest, not so much.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: J1000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

i died. i'm dead. i am writing this from the after life. my soul left my body after writing him exam. His lectures were fascinating and after having read the textbook (twice), i still was unprepared for the exam. I walked into the exam with an A in the course, and came out of the first semester with a B. :) have fun kids!!!!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: J5000
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Excellent graduate-level class. I like how he built the course as a series of presentations from the class. The first presentation you work with a partner and read a book together. You then do a presentation on it (you then write individual papers). The second presentation is on a topic of your choosing. You again write a paper and hand it in.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: J1000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Dornan likes to point out how many friends he has in the int'l communication community and goes through great lengths to tell stories with substantial detail. His assignments are open-ended and meant to explore/expand students' creativity. Though he is very entertaining, he spends too much time talking about matters of little importance.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: J100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He seems like an easy guy. But his final exam is HORRIBLE.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: J100
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He's a great professor

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1000
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dornan is a wonderful man. Very enthusiastic and an excellent storyteller.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dornan is a gifted storyteller, and uses this ability to make the lectures far more interesting. The assignments he gives allow for creative expression, though are a little open ended. Great guy!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: JOUR1000
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dornan is a great guy. Very entertaining despite is off track ideas sometimes. He makes the boringness of JOUR1000 interesting. Great prof.