Ruth Dunnell - Kenyon College, Gambier, OH

Professor: Ruth Dunnell

Department: History

College: Kenyon College, Gambier, OH

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HIST160
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Sarcastic, but knows her stuff. A good professor. WILL call you out for being late.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HIST261
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dunnell is a great historian but her teaching is somewhat lacking. The group discussions felt forced and overdrawn. Her lectures felt out of order, in that, I had trouble understanding a clear chronology of events. The quizzes were sometimes hard and sometimes easy. Overall, the subject was cool but the class felt kinda boring.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HIST352
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This class was a decent amount of work but it was definitely worth it! I learned a lot about the subject and the seminars themselves were both informative and engaging. There were a lot of papers but the feedback was excellent and she was available during office hours. Professor Dunnell was approachable and very knowledgeable on the topic.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HIST351
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This class has a lot of assignments and readings, and I wanted to drop the class many times through the semester, but because I love her and the subject so much I didn't. She is extremely funny and caring (she'd bring oranges and chocolates every class, we spent the last class watching Mulan). I love her tremendously and I learnt so much from class

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HIST161
• 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:

Dunnell knows her subject really well and I find the combination of lecture/discussion in her class engaging and enjoyable. One of the few professors here who I'm intimidated by because she regularly laughs students off the stage. she's not always as clear as she thinks she is, and something treats students like they're stupid.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HIST352
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I don't understand all these negative reviews. I'm really interested in East Asian history, so when I saw that Professor Dunnell had lower reviews I was disappointed but decided to take a class anyway. It was great! She's very friendly and conversational, and likes to laughdefinitely not mean-spirited!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HIST200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dunnell is a decent professor. She uses an interesting mix of lectures, textbooks, and types of assignments, and she's very smart. I don't know exactly what it is that makes her students apparently uninterested in her lectures. She tends to be almost mean in class, talking to students in a surprisingly sarcastic way. She means well, though.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HIST190
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Good teacher, very smart, interesting personal life. Not a very good lecturist and discussions sometimes become awkward, but on the whole I'd recommend her.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HIST261
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I've taken five different history classes at Kenyon, with five different professors. Dunnell is by far the worst. She's boring, her lectures are God-awful, she has no sense of humor and is altogether just a mean-spirited person. If you can, avoid taking a class with her.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HIST261
• 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:

Willing to help, however if it is not her way it is wrong, and her lectures are incredibly boring.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HIST161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Her imperial china class is great, but I would caution against taking an upper level seminar with her: she's not good at leading discussions.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HIST192
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

excellent

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HONORS
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ruth is a really sweet woman and I have alot of affection for her, but sometimes I think perhaps she is thinking on a much different plane than most of her students. If you take her for what she is (an incredibly smart woman with some slight yet endearing eccentricities), you'll get along just fine.

Rating # 14

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Her lectures are the most convulted things I've ever heard. It's impossible to follow what she's talking about.

Rating # 15

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

She's very helpful, but all the class is mostly all lectures. It can get rather boring. But it's not a hard class at all.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HIST160
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She's friendly enough, but frequently confusing in both lectures and assignments. She knows her stuff, but has trouble conveying it.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HISTORY
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Not always the clearest...easy for intro classes, but not as much for upper level.

Rating # 18

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HIST
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

nice woman, but has problems with lecturing. the reading and lectures are terrible uncohesinve, and the reading volume in doable.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HIST161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Flakey as anything, but an easy grader, and nice