2.5
Quality3.8
Difficulty20%
Would Retake103
Reviews20%
Would Retake
103
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
12
3
19
2
18
1
36
What Students Say
“she gives sociology a bad name”
SOC102 - 2.0 rating“Kefalas is a wonderful teacher”
CRJ565 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.91 avg changeRatings by Course
CLASSOC
5.0
(1)THEORYANDMOTH
5.0
(1)MOTHERHOOD
5.0
(1)SOC322
5.0
(1)CRJ565
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
SOCIOLOGY
5.0
SOCIALPRO
5.0
SOCOFYOUTH
5.0
SOC151
5.0
SOC1021
4.5
Reviews (103)
No Comments
not too bad, not the greatest though, a little opinionated but if you do the reading and come to class you will do fine in her class. INSANE about lateness DONT BE LATE
loves to talk about her book--made me nuts, but easy class
Is always late, yet complains about lateness.
one of those people who refuses to make eye contact with you. do yourself a favor, if you come from any economic background other than dirt-poor, don't take the class. apparently, being a college professor is the only true high-class profession.
No Comments
No Comments
she's a real loony toon... Pretty self absorbed academically, but does have a true passion for her work (welfare and poverty studies).
Was an easy teacher. Will debate and leaves forum open for opposing viewpoints. Debate to waste time. Read and be sure to study the study guide for a sure A. Not a lot of reading, and those who didn't like her were probably business students.
Did she mention she's working on a book? Oh, only every five minutes. Honestly, if she's such a great author then she should quit teaching because it is certainly not her forte. Since I'm neither poor nor a minority my views were irrelavent to her.
Just do your reading for class participation and she will be your best friend.
treats students like little kids, thinks we're all delinquents, and professors should rule the world, definitely high on herself, mention the readings in the tests and you'll do fine. complains about students being late when she has never been on time.
what the hell are you looking at in the back of the room
really wasnt that bad.she tries to be nice. thought the class would be alot worse.brings in candy all the time.she understands that the material is dense&tries 2 make it somewhat workable.only abour 2/3 tests&2papers.doesnt expect u2 know everything,just the main points.keep up the boring readings
Great teacher. Not that hard. A lot of reading, but her tests aren't that hard. Always willing ot help.
A very helpful teacher, does her best to help you understand. As long as you do the readings which arent long and take notes in class you will do fine. She goes over everything that's important and makes sure you get it. I like her alot. She tries to make class fun as possible given the material.
um, if your not a reader, YOU DO NOT WANT THIS TEACHER. You read and read and read some more. She means well but come on, who really wants to read there whole college life away? i barely read, and well...i barely passed.
No Comments
She's a trip,she assigns 50pg articles that u must know back and forth inside and out.Her wardrobe is comical and her hair unmanagebale.She is working on a book,and will remind u that she is every 3sec.I suggest wearing raggy clothes and claiming ur poor to get an A."It's only going to get worse"-MK
Very nice, but stares at the back wall the entire class. Talks about her daughter and lets you know that she is privileged.
Unless you actually go and talk to her she will assume youre a typical ignorant college student. Talk to her and shell be youre best friend. Interesting class. Not as scary as she may want you to think. Always refer back to the readings and shell love you.
The worst teacher I have ever had in either undergrad or law school. The class is only hard b/c she wants you to repeat the articles verbatim and have no opinion of your own. I graduated with a 3.8 in Sociology and it would have been a 4.0 if not for her mindless rants. Baby einstein sucks.
She is a wonderful, smart, funny teacher who tries hard to make whatever material exciting and understandable. She likes when you particpate in class and talk to her outside of class so she knows you care. There is a decent amount of reading, but after all is done its totally worth it!
she is a horrrrrible woman. She reminds you that she has money, and that she is writing a book at least 5 times per class...makes you read alot, and then won't even go over it. I hated taking this class. would NOT suggest her.
As long as you take notes on what she says and do the reading you will be fine. She is funny and if you have questions is more than willing to answer them.
