Dennis Green

I took an evening class with professor Green. The first week, I was completely rivited and very excited about what was promised in the class. By the third week, I began questioning if I was missing something. Each week before class, students would openly discuss his COMPLETE lack of organization with his lectures and class structure. As mentioned in nearly all the other reviews, he doesn't assign a textbook, claiming that he is completely against the high costs of textbooks. Personally, I think he tries to avoid anything and everything that forces him to adhere to a schedule. He doesn't hand out a syllabus either because it would require that he follow it. I think he is coasting to retirement and just likes to "wing it" when it comes to lectures, but I'm impressed that he can talk for 3 hours straight without ever referring to a single note or lecture outline. Being able to follow the lecture and take useful notes is another subject. I have to question how he determines grades if he doesn't know whose name should be credited with class participation. I never heard him call any student by name in class or show any recognition whatsoever. Sign-in sheets were circulate sporadically. FYI, breaks are non-existent in his 3-hour lecture class. He feels that people leave during the break and so he simply doesn't give one. The upshot is that he's a nice guy and it's a fairly easy "A". He is also extremely intelligent and has a lot of knowledge on the subject. I found him quite interesting but his class structure was such a mess that I was frustrated more than anything trying to gauge how to maintain a high grade in the class.

Dr. Green is smart & I guess he knows this "stuff" very well. He didn't give us a written syllabus nor guidelines as to how we would be graded in his class. My class took a few Scan-Trons true/false quizzes and a final exam essay test. Dr. Green never returned any of our quizzes back. He kept telling our class that it was graded & the he just had to add in into his "grade book". uh..sure... No textbook was assigned, but we given a site to read for our daily readings. We were never given a midterm either, in which I thought was odd. To tell you the truth, we didn't learn much in that class. We learned many fallacies, how to write a term paper, & how to do reasearch. This class kinda felt pointless. Dr. Green would be the type of teacher that should never be trusted. Never commit to anything that he say he will do because chances are, he won't go through with it.

Mr. Green is very knowledgeable, usually prompt, and reasonable pleasant to listen to and speak with. These are great attributes if I wanted to regularly chit chat about philosophy with someone in a caf or bar, but for a teacher, I have to agree with a previous post to this site and grade him goofy. There was no written syllabus and no verbal guidelines as to how students would be graded. My class took one Scan-Tron true/false quiz, a midterm essay test, and a final exam essay test. The Scan-Tron quiz and the midterm test were never returned with grades or comments. No textbook was assigned, instead we were directed to web based readings. Ive got no problem with this except that weeks would go by without any new readings. His web site seemed like a work in progress. If you want to ask him questions outside class be prepared to find him during office hours since he doesnt e-mail with students. He passed around an attendance sheet for the first few weeks and then never again. His lectures were informative and rarely rambled off topic but were marred by his repeated query of Does that make sense? After the second or third lecture I would wince whenever I heard Does that make sense? I took to tallying this rhetorical question on a daily basis to alleviate my pain. If hearing Does that make sense? about twenty times in fifty minutes sounds like something youd enjoy then Mr. Green is your man. I got the feeling Mr. Green was doing the minimum amount of work possible as a teacher and then running to the bank with his meager paycheck. How much effort does it take to grade and return Scan-Tron quiz? Would I take a class from him again? If I needed a no-brainer humanities credit I might, but probably not. Why take a college class if you get no feedback on what you may or may not have learned?

In both of the classes I took from Professor Green -- logic and critical thinking, and moral and political philosophy -- I was treated to lectures that were both clear and absolutely fascinating (for anyone with the slightest interest in the subject matter). If you let him, Dennis Green will open your mind, teach you how to think, and introduce you to some very sophisticated philosophical concepts. He has the unusual ability to put everything in perspective and to arm his students against those who would lie to them and bullshit them. I cannot tell you how invaluable such knowledge is in later life, and how much easier things would have been for me if I had had it at a younger age. Forget about Professor Green's lateness in returning your homework (as long as you do the homework and show up for class, you should be fine). It is a very minor flaw in an otherwise outstanding teacher.

