James Dempsey - University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Professor: James Dempsey

Department: Native Studies

College: University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

90% oral lectures, records every word he says is needed

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

James Dempsey is a nice man and clearly has a good understanding of the material presented, however, he is a technophobe which has proven to be challenging if you miss one or two classes as there is no way to catch up as he does not use eclass. The midterms were fair, but he did not give enough time to complete them properly. He needs to modernize!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His style of teaching is hard to come by these days. He keeps all his information in his head and doesn't use notes and I really enjoyed it as it was a breath of fresh air from the extremely structured life we live. I read a few chapters from the textbook. If you tend to miss class or you can't take notes well this isn't the class for you.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Amazing guy with a good character. Very hard to understand exactly what he's looking for. His grading rubric is unclear and often does not grade consistently or on time. There were many occasions where he'd apologize for not handing back an assignments on time.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: NS361
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I just want to start by saying James seems to be a great guy outside of the classroom! When it comes to teaching he can NOT finish a point b/ he goes off on random tangents. His punctuality is among the worst I have ever seen from a professor EVER. He has admitted to the class that "he actually has notes today." He is stealing money from students!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: NS361
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

At first his class seemed disorganized due to how we are used being taught statically but I learned the most out of this class than any other. Dempsey challenges you to critically think through every topic. Not the kind of class that you will walk out of the final and forget everything you've learned. Respects everyone, inspirational best prof ever

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He is a mess but a lovable mess! He has been around awhile if you haven't noticed by his typewriter tests (I think he uses a typewriter because he certainly does not use computers). You need to show up to class and actually pay attention. You will need to be good at taking notes in order to follow the path that he takes you on in his lecture.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Dempsey is very disorganized. He refuses to use technology such as, power points, and even Eclass. With not having an Eclass page, it is almost impossible to know which topic is being taught because he starts teaching from the middle of a topic. I have never used the textbook, it is still in the plastic.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

So unorganized, constantly repeats himself in class. Doesn't mark assignments in a timely manner... We had 4 midterms and we never did get one back before starting the next one... 2 article critiques that were also not marked for weeks at a time. 1 Good thing is that he takes only 3 out of 4 of your best marks on the "midterms."

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His exams are quite awful to write, not that they are long or difficult, but hard to understand!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: NS110NS111
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I enjoyed every one of his lectures, others have commented about his style being un-organized. However his lectures work better this way, he is extremely helpful and spent hours outside of class time w me clarifying assignment expectations. If you ask he'll help! Genuinely cares about his students, he always made sure students understood concepts

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: NS110NS111
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I enjoyed this class. You do need to attend class because he does not post notes on eclass as long as you go you will get a good mark. He has a good heart and jokes around sometimes. He only uses the textbook for a couple questions on each midterm. He is very approachable and I would definitely take another class with him.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: NS211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Terrible prof! Nice guy and I think his heart is in the right place but not worth the money I spent on this course. Misses class. He doesn't use eclass or textbooks but he will flood your email inbox with a ton of documents. He never returned our second critical analysis. (think he lost it!) He is extremely disorganized.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very intelligent person that certainly cares about what he teaches, but not a very good prof. He avoids e-class like the plague, from my experience isn't very reliable with emails outside of sending sources like articles, requires a virtually useless textbook, and regularly goes on tangents though you pretty much need to go to class to pass.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

A very intelligent man, but not a great prof. The lectures are mandatory as he doesn't provide any notes and the textbook is unrelated. His lectures can be interesting but they are very scattered and it's hard to keep up. The exams are hard but fair.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This class can be very interesting. But if you miss a class you're screwed on the notes since he does not use the textbook. & when writing a midterm don't expect to get it back for at least a month after writing it.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: NS111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Intelligent and kind man, terrible prof. Unorganized, unclear, shows up late. Tells students they can hand in a paper to the frontdesk NS, and he doesn't go and pick them up to mark them. Constantly loses things, and assignments. Terrible at giving notes in class. Assumes people know alot when this is only an intro class. Disrespectful during exams

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: NS110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Must attend class because he never uses the textbook it was a waste of money. His exams are based on all his lectures in class so if you miss a class you are doomed. His exams are all written and hard to do when his lectures are very confusing to a person who knows nothing about Native Studies going into the class. Avoid!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: NS211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Attendance mandatory but really the only requirement to passing. Didn't even purchase a textbook, simply signed one out during exam week to read assigned chapters. Course weighting is evenly distributed with time to improve marks. Helpful in the sense that he is willing to talk but communication via email takes a while for him to respond to.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: NS211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Assigned an term paper but did not give any parameters for the topic. Only kind of clarified this when I asked him directly. Scattered lectures. Goes off on tangents. Avoid if you can.