H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E class. she rambles and rambles and you lose interest quickly. she always talks about her kids, her book, her famous writer friends and her money. zero opportunities for grades. midterm is HARD
i loved this woman. she is bitter and sarcastic and it is funny. though the class can be kind of depressing b/c it makes you realize how much the world sucks, she is the right person to do it. kind of smacks you in face with all of the information, but she is good, very interesting.
very funny but this class makes you feel bad for the way you live and she makes it known how smart her 5 yr old daughter is and how much money she has. Very helpful but don't miss class. Class is fun though and i love her despite everything else
Shes a really good teacher and class is interesting. She was a bit disorganized and all over the place, but we benefited from it. She stresses the importance of the readings but as long as you go to class and take notes youll be fine. Obviously the readings help, but they are not that bad. Study, and the midterm and final are not bad at all.
She's extremely articulate and intelligent. She used to teach at the University of Chicago and she loves to talk about how smart she is. Not bad if you like soc, I got a 98 and 96 on the first two tests and then a 85 on the final and somehow ended up with a B+ in the class so I def resent her a little for that, but she is a solid prof...
Take Dr. K. She may seem scary at first but you will not regret it. Granted, she doesn't give you enough time to finish tests and quizzes, but you really do learn a lot.
WONDERFUL!!!
Dr. K is one of the best professors I have ever had here at SJU. She really cares about her students and is very intelligent. I really learned and am learning a lot from her. She is not easy but she makes you think and you have to work hard in her class. But you won't regret taking her she's awesome!
Kefalas is one of the best professors I have taken at SJU. She makes you work for your grade, but if you read everything and can write a decent essay you can get an A. I learned so much in this class and I dont even like Sociology
K-Fal doesn't care what you learn or don't learn - all she cares about is looking really smart, being an elitist, getting away with doing as little work as possible because she is so lazy, and giving you whatever grade she feels like at the time. Don't even bother with taking her classes, you'll regret it.
K-Fal has a wierd cult following at SJoe's, and I don't get it at all. Maybe she is a brilliant professor, but she didn't really connect with her students. But anybody that doesn't do well in her class simply doesn't apply themselves or do the readings, because with regards to grading she is very fair.
the amount of readings is absolutely ludacris. If this was your only class you still wouldnt be able to complete all of the readings. Not fun, fair, or intresting. She needs to understand that most of the kids in her class are not aspiring sociologist and that they are just trying to fill requirments to graduate.
Lazy, unorganized teacher. Doesn't make eye contact and thinks she's brilliant.
worst teacher i ever had in my life.
Loved the class and the lectures, but there was so much reading. I struggled in her class for grades, but I learned so much and I don't regret taking her at all.
The class would be so much more interesting if she didn't teach it. She is lazy, horrible grader, and she never looks you in the eye when she talks to you, she looks 5 inches above your head...when she first walked in the class on the first day i thought she was blind.DONT TAKE
Takes attendance every class. Not an easy class by any means, but an interesting one. Don't expect to get an easy A. She may seem intimidating at first, but as she gets to know her class she loosens up more. Just show her you can do the work and she'll show you respect.
Do not take her for social problems. Her tests are difficult because she is the most difficult grader. She is very condescending to her students. Sociology would have been great if she was not the teacher.
She is preety mean & thinks she is the greatest gift to the world. Not a fair grader at all. Do not take her trust me !
Advise on Kefalas, don't take unless necessary. She makes you put more work into her one class than you do in several classes combined. Her personality is very irritating and she is condescending. She's kind of like two face though, when you talk to her outside of class she's sweet as pie. Just don't take.
Professor Kefalas is very difficult which students misinterpret as "meanness" and "condescending". Her class is actually very eye-opening and interestng if you're willing to work at it. I'll admit she is a bit intimidating and her class is not an easy A. But most of her reviews come from uneducated, unmotivated people.
She is the most condescending teacher ever! Mentions she published about 4 times every class. Also like to mention other published sociologists she know. who by the way are probably 1000 times more respected than her in academia. I bet there are 2 people who have read her book. Her editor and herself!
Terrible. its its a GER just drop the class now and take one in the summer to make it up. Worst teacher I've had at St. Joe's in 3 years. I have a 3.55 GPA and she gave me a B which came from nowhere. She makes up grades and doesnt teacher. very bias and has favorites. dont take by any means. Read all the other comments. Drop the class now!
had dr. kefalas for soc probs&theory. great teacher if you are seriously interested in sociology (recommend that all soc students take her!). really drills the material in to your head & keeps you on your toes but make sure you do all the readings/assignments ON TIME & fully grasp all topics/terms discussed for tests which can cover ANYTHING.
