Dana Nelkin - University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Professor: Dana Nelkin

Department: Philosophy

College: University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHIL50
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Reading quizzes every day at the beginning of class, one 3 page paper, one midterm, and a paper final. No textbooks necessary, all readings were articles posted on TritonEd.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I dropped out of the course about a month in. Lectures lacked direction and there was a writing prompt for each class meeting. She is very nice, though.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHIL115
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Nelkin is super! She's kind, fair (in both her presentation of the material and to students), and knows a huge amount about philosophy. This class really helped me.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHIL131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dana really cares that her students do well and is a very fair grader. Her lectures focus mainly on the reading material, so if you didn't read, you'll probably be confused. The classes I've taken with her have been great.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHIL115
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is very friendly and willing to help students. 115 was a discussion style class in which the students participated as much as the professor and she organized it rather well.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHIL163
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Nelkin seems very smart and cares about her students' learning. However, her lectures have no organization whatsoever, she's boring, and complicates the readings. The TAs grade harshly and getting an A in this class is close to impossible (and I aced Ochem... this was tougher).

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHIL163
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Her lectures have no organization whatsoever. I've tried EVERY way to stay awake and simply cannot comprehend what she's saying. She has the ability to alter a simple reading into the most complicated thing ever,then tries to make exams from it, which results in half the class failing. Most people took it as P/NP but most people were not passing

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHIL163
• 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:

I don't recommend this professor. She seems like a very nice person, but her teaching style is bland and superficial. Our paper prompt was ridiculous, and the TAs are pretty useless and unforgiving with respect to grading. If you MUST take the class, don't freak out, but if possible...AVOID IT.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHIL137
• 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:

the topic was pretty repetitive, but she has written a lot of stuff on it. she is super nice and will tell you everything you need to have in your paper if you go to office hours. i thought she was nice and helpful outside of class. yay nelkin!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHIL163
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I am a human bio major at UCSD and therefore have taken super hard classes but this one topped them all by far. I have never had to do so much reading in my life; about 120 pages a week. TA grades excruciatingly difficult. Almost impossible to get an A in this class. Nelkin is nice and seems very caring, but the class and her grading are too harsh

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Have had her for two days now and cannot believe how boring she is. I have Never been so bored in a class. I find myself doing my reading in her class instead of listening to her lectures, something I have never done in a class. So boring it can make me cry. How did she make Philosophy of Religion Boring!! she did.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHIL163
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

had for phil163, nice person but made topic hard to comprehend and follow. TA NINA Brewer Davis was an unreasonable grader and framed obvious and correct answers in a manner so that they did not receive full credit.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHIL163
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Extremely boring. took for phil163 biomedical ethics, a subject i had always had a deep interest in and made it unbearable. sitting through the 90 minute lecture was the pure misery. her lecture style does not grab ones attention. the readings in this class is around the reading load of two classes(phil) combined..around 120p/wk.dont take.dont take

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHIL163
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Extremely Nice Person, although her test taking does not reflect the lecture style. Willing to help, but better off focusing time spent in lecture to be spent in the assigned book. She is somewhat boring, but great topic. Too passive in lecture, needs to take a stand on certain instances with the material.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHIL185
• 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:

There is a lot of material covered for the tests and we are expected to memorize all of it. Study guide are helpful. Her multiple choice questions leave something to be desired. (they are very confusing)also her lectures are so boring.. the first few lectures we had a lot of people and then after that we only had people showing up for the tests.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHIL162
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you can, take notes on a laptop because sometimes her lectures are not always clear and sometimes all over the place. Extremely helpful in OH, but strict on grading. Kind-hearted and pretty understanding if you talk to her.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHIL27
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

dont ever take her for phil 27. interesting topics become boring. cant lecture. better off wait til next quarter for another lecturer.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POLI27
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

she took an interesting class and made it BORING. she is SO dull that i stopped going to lecture 2nd week--and i STILL got an A- in the class. definitely do the readings and you'll be fine. lectures are worthless--plus the stuff you need to know is online. multiple choice is very ambiguous, papers on tests are easy though.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHIL27
• 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:

Her lectures were quite boring and she just briefly skims over the material. Her PowerPoint slides are worthless. It's important to understand the readings and the issues at stake. If you do, then the tests and papers are a lot easier. Her grading is generally fair, but hard. Curve is difficult to predict for the class. However, she does answer que