SOCIOL 102
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 101. Critical examination of significant theoretical formulations from 1920 to present. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
TA's were told to grade extremely hard in order to fit the students along a designated grade distribution. The material is dry. I think Emigh was pretty amusing, quirky and neurotic, which made the class a little more tolerable. She tended to scream with excitement (literally) when she told jokes. I think the grading method was a little unfair. She basically gave us 1:15 minutes to write 4 essays (each having around 5 sub-questions) that each should be around 2-3 pages long. It was open book and she wanted us to use examples from the readings. I think this does not really test us on our knowledge of the material, but rather a person's ability to take tests, organize their notes, and writes REALLY fast. During midterms, I can cut the tension with a knife. Everyone struggled to fit enough material in. I got a C- on the midterm, but since I did well on the final, I got a B+. I think this is her way to force students to try super hard by scaring the crap out of them during midterms by grading a little harder... then give them a fairer grade for finals. If you do well on the finals, your grade is your final's grade.
TA's were told to grade extremely hard in order to fit the students along a designated grade distribution. The material is dry. I think Emigh was pretty amusing, quirky and neurotic, which made the class a little more tolerable. She tended to scream with excitement (literally) when she told jokes. I think the grading method was a little unfair. She basically gave us 1:15 minutes to write 4 essays (each having around 5 sub-questions) that each should be around 2-3 pages long. It was open book and she wanted us to use examples from the readings. I think this does not really test us on our knowledge of the material, but rather a person's ability to take tests, organize their notes, and writes REALLY fast. During midterms, I can cut the tension with a knife. Everyone struggled to fit enough material in. I got a C- on the midterm, but since I did well on the final, I got a B+. I think this is her way to force students to try super hard by scaring the crap out of them during midterms by grading a little harder... then give them a fairer grade for finals. If you do well on the finals, your grade is your final's grade.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Everyone loves Guhin, and he's a really sweet person and a caring, welcoming professor. However, I have to say as far as explaining the actual subject matter, I didn't find him that helpful. The lectures were a little too focused on his ideas and thoughts about the theorists and reading, rather helping students to understand the arguments of each theorist. You could come away from a lecture knowing Guhin's ideas and passions more than with a breakdown of the theory or argument, which is bad because later you have to write a lot of papers about that argument. TAs are helpful to a point with that but it's a crapshoot whether you get a helpful TA or not. In any case be prepared to read a lot and DO NOT get behind on reading.
Winter 2021 - Everyone loves Guhin, and he's a really sweet person and a caring, welcoming professor. However, I have to say as far as explaining the actual subject matter, I didn't find him that helpful. The lectures were a little too focused on his ideas and thoughts about the theorists and reading, rather helping students to understand the arguments of each theorist. You could come away from a lecture knowing Guhin's ideas and passions more than with a breakdown of the theory or argument, which is bad because later you have to write a lot of papers about that argument. TAs are helpful to a point with that but it's a crapshoot whether you get a helpful TA or not. In any case be prepared to read a lot and DO NOT get behind on reading.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Professor Jepson is a very traditional lecturer. He doesn't use slides and doesn't record his lectures. However, I like this style because it forces me to listen to what he is saying during the lecture. His class consists or a midterm worth 40 points, a final worth 40 points, a paper worth 30 points, and discussion participation worth 18 points (I believe). On the midterm and final, we were provided with 10-15 questions regarding lectures, readings, or discussion questions that our TAs provided us prior to the discussion. We were told to choose 4 to answer in our blue books. The paper is on a sociological idea and theorist that we touch on in class. I found the paper to be very easy as I chose to write about Anomie. I would recommend Jepson as a professor as he is very clear about his points. However, make sure your TA is a good TA because if they are good, you basically have the answers to the questions on your midterm and on your final.
Spring 2024 - Professor Jepson is a very traditional lecturer. He doesn't use slides and doesn't record his lectures. However, I like this style because it forces me to listen to what he is saying during the lecture. His class consists or a midterm worth 40 points, a final worth 40 points, a paper worth 30 points, and discussion participation worth 18 points (I believe). On the midterm and final, we were provided with 10-15 questions regarding lectures, readings, or discussion questions that our TAs provided us prior to the discussion. We were told to choose 4 to answer in our blue books. The paper is on a sociological idea and theorist that we touch on in class. I found the paper to be very easy as I chose to write about Anomie. I would recommend Jepson as a professor as he is very clear about his points. However, make sure your TA is a good TA because if they are good, you basically have the answers to the questions on your midterm and on your final.
Most Helpful Review
Lupher has horribly distracting mannerisms. Apart from that, I didn't really think he was THAT bad, and I actually thought he was pretty funny. His lectures are way straightforward, which can be a good thing for some and a bad thing for others, but I thought it was okay because I learned most of the facts that I needed to know. One other thing about him is that if he doesn't like a body of theory that he's lecturing about, it totally shows, because he can't give it justice. If you ever take him, make sure you get a really good TA.
Lupher has horribly distracting mannerisms. Apart from that, I didn't really think he was THAT bad, and I actually thought he was pretty funny. His lectures are way straightforward, which can be a good thing for some and a bad thing for others, but I thought it was okay because I learned most of the facts that I needed to know. One other thing about him is that if he doesn't like a body of theory that he's lecturing about, it totally shows, because he can't give it justice. If you ever take him, make sure you get a really good TA.
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