Do NOT take her. She is a very tedious grader. If you are missing even the slighest bit of information from the question asked you are marked WRONG. Also, there is no grey with her she is either white or black. What she says is right and there is no question about it. Avoid the headache.
As long as you study for her tests and you are a good, and I mean good, writer you will do fine. There's one group thing at the beginning that doesn't matter and an Op-Ed paper(10%). 2 Mid Terms (20% each) and 1 Final (35%) unless she throws in a group presentation project. You cant skip ever if you want an A. She is a Great Teacher though.
I took Kefalas for Culture and Politics of Motherhood in Spring 2011. Her class is absolutely fascinating. She's clearly an expert on the subject matter and the class is relatively challenging (considering that most SJU SOC classes are an absolute joke). Students who claim Kefalas is "mean" are likely lazy or downright incapable.
Kefalas likes to intimidate her students. Most classes are filled with her life stories and how she loosely relates them to Sociology. Her stories are interesting, but have absolutely no relevance to exams. Attendance is required, but you can have up to 7 absences. She doesn't grade a lot, so if you fail ONE assignment, you're basically screwed.
She likes to intimidate and doesn't give many assignments. Her exams are usually pretty hard and she's a difficult grader to top it off. Don't skip any classes and you'll go into the final with an A for participation which you'll probably need. Also, she pretty much talks about her life stories and quickly skims over whatever's on the slide
Extremely smart woman, but usually uses this ability to her advantage to intimidate the class. Must go to class to get notes, but do readings too. Harsh grader, but makes the material super interesting and this class is the reason I am minoring in sociology.
she was a good, interesting teacher but EVERY test was essay format and she is a hard grader.
She's real and speaks to you candidly, however, she's also pretty strict and a major stickler. She doesn't believe in giving out 100's or perfect A's on anything. Plus, the reading is INSANE! So much crap-reading! She keeps you until the very last minute of class and sometimes, later. I wouldn't recommend her unless you absolutely need the class.
she gives sociology a bad name. Sociology is a great major at SJU however her lack of commitment towards her students success makes it hard to stay at SJU for sociology.
Very confusing instructions and directions for assignments. Group work for this class is a pain to get through not to mention how harsh she is with grading. Also, there isn't many assignments during the semester, therefore doing poorly on any papers or work will result in an unwanted and significant grade change.
Worst teacher I've ever had. Also meanest woman
Literally the worst teacher I've ever had. Yells at you before she even assigns anything and teacher absolutely nothing. She also one of the most condescending and meanest people I have ever met. Do not take any class with this wrecked woman.
On one hand, the course itself is really interesting and I can definitely say that I'm learning a lot about social issues in the US. On the other hand, I have never felt so constantly insulted and demeaned by a professor before. If you're going to take her class, you'll have to learn how to deal with her attitude and her annoying group projects
She is getting a lot of bad reviews on here but honestly I disagree with most. She is very smart and knows a ton about the different topics and the class is really interesting. She expects a lot, but if you try and show her that you have done the readings and understand the material you will be fine. I would take her again.
Do not take her class. She makes racist asinine comment that has nothing to do with the topic of the class.
I disagree w/ the other comments. She's a demanding teacher and requires you to actually think about the topics w/o using our biases and opinions. She makes you work hard which gets you ready for the real world. If you pay attention to her lectures you will pass, I didn't read alot of our books but I just paid attention in class. She's also funny
If you don't share the same opinion as her, she will scold you for expressing it and is very degrading towards her students in general. She makes you feel terrible for your work with minimal feedback.
Kefalas is the hardest professor I have had at SJU. I had to take her class for my major. Her lectures are half about her and half about sociology. She does not teach well and does not give good feed back. Her midterm and final are impossible. Do not use your phone in class, youll get eaten alive. DO NOT TAKE HER IF YOU DONT HAVE TO. SERIOUSLY.
Dr. Kefalas is a wonderful teacher. I must admit I was very afraid at first reading the comments. However, I came to like this professor a great deal and would take her again. She is demanding and will not hold your hand, but I was in a graduate level course as well. She is SJU'S jewel.
