Is the CBC mode of operation a stream cipher mode? I am taking a class on security systems. My professor considers CBC to be a stream cipher mode, like CFB and OFB. Most sources I have read do not agree with this, so I asked my professor about this, and he claims it is usually called a stream cipher mode. Is this true?
The exact answer may depend on your definition of "usually" or what would be a canonical source for such a statement.

There are few sources (personal opinion) more canonical than Handbook of Applied Cryptography. In it, Remark 7.25 says the following related to your question:


  The CBC mode may also be considered a stream cipher with n-bit blocks playing the role of very large characters. Thus modes of operation allow one to define stream ciphers from block ciphers.


This was not really the answer I expected to write when I first read your question, but I would say that you professor's statement, being inline with what HAC says, is true.

In referencing this remark, the book says (p.3):


  Whereas block ciphers generally process plaintext in relatively large blocks (e.g., n ≥ 64), stream ciphers typically process smaller units (see Note 6.1); the distinction, however, is not definitive (see Remark 7.25).