SOCIOL 101
Development of Sociological Theory
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Comparative survey of basic concepts and theories in sociology from 1850 to 1920. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Overall, Ayala is a super great professor and is incredibly smart about the topics he covers. The work definitely isn't easy, and you have to put in the effort to watch the lectures and take notes. The exam and midterm aren't bad at all and most of the questions are well-prepared for during the study guide. Some options will be answers like "the dodgers suck" or something hilarious. I took this class during COVID-19 so all of his lectures were recorded online, while he also gave a live lecture in person. Participation is required for discussion and lecture participation is done through weekly quizzes. The quizzes aren't bad either but you definitely need to pay attention. It's an easy A, as long as you put in the work, and there aren't many tricky questions compared to Sigmon's exams. I'd definitely recommend taking this class with Professor Ayala if you can keep up with the work. He's very underrated and IMO, he's not as bad as the other reviews say he is. If you're able to attend office hours or honors sections, he's incredibly knowledgeable and insightful.
Winter 2022 - Overall, Ayala is a super great professor and is incredibly smart about the topics he covers. The work definitely isn't easy, and you have to put in the effort to watch the lectures and take notes. The exam and midterm aren't bad at all and most of the questions are well-prepared for during the study guide. Some options will be answers like "the dodgers suck" or something hilarious. I took this class during COVID-19 so all of his lectures were recorded online, while he also gave a live lecture in person. Participation is required for discussion and lecture participation is done through weekly quizzes. The quizzes aren't bad either but you definitely need to pay attention. It's an easy A, as long as you put in the work, and there aren't many tricky questions compared to Sigmon's exams. I'd definitely recommend taking this class with Professor Ayala if you can keep up with the work. He's very underrated and IMO, he's not as bad as the other reviews say he is. If you're able to attend office hours or honors sections, he's incredibly knowledgeable and insightful.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - Bargheer is so nice! The class has lots of readings since you read older works of Sociology. I got an A- for the class when I thought I was getting a B. Grades on: 3 Pop Quizzes (They are easy and won't hurt you), Midterm (In Class, 2 short ssays) and Final (Take Home, two 5 Page Essays). The readings can get difficult but the TA's will help you understand them. I think my TA was a rough grader cause I think I deserved better grades from the midterm and final lol. Take this class with Bargheer or Jepson! I hear both are good . PLFs help too if you are in AAP! I am a first year and I would recommend this class (Remember that I got an A-). I did not stress much about the class tbh
Spring 2016 - Bargheer is so nice! The class has lots of readings since you read older works of Sociology. I got an A- for the class when I thought I was getting a B. Grades on: 3 Pop Quizzes (They are easy and won't hurt you), Midterm (In Class, 2 short ssays) and Final (Take Home, two 5 Page Essays). The readings can get difficult but the TA's will help you understand them. I think my TA was a rough grader cause I think I deserved better grades from the midterm and final lol. Take this class with Bargheer or Jepson! I hear both are good . PLFs help too if you are in AAP! I am a first year and I would recommend this class (Remember that I got an A-). I did not stress much about the class tbh
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - I had max for soc 102 and omg I hope I never have him again. He's so passive aggressive. He's a lot nicer during office hours but even then he makes me uncomfortable when asking questions because I thought he would explode. Him and Jepson (Soc 102 prof) together were horrible.
Fall 2020 - I had max for soc 102 and omg I hope I never have him again. He's so passive aggressive. He's a lot nicer during office hours but even then he makes me uncomfortable when asking questions because I thought he would explode. Him and Jepson (Soc 102 prof) together were horrible.
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2020 - Professor Duran is such a great professor. The readings are so confusing but he clears everything up in lecture and makes the subjects easy to understand. His exams are super hard but all of the questions are taken out of lecture. His exams consist of multiple choice and a long answer section. Overall this class is doable and you will learn so much.
Summer 2020 - Professor Duran is such a great professor. The readings are so confusing but he clears everything up in lecture and makes the subjects easy to understand. His exams are super hard but all of the questions are taken out of lecture. His exams consist of multiple choice and a long answer section. Overall this class is doable and you will learn so much.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - This is a review for an in-person lecture, differing from the other reviews at the time of my posting which come from online Covid-19 lectures. Dr. Ferguson is very engaging and opinionated which can bring up the energy in the room. However, his egotistical personality and condescending nature take away from the course, shifting it from engaging with the student to grandstanding on a podium. It’s understandable that someone as well educated as Dr. Ferguson would feel above his undergraduate students, but displaying that attitude in the overt manner he does, only shuts down critical thought rather than encourages it. This quarter I saw him budge on multiple occasions to accommodate students, but that had more to do with external pressures coming from the protests on campus and the administration’s disrupting response than anything else. Without those pressures, he would have continued finishing lectures in half the class time and preventing student access to certain materials that he considers his valuable IP. That’s really what this boils down to, someone with an interesting mind and fascination for figures like Karl Marx, but none of the consideration for how he provides that information to the student. If he is forced to by unprecedented events, then he will shift how he approaches you, but otherwise you must bow down to his glory if you wish to work with him. Finally, he ended off his class with his view that we cannot change anything about the current power structures in the world and we need to just accept it. His dystopian, depressing take on society while simultaneously demonstrating how he feels above his own students, really took away from the content of this course. I do not recommend this professor.
Spring 2024 - This is a review for an in-person lecture, differing from the other reviews at the time of my posting which come from online Covid-19 lectures. Dr. Ferguson is very engaging and opinionated which can bring up the energy in the room. However, his egotistical personality and condescending nature take away from the course, shifting it from engaging with the student to grandstanding on a podium. It’s understandable that someone as well educated as Dr. Ferguson would feel above his undergraduate students, but displaying that attitude in the overt manner he does, only shuts down critical thought rather than encourages it. This quarter I saw him budge on multiple occasions to accommodate students, but that had more to do with external pressures coming from the protests on campus and the administration’s disrupting response than anything else. Without those pressures, he would have continued finishing lectures in half the class time and preventing student access to certain materials that he considers his valuable IP. That’s really what this boils down to, someone with an interesting mind and fascination for figures like Karl Marx, but none of the consideration for how he provides that information to the student. If he is forced to by unprecedented events, then he will shift how he approaches you, but otherwise you must bow down to his glory if you wish to work with him. Finally, he ended off his class with his view that we cannot change anything about the current power structures in the world and we need to just accept it. His dystopian, depressing take on society while simultaneously demonstrating how he feels above his own students, really took away from the content of this course. I do not recommend this professor.
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