She is kinda sassy and very opinionated. She moves through the materiel quickly and doesn't go back over anything for the midterm and final. If you don't meet with her in her office hours, you won't do well. If there's another option take it, if not good luck
An interesting woman. She wants lectures to be a discussion but generally only a few participate. Gives only a few A's per semester because of the requirement. Super opinionated (in the Liberal direction) and her lectures do tend to orient in that direction. Will ask you to write papers and they will generally do better if you mirror her opinion
This class was poorly run and disorganized. I would never take Dr. Kefalas again. Extremely unclear on directions and assignments. Powerpoints have paragraphs on every slide in small font instead of bullet points. She has no idea where she is in her own lesson plan and neither will you.
I really liked Dr. Kefalas! She has a slightly dark sense of humor, which I can see may rub some people the wrong way, but she is a very interesting and funny professor. If you want to do well, make sure you back up all of your arguments with facts and data, she prays at the alter of statistics. Also get involved in discussions
If you have to take Classical Social Theory DO NOT take it with this professor! She will push you so much that you will be extremely stressed. She does not explain the concepts clearly or thoughtfully and will leave you more confused than you were to begin with. She also makes the class very uncomfortable because she is rude and disrespectful.
Prof. Kefalas truly cares about her students, and although the class was fully online, she tried her absolute best to engage us, and teach us all the material thoroughly. She is a sweetheart and hilarious and really made sure we understood what we were learning. She gave great insight and feedback so that we had well-rounded perspectives on topics
She talks a lot, but shes very nice and enjoys class discussions.
No clear direction in any of her lectures, which are PowerPoints written in paragraphs. Does not give any indication on how she grades. As well, she makes no effort to hide her political opinions. By far the worst professor I've had, and I earned A's the rest of my semester in my 200 and 300 level courses. Friendly lady, horrible administrator.
Was a ok teacher but could not be reached for anything. emailed multiple times and never received a response.
Asks you to read A LOT, but it isnt clear what days you need to read what, she just assigns 3-5 chapters of tons of books at a time and doesnt tell you what you really need to ready. Super tough grader who is constantly telling you to write sociologically but not actually explaining what she wants- and im a soc major. do not recommend. at all.
Dr. Kefalas is great. She had to stop teaching my section, but it was clear that she had a lot going on so it was not hard to be sympathetic/patient about it being difficult reaching her outside of class. Her lectures were very interesting and the assignments were helpful outside of the classroom. She won't hold your hand, it's a lot of work.
SO unorganized and frankly rude. Will change an assignment 10 times & when you ask for what she wants she wont answer. everyone in the class had at least one 0 on assignments we did, but she claims we didnt. Assignments weren't even on syllabus. Dont email bc she wont answer. Dont buy the 7 textbooks, she doesnt test on them. worst prof i EVER had.
Assigns 4 books for the semester, you have to buy them all. Is unorganized and unempathetic. Took her class last semester & I highly advice not taking her course. Provides little to no study material, every single assignment was unclear. When asked for clarification, she just repeats herself and then harshly grades you for not understanding.
she puts way too much pressure on students and gives very unreasonable grades. midterm was 4 short answer questions in paragraph form, along with a 5 paragraph essay, and almost no time at all to do it. If you don't write exactly what shes looking for you will receive a bad grade
Rudest professor. She would assign assignments and not be clear on the instruction and then scream at us for not doing it right. Her lecture slides were also always hard to read. We also had a group presentation at the end and she sat there the entire time slumped in her chair looking miserable. Oh, and she also never answers her emails.
Kefalas is a super tough grader, if you're looking for an easy A this is not the course to take. In the beginning, the first few assignments were graded pretty fairly, but the last 4 assignments, she graded super hard. She gives no rubric or guidelines and expects you to just know what she wants, then gets mad at the class for not doing it right.
She had great lectures, but she expects the students to understand right away without a rubric. As she says "There is no rubric in life". The class is hard, and if you do not understand sociology then you're not gonna understand the class.
She expects perfect sociological answers in an intro level course. Very tough grader. Gave a group project / presentation and never had us present. I had covid and she wouldnt excuse my absences. kinda makes up assignments as she goes. Swears in class but thats her only redeming quality.
Dr. Kefalas is a very nice person, but an awful undergrad teacher. She grades assignments weeks if not months after they were submitted. You won't know what is going on in class since she is all over the place as well as her WORDY presentations. AVOID TAKING DR. KEFALAS! she seems like a nice teacher, but you'll regret your decision a few weeks in!