As someone who has attended several universities and studied philosophy extensively, I can only say that CCSF students are very fortunate to have Dennis Green as an instructor. Not only is the man brilliant and extremely well educated and articulate, he is an excellent teacher in more ways than one. If you pay attention to his lectures, you will learn a great deal about philosophy, how to reason and think, how to write and argue, and how to succeed as a student. If you take no other classes at City College, you owe it to yourself to take this or any other class taught by Professor Green. As for his quirks, they shouldn't bother you if you are truly interested in the course material. You might not get your paper back in time or at all, but Dr. Green's generous grading should more than make up for this.

Dr. Green is very intelligent. He definetly know what he's talking about. His lectures are quite interesting. This class is a easy class if you do your reading or attend class. He tells you exactly what he wants you to know for the test. The best part of this course is "NO TEXT BOOK FOR THIS COURSE!" He has his own website where you go and read. It is your option to go research on your own. He's funny and loves to say, "you get what i'm saying?" Over all i think he is any easy A as long as you attend his lectures or read his assignments and do research on your own. I suggest people to form their own study groups because that definetly helps you on your in-class-essay exams.

It was a privilege taking Philosophy 40 with Mr. Green. Demonstrating brilliance on numerous subjects, Mr. Green brought his knowledge and insights of more than just philosophy to the classroom, and this was a bonus.

From my experience, students who are patient, open-minded about teaching styles, and love interesting and engaging conversation will enjoy taking Mr. Green's class. One cannot expect a rigid and common class structure when taking his class though. He has the unique and refreshing style of coming to class and simply talking about philosophy and non-related philosophy subjects without being confined to a rigid outline of points to cover. When teaching, he doesn't so much lecture, preferring rather to lead by engaging the class in discussions.

I often felt inferior because he knows so much, and that we as students know so little in comparison, yet that clearly did not matter to him. That being the case, he was never condascending, and was always patient with student responses, no matter how nave we came across.

As for tests, even though the class structure seemed loose, Mr. Green did let the class know exactly what he expects us to focus on and on what we will need to demonstrate our knowledge on when tested. And he tested us on exactly what he told us we would be tested on. So, no surprises. I learned from experience that by attending all classes, you don't miss what Mr. Green tells you will be the focus on upcoming tests, and I heard other students complain who were absent that they had trouble on tests (because they missed being told what to expect on exams).

One other thing that was great about taking Mr. Green's class was his invaluable suggestions for conducting research online, and he offered numerous helpful suggestions on being successful as a college student.

By the end of the course, I had learned so much more than what I expected. This college is fortunate to have Mr. Green.

Prof. Green is worth listening to, even if he occasionally gets on his soapbox and expounds prophetic. He is extremely broadly educated and for the most part open-minded and fair. His lectures are meandering at times, but always full of meaningful and educational examples. I had no trouble with his homework style, but I took a night class, so perhaps that was the difference. As for a syllabus or even a book, guess again, but the class was enjoyable and educational, and Prof. Green was overall excellent.

I took Dr. Green's class in 1998. He was one of my favorite instructors. I really enjoyed his lectures. He was easy grade instructor and he wanted you to learn more in his class. I really like his teaching method. He also taught us how to memorize the important points in the book. He was the excellent instructor I had ever had. I highly recommend this instructor to the students who need to take this class.

It's amazing that Dennis Green hasn't changed a bit. I took his class back in 1997, I could've written the same review as the other person.

I got an A in the class, but hell, it is a mystery to me on how he graded. I rarely got assignments back from him. He stalls constantly when you ask him about your assignment. He looks through all his papers and never finds it. I did do all the work. I don't really know if I deserved the A or not, since he never really commented on my work.

Overall grade should be: GOOFY.

Dr. Green is a very intelligent man. He is not too accountable, though, when it comes to actually getting a syllabus. Moreover, I never got my test/mid-term, final, or any homework back. There is a mysticism that Dr. Green does not grade anything, and that the class is based solely on attendance.

Students often complain that Dr. Green is a horrible teacher. Contrarily, I must say that he is a great teacher/lecturer... IF you listen to him. Try to involve yourself and this critical thinking , "Segment I" transfer requirement will be a breeze for you.