LING 117
KENNEDY R A
Robert (Bob) Kennedy
159 reviews

LING117 . Kennedy R A 11 Years Ago

An engaging man, great subject---but his tests are too tricky, and his over-emphasis on extremely small details takes some of the life out of the subject. I went to his office to help him see exactly how and why some of his test questions are unclear and problematic. It helped a bit, but not enough. Study really hard for his tests.

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LING15 . Kennedy R A 3 Months Ago

Great & funny guy, good area C GE since you're not really doing math. Class can be VERY tiresome because the topic isn't all that interesting. Exams are short and not heavily weighted. Bombed my exams and still got a B. Short weekly online quizzes you can redo until you get full points. Can be confusing at times but would recommend. He loves memes!

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 3 Months Ago

Kennedy is a nice guy, this is a fine class. Boring if you don't care about ling as a subject, but easy homework. His exams are no longer online though, which means u have to pay attention. Relatively easy, but ur TA can skew that the other way if ur unlucky. Nice Area C requirement, but nothing extraordinary. He's funny n pretty sassy too.

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 4 Months Ago

his final is cumulative, which sucks. the material isn't super difficult just takes a while to grasp an understanding of. he doesn't post lectures unless you directly email him for them, so you do have to attend those. overall, the course isn't super difficult but you have to pay attention in class.

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LING70 . Kennedy R A 6 Months Ago

Prof Kennedy is an awesome guy! His lectures are really interesting and he has a great sense of humor. SUPER understanding and really does care about his students. Tests are reasonable if you attend the lectures. Most of the test content comes from lectures. Eli review assignment is easy points if you do all parts. 100% would recommend this class.

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 8 Months Ago

Professor Kenndy is a great professor. He genuinely cares for his students and the material being shared. I took this for a prep for major course and will be taking another one of his courses (Ling 70) this winter. His class is straightforward, and the TAs are all great. I think his grading is fair, and that his lectures were truly interesting.

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LING15 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

Slideshow with no pictures guide lectures. Material is generally dry for someone with basic background knowledge in linguistics, with occasional jokes. Concepts are well explained with examples used to parse out distinctions. Weekly checkpoints have an unlimited number of attempts and usually detailed feedback.

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LING70 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

Kennedy is very caring about students and passionate about what he's teaching! The class was very easy (albeit a bit boring), slides/skimming the readings are enough for exams. Section attendance is mandatory though IIRC.

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

Super funny. The words that he uses to describe the topics can be a bit confusing but if you read the textbook beforehand its alright. His mask and mich combo might put you to sleep tho. Very interesting class as well

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

Kennedy is one of the funniest professor's I've had at ucsb so far. You're graded on participation, quizzes/assignments online that you can retake until you get 100%, and 1 midterm and 1 final. You do need to actually understand terms and the material in order to do well, but his class wasn't too bad and it's not difficult to do well.

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

Two quizzes a week, unlimited attempts. Super easy class. One midterm and one final both very short. You do have to show up to the lectures because he doesn't post them online. I never touched the textbook and still passed so... he's that professor that tries to be funny too.

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

Prof Kennedy is great! His lectures are accessible online but he alters them, so it's worth going in person. Mostly graded on weekly reading quizzes/assignments that you get unlimited tries for. Midterm and final were only worth 15% each. Highly recommend this class if you need a GE/extra units!

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

I took 3 classes with him and he's amazing! Really passionate and understanding and makes linguistics easy to understand. Midterm and exam are online and open book/open web. Lectures are in-person but if you can't make it he can send you a recording of the lecture. Overall an awesome and caring prof that wants his students to succeed :)

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 9 Months Ago

great professor with a love in language but be careful with TAs some are difficult.

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L15 . Kennedy R A 10 Months Ago

best memer

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 11 Months Ago

Kennedy is a great teacher and this class is a great start into linguistics. There are weekly online reading quizzes and the midterm and the final are online and at home. Overall, pretty easy and very interesting

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LING15 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

While not many students would attend his lectures in-person but rather online via zoom. He seems very passionate about teaching the material. Easy GE class to take by just being graded on a few things: weekly checkpoint quizzes, midterm, and a final along with your section attendance.

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LING70 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Incredible professor, super funny and very passionate. Super interesting lectures and I went to his office hours a bunch to just talk :) Exams were all open note and very easy! 10/10

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LING70 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

The lectures get very boring, but the class is easy. It is based on one paper, a midterm, and a final which are both online. Sections for this class are very easy all you have to do is show up so that you can fill out an exit survey. Overall easy GE but boring

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LING70 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 5 Months Ago

This class was easy & not super time-consuming! He streams the class over Zoom & posts recordings of all of the lectures. The 2 exams were both online. Prof was very understanding and empathetic to his students and life in general. There are also make-up assignments if you miss section. Also one paper that is worked on over the entire class.

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LING70 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

Although Kennedy's lectures can be boring sometimes, you can tell he is an extremely passionate, respectful, mature, intelligent professor and he simply wants to educate students about his class. Ling70 in general was very easy and graded on very few things, so if you're looking for an easy GE, I would recommend this one.

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LING70 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

Best prof ever! This is my second class with Kennedy and he's an angel. Structure of class is clear; weekly checkpoints, section participation, midterm & final are online and an essay which is peer reviewed. Material is super interesting too! If you keep up with work you are guaranteed an A. Very accommodating as he allows an asynchronous option.

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LING116 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

I wonder why this professor's reviews are so high. Maybe because of Ling 20+70. Assignments are a big part of your grade for this class. It's only fortunate that the TA was more chill on grading because whenever the professor did, it was extremely harsh as if we were expected to be masters already at our craft. TY TA for being more considerate

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LING20 . Kennedy R A 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

Prof Kennedy's really awesome! Possibly my favorite professor at UCSB. In addition to the 3 tags I chose, I would've also picked "hilarious" and "accessible outside class." Although I marked LING20 as the class here, I've taken others (Ex: 15) and upper division classes with him too! They've all been awesome. Good at teaching and explaining + fun.

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