One of the worst teachers ever. Taking her HSC course, feels like a graduate level course. She does not have anything on canvas, her powerpoints are so long and full of material and she DOES NOT put them on canvas. Test essays only handwritten by memorization. Doesnt tell u whats on it. Condescending teacher and very rude. Grades very picky. Bad
do not take her absolutely terrible
Honestly she isn't that bad. Participation is mandatory, but I've skipped 4 classes + nothing happened. Her lectures are really good and informative if you actually listen. Write the bolded things on slides. You don't have to read the material, ifykwim..I only had her recently so I get if she was bad before. I wouldn't take her again but shes fine.
She was extremely rude and degrading to students. She told us not to go to the dean because she had been there for so long and nothing would happen to her. She did not tell us how to study for exams or what material would be on them, and then repeatedly told us that we needed to do better and learn how to do well in class. no grading scales
Do not take this professor. She does not answer emails and grades assignments tough with no rubric. She creates assignments on Canvas and then does not talk about them, so you receive very few grades. She also re-explains the directions on assignments differently than what is on Canvas and spends most of the class lecturing us on our work ethic.
NOT AN EASY A. do not take her if you are looking for a simple first-year seminar. out of all my classes, this was by far the most work and. her tests are all written/ paragraph responses. loves to say that theres always room for improvement and that we suck at writing cause we're young. she hardly ever explains her expectations & is a hard grader
She's never clear on her directions and expects you to know what she's looking for. She assigned a book but never tells you when to read it. Tells students to be punctual but is always late. Very condescending when you ask questions. Doesn't share her slides on canvas. And refuses to make a study guide. Honestly, she sets you up for failure.
she is a good professor and understands the material, however, she is very opinionated and will go on rants about her own opinions. her work can be very difficult, and she doesn't take many excuses for late work.
Professor Kefalas seems like a nice teacher at first but she can be very condescending. Expects you to know the answer to every question and when you get an answer wrong, she is rude about it. She never responds to emails, never posts slideshows on canvas and rarely provides directions on assignments. Her tests are pretty hard too, mostly written.
DO NOT TAKE HER. She does not care much for anyone's opinions, and only her thought is correct on anything. Very one sided, and loves to talk about her wealth. Horrible..
She is VERY opinionated and thinks only her own opinion is correct. She loves talking about how she's a small percentage of black and is mega-rich, living in the main line. She is very condescending, and while you must never miss class or be late, she will walk in 20 minutes after start time with chips and a soda from the vending machine.
She's hilarious to look at. I had mono, the flu, and covid this semester. I emailed her about 6 times since January, she has never answered a single one. Has you buy textbooks off the syllabus and expects you to read them but never mentioned them once in class, and they were $150+ for all three. She always looks like she'd rather be anywhere else.
Professor Kefalas is a good professor academically, however she is a little bit of a tough grader and has high expectations from her students. Attendance and participation are very important, and she isn't as understanding as others when it comes to outside stressors or things that may impact you outside of the class.
Social Problems is definitely a though provoking class. READ. Read all the books she tells you to read and make sure you keep up with it because she barely posts on Canvas. If you come to class prepared, you'll be fine. If you don't understand something, definitely go to office hours and talk with her, it's very helpful. Attendance is MANDATORY!
Genuinely the worst class I've ever taken. Extremely tough grader. Clearly one-sided when it comes to views on social problems. Almost 100% test/quiz based grade. Absolutely no rubrics or even guidelines when it comes to grades. All tests/quizzes are hand written in class. Consistently shows up late but expects the opposite from her students.
I took this class just to fill a credit and I did not know what i was getting myself into. She will be so mad if you come in late or use the bathroom to much but she will arrive to class super late sometimes. Don't bother actually sharing your opinion on tests when she asks for it. She wants WORD FOR WORD what she talked about during lecture.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.91 avg changeRatings by Course
CLASSOC
5.0
(1)THEORYANDMOTH
5.0
(1)MOTHERHOOD
5.0
(1)SOC322
5.0
(1)CRJ565
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
SOCIOLOGY
5.0
SOCIALPRO
5.0
SOCOFYOUTH
5.0
SOC151
5.0
SOC1021
4.5