Elena Tzelepis

If you get stuck in this class GET OUT IMMEDIATELY! Seriously, do anything and everything you can to switch. She barely speaks english and what she does is a monotone whisper so even when you strain your ears to try and hear you will get absolutely no where. Her insights to readings were dull and uninvigorating and the lack of class participation reflected this. I gained absolutely nothing from this class and my grade reflected what I didn't learn. You would expect such an awful instructor to be more lenient on grading but her expectations were much higher than they should have been. By the end of the semester practically everyone was watching tv, checking facebook, or chatting on IM on their laptops because she didnt invoke any meaningful conversation topics or steer discussions at all. It was basically a conversation between her and two other philosophy students the entire semester. Even when I would make an effort and read the assignments we got so far behind that by the time we caught up I had forgotten what I read. The only classes you really needed to go to were the review sessions for the midterm and final. If you want to completely sleep through CC then take her, but be prepared to let your grade suffer as a result.

I didn't have Elena for CC, so I can't comment on her there. But as a Modern Greek teacher, she was excellent. Energetic, concerned about our progress, and really determined to expose us to the culture. It was a joy to go to class; her style lent to a really open atmosphere in which students who spanned in age from first years to older GS students really got along and enjoyed each other's input. Definitely the most fun I've had at any class at Columbia. She's really nice, and hates the whole grading thing...as she said, if she could, she would give everyone A's. She probably does anyway. While she was really chill, we still managed to learn something, which I think made for the most ideal situation. Sure, we ventured way off-topic a lot of times, many of them comparing Greek and American culture or just discussing current events. Her kindness and understanding is easy to take advantage of but she's so sweet that you'll feel bad if you do. On days when less students were present than usual, we would sit outside or pay a visit to Symposium, or Tom's, or even Heights for happy hour (no joke). Drinking strawberry margaritas and speaking Greek -- you can't get any better than that. You have to take Elena for Greek if you want a real taste of the culture, complete with her arriving on "Greek time." This is the perfect class for someone who wants to learn Greek and isn't bothered by…

If you're assigned to Elena's section please do yourself a favor and switch. She is just a bad educator, plain and simple. The previous reviews are obviously polarized. I will be up front and tell you I got an A- instead of the A I could have received if I had properly kept the "journal" she wanted, but please trust me when I say this review would be just as negative. A different professor (Carol Rovane) was assigned to our CC section second semester, and the difference was night and day. When the new professor brought up Locke and Hobbes, no one in the class (including me) seemed to have any idea what the main points of each philosopher were. You will not learn the slightest shred of philosophical methods in Elena's class. When our new instructor introduced the concept of normative vs. causitive statements the first day, I began to see what I was missing. You will just not learn basic philosophy You can understand the words she's saying, but she babbles on incoherently and often ends up (somehow) mentioning her favorite modern philosophers who have no relevance to the text we're studying. The two hours of lecture consisted mostly of class discussion. While this is an important aspect of CC, it should not be done before the class gains a basic understanding of the text. Elena is not the "radical feminist" one reviewer claims she is, but one young woman in the class did take ad…

Weekly journals in Greek, frequent conversation memorizations, weekly discussion group, occasional chapter quizzes/tests/passing in your workbook. Not very difficult, if you study and pay attention in class you're good. She won't try to trick you, and she even lets you peek in your book if you're stuck on something! What more could you want??

The two reviews of Elena posted so far are unfair and misleading. Both outright misinform and neglect to mention the whole story. First of all, let the reader note that the concept of "social construct" is not too abstruse and hardly the a topic peculiar to "pretentious phil. majors." Secondly, there was never a continuous back and forth between philosophy majors. Occasionally there were some digressions of all sorts; but it was no less common for some bubble gum smacking girl to roll into the conversation with utterly irrelevant vignettes than it was for the conversation to end up as philosophical vollyball. The problem with this class was the student make up. A discussion based class like this is only as good as it's make up, and the make up was p-poor in this one. The intellectually lazy students kept this class down, not the instructor. She gave everyone a chance to speak and began class with an outline. We, the students, just usually failed to speak enough. Obdurate undergrads, most of whom took a semester off to nurse a complex or travel with daddy and just returned without much vigor. ou For her part, Elena gave each person a lot of freedom. How well they did with that freedom--what calibre of work they did and depth of thought they acheived--was entirely up to them. If you take her class she will will challenge y with hard questions and challenge those answers with har…

Above reviews are way too harsh. Probably because the main problem with the class was not reigning in the students enough. This, however, was not due to laziness but was an attempt to encourage everyone's thoughts. Alternative thinking was encouraged, though not endorsed, just as discussion was, which some might misconstrue as "radical." Economic programs were never discussed, so how the communism conclusion came to is a mystery. She was a very nice woman who perhaps needs more experience in the classroom. She tried to encourage interest in thinking. Classes did tend to get out of hand but the main problem was not this but students taking philisophical discussions personally. A difficult group to work with, and she does not deserve the cruel reviews given her attempts at sensitivity

Horrible. She didn't teach anything and let the class degenerate into a free-for-all. She couldn't keep control of the class. The first half of the semester was basically two pretentious philosophy majors arguing with each other, both competing to see who could pack as drop more big, confusing, abstract words ("Hegelian", "utilitarian", "social construct"). The second half was this angry right-wing guy bashing liberals. 50% attendance at best at most classes. Oh and she sent questions to be considered via email all week, but never brought anything to class. Sometimes, maybe she'll ask a random question. But depending on which half of the semester, it would have degenerated either to the two philosophy majors fighting each other, or the right-wing guy bashing everyone else.

Midterm and final with about 8 obvious IDs essays (one on the midterm, two on the final); two short papers; daily personal journals due at the end of the semester. She grades much harder than you would expect her to though, even when you quote what she's said word for word.

Two papers, a very easy midterm, a very easy final, and a journal. The IDs she puts are beyond obvious (The selection from Augustine's City of God had the words "City of God" in it!) She has each student do a presentation on a text.