Matthew Kennedy

I have taken two classes from Matthew, Visions of the Sacred and Anthropology of Homosexuality. He is a wonderful teacher, very kind and considerate when it comes to explaining and grading. As long as you do your assignments and show that you understand the material, he is happy. Great way to learn stressfree!!

I loved his class - He was the bravest teacher I've ever had, willing to listen and even research items that students brought to class. Very informal and more about new ways to think than just cramming a lot of old facts. If teaching basic anthro can be creative he's done it!

I was looking for a class to add and found Kennedy's Anthropology course. The key to earning a good grade is to be present for class, since there will most likely be notes to write down. Plus, you will need those notes for future exams. Throughout the semester, there were 3 exams, including the final. There were also 3 out of class essays as well. His lectures were intriguing, but at times I found myself dozing off. But nonetheless, Kennedy is a great professor!

I advise for prospective students to be present and pay attention from the beginning of the course until the final. Make sure to keep up with the reading as well, lectures will make sense if you know what's going on too. I made the mistake of doing very well in the beginning to middle of the semester and began to slack off in the end. I'm pleased with my final grade though I know I could have done better.

There are opportunities to make up for a low test score or essay by going to a library workshop, writing an extra essay, or writing another assignment. So, there will be some sort of way to boost up your grade. If the class' test scores are low, he will grade on a curve.

Mr. Kennedy is an engaging and fair teacher. He seems to love anthropology as well as teaching it. His lectures are interesting and he makes himself available to students who wish to discuss topics further. In his class I had to write a couple of essays in addition to scantron tests and film reviews. I'd recommend both this teacher as well as the subject matter.

I agree with the other reviewers. I took his ANTH 3AC course- The only honors course I had, and it did not feel like an honors class. While this may be great for lazier students that just want the grade, and aren't concerned with actually learning, I wish I was just a bit more challenged. He loves to mix the class with movie discussions, which are great, and throws out lots of extra credit ops. Hes very fair, and gives consistent, if not easy assignments every other week. He has infinite patience, hes very kind, and I felt absolutely no bias or personal opinion in his teachings. His class encourages you to think and ask questions on your own. There was no arrogance about him.

Alot of my homework was to write an essay on a movie we were suppossed to see. On a couple occassions, I never even saw the movie- just bsed my way through the essay based on comments he made. Got an A every time.

BOTTOM LINE- IF YOU WANT AN EASY HONORS CREDIT, TAKE HIS CLASS.

In all fairness, I found his class room occupancy quite large compared to my other 3 classess.. maybe because of this, he tends to dumb down some classess to keep pace. It also causes him to zip through materials due to getting bombarded with questions.

Mr. Kennedy was a joy to have as a teacher during my past two years at City. I was lucky enough to have him for three Anthro. classes all of which I enjoyed, especially Visions of the Sacred. I still love that Chaco Canyon Video! He is a fair teacher that engages his students by his enthusiasm and openess towards learning. learnign is a never ending process. During one of the three courses (Archae and Pre-his), we, as a class, went on an optional field trip to Sonoma State to see the Archaeology facility. This was most memorable. We spent the day strapped to expensive GPS equipment, strolling through obsidian hydration labs., and strolling through thousands of artifacts from throughout California. I can honestly say, that Mr. Kennedy's Anthro. classes will have an everlasting impression. I'd recommend this teacher to anyone wanting to explore "humans across all space and time."

Mr. Kennedy is a very engaging, fun and knowledgeable instructor. His class included 4 major tests, a couple of quizzes, one report due at the end of the semester, and at least two other written assignments. Each week he assigned one or two chapters of the text and a couple of articles from a supplemental booklet for homework, which was quite a bit of reading. However, a lot of test questions are drawn from the reading and he does not necessarily have time to get to everything in the lectures so do not skip the reading in anticipation of catching up during class. Mr. Kennedy employs a lot of fun interactive class activities and encourages class discussion and questions. He is adept at explaining complex concepts and his enthusiasm for anthropology is contagious. Each class would begin with a lecture that often included a class activity, and end with a video. Students are asked to review/analyze the videos and hand in a written evaluations by the end of the term. He is reasonable with his grading system and provides multiple opportunities for extra credit. The tests included true/false and multiple choice questions, along with a short essay question, for which he even allowed you to prepare notes in advance. I strongly recommend his class for an enjoyable Arts credit.

fun and open prof. who will lead you in the journey of cultural anthro that practically opened up a new world for me. Exams were starightforward if you did the reading.

Main complaint is the class was "archaeology lite." By that I mean, it's lots of public television documentaries, articles from mainstream magazines, etc. But that just means the class is fairly easy and accesible which can be a good thing.

Teacher is very likeable and fun - good sense of humor, helpful, accessable. Easy lecturer. Manages the class well. Certainly one of the best teachers I've had at CCSF.

Tests are pretty easy if you are good with factoids (hint: almost all the essay questions come from back issues of Archaeology magazine).

Textbook: Patterns in Prehistory, 4th Ed. by Wenke was very good. More hardcore archaelogical info to balance the lite stuff in class. Funny thing is, I don't think a single thing on any of the tests came from the text - you could easily get by without it.