Deni Ruggeri

This professor has taught: LARC151, LARC160, LARC340, LARC471, LARC489G, LARC720, LARC748

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Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/29/2025	This is probably one of the most stressful and irritating classes I have ever taken. Lot of the previous reviews talk about how passionate and nice Deni and the Tas are, which is mostly true, but doesn't encapsulate the full picture of the class. This class is majority an artistic class, and I felt like the grading of the projects mainly boiled down to your artistic abilities. But the biggest issue by far is the HORRENDOUS disorganization. Every single time there was a project, the project description, Deni, and the Tas would say a different thing, and it made figuring out what to actually do so incredibly difficult and irritating. Plus, for many of the assignments, you would need to travel to various locations (one of the projects was accessible through places on the metro, and another was focused around campus), which wasn't too bad but just added to the irritability of the class. Also, the grading was quite questionable too, I would never get proper rubric level points taken off - there was no feedback - and when I asked during discussion, I would get a vague response for why I got points off. Attendance was also mandatory, but I didn't find this much of an issue. I'm hoping they improve for the next semester, but overall the disorganization and weird grading requirements was super stressful and just not worth. Only reason why I didn't put my review as 1 star, is because it seems great for LARC majors who are great artists as well. Tl;DR: If you are looking for an easy gen ed, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS - it will be super stressful and ruin your semester.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/26/2025	The class itself can be time-consuming, but overall, the projects aren't hard as long as you put in some effort. Deni is one of the nicest people in the world and is very passionate, which I personally enjoy seeing from a teacher. The guest lectures were all interesting, with the only issue being slow grading, but TAs had more to do with that than Deni, which I will let slide a bit, considering TAs are students themselves working on their PhDs.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/25/2025	If you want an “easy” gen ed, don’t take this one. Unless you love art, this class isn’t really worth it. The TA’s are horrible. They are nice, sure, but try to email them you will NEVER get a response. Deni, the prof, is actually super nice and he answers emails! However, there is such a strange disconnect between the ta’s and the professor. IF and only IF you like art, this class is very easy. Chatgpt the reading reflections and do the work. attendance is “mandatory” but idk how it plays into the final grade. If you like art, take this and do your work it’s an easy A.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/23/2025	To get an A you need 95% and it didn’t even mention it on the syllabus. I emailed the TA early into the semester but he never answers his emails. I emailed Deni at the end of the semester and he answered me. I should have just asked him from the beginning.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Anonymous 05/16/2025	Deni and the TAs are nice. Assignments are fairly easy and do not take too long to do. There are some group projects, so just get a good group and you will be fine. Attendance is graded. Discussions are not that long, and they are helpful for upcoming assignments. My biggest complaint is grading. Right now is finals week, and out of the 45 assignments on ELMS, only 7 are graded. So far, I have 100% on all the assignments, so they really just grade on completion and how much effort you put in. This class should be an easy A, but because of the REALLY slow grading, it gets a 3-star review.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/13/2025	LARC160 is overall a pretty interesting class if you're interested in getting into lanscape architecture. I think it serves well as an introductory course - the guest lectures are really interesting and the projects aren't too bad. Theres 7 projects total, with 3 being group projects and no exams. As long as you put in the effort, it's an easy class and an interesting subject. the weekly readings are a bit long but you get the gist of it in the first few pages, making the reflections not too hard. A little time consuming, but worth it if it's something you're interested in.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 04/22/2025	This is the worst class I have taken at UMD. In multiple business classes and I have a better grade in all of them than this class. The grading is incredibly harsh and the assignments are all graded on how good of an architect you are and how artistic. Do not take unless you are a LARC major.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/22/2025	This course has been so fun!! The projects, while time consuming, were pretty interesting and relatively easy overall. The grading is really chill too, they mostly grade on effort. As long as you go to discussion and try, you'll get an A for sure. Deni is also just the nicest guy, which is an added bonus. The guest lectures are interesting as well.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an F Anonymous 03/29/2025	This class is much harder than expected do not take if you are a STEM major
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Anonymous 03/24/2025	The class seems simple in its overview and reviews, but it is not. It is a ton of extra work than what needs to be for an introductory class. Deni is a great professor and a really nice guy, but the content of the assignments is just plain awful. If you show effort, you should get a good grade. That is unless your TA decides to grade on artistic ability instead of mine. It's really a gamble but if you like making things take it.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2024	Deni is incredibly knowledgable and experienced in his field. The lectures are interesting and sometimes we do workshopping. The TAs are quick to respond to emails. Only 6 major projects for the semester and as long as you follow directions you'll get an A and weekly reading responses each week. If you are looking for an interesting gen ed and like design or art, take this class!
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/07/2024	He is very passionate about this material! His lectures are very engaging, and he frequently has guest lectures that are very interesting. As it's only his second semester teaching this course, it has been a little bit rocky, however he and his TAs have made the assignments very approachable. He has very long readings, but honestly you don't have to read the entire things before you get the gist of the articles. As long as you put effort into the 6 assignments and show up to discussion, this class is an easy A!
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024	Very knowledgable and passionate about the course. He is revamping this course from previous semesters, where it was all just lectures and exams, and now it is all project-based (no exams). Some of the readings are ridiculously long for only a 1 point summary, but you can get most of the info from abstracts. There are a lot of guest lectures but they are actually all very interesting. Ruggeri is new to UMD and is kind of creating the course as he goes, so he is very open to feedback. Would recommend him, and LARC160 for a gen-ed.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/17/2024	Very knowledgeable in course material, although the assignments were somewhat unclear and disorganized. This course was new this semester so some changing due dates and unclear expectations were to be expected. Due to this, the course was relatively simple but served its purpose well. I expect this course will be more difficult the next time it is offered. Lectures were usually engaging when a guest was invited to speak, which happened about 5 or 6 times. Lectures are not mandatory, though discussions are. Grading appeared to be based on whether good effort was put into the assignments. Would recommend taking this professor in the future.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/14/2024	First time teaching this so class was disorganized. Deni genuinely cared about the material and class and was a great guy. Grading was lenient too.
Deni Ruggeri LARC160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2023	The course was pretty disorganized since this was his first year teaching it. Deadlines were constantly switching, assignment requirements would change, and even the TAs would give different due dates at times. I do think that it was mostly because it was his first time teaching it, and can't say if it will be the same next semester. However, grading was SO EASY. They just wanted to see if you even tried on the assignment. Deni is funny and nice and willing to help if you reach out to him. Overall easy A and would recommend for an easy GenEd. We were also told in the beginning of the semester that lectures were mandatory, but no one ever actually took attendance. Attendance at the discussion was required.
Deni Ruggeri LARC151 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/20/2023	Pretty easy, can skip most lectures, weekly discussion assignments are easy, group project work with the same group for the whole semester which sucks, easy grader. However, most assignments are unclear and even the TAs don't know what he wants you to do. Learned nothing so it's a waste of time tbh but its easy for credits.
Deni Ruggeri LARC151 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2022	easy a, interesting guest lecturer's, weekly discussion assignments and a lot of group project work, but not a tough grader and not a hard class.