Professor
Andres Villarreal
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - the sweetest prof I ever had. Don't listen to anyone that says you can't understand him literally just sit closer and you're chillin. He's so cool and pls engage and talk to him people tend to pack up early but if you take this class PLS BE NICE TO HIM and protect him at all costs 🙏. Easy class and its comprised of 2 multiple choice quizzes and an essay. Pretty straightforward and the topics are kind of common sense.
Winter 2023 - the sweetest prof I ever had. Don't listen to anyone that says you can't understand him literally just sit closer and you're chillin. He's so cool and pls engage and talk to him people tend to pack up early but if you take this class PLS BE NICE TO HIM and protect him at all costs 🙏. Easy class and its comprised of 2 multiple choice quizzes and an essay. Pretty straightforward and the topics are kind of common sense.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Overall Vibe: 89 is a small honors seminar that you can co-enroll in if you are taking Soc 1 (there is also a version for Soc 20 I believe). I LOVED this class, though it may not be everyone's cup of tea. We were pushed to read the same kinds of paper's Dr. Villarreal's PhD students are engaging with, which I thought was a great learning opportunity. The structure was collaborative, and I find small environments (about 10 students) to be much more conducive to learning than big lectures. Honestly I learned much more in this course than in the Soc 1 co-requisite lecture. Exams: No exams :) Readings: 1 academic article or study per week. These could be dense and a challenge to understand at times, but Dr. Villarreal was encouraging and acknowledged that it may be difficult. As long as I engaged critically with the material, any challenges or misunderstandings with absorbing the material did not hurt my grade; I truly felt like the purpose of this class was to stretch myself and learn in a supportive environment. I found most of the studies he selected to be really interesting and topical (a lot on race, gender, and immigration as these relate to employment and other life outcomes in modern America). Papers: We wrote a short, 1-page double-spaced reflection each week. These were due Sunday at 8 am before the Monday seminar meeting. At first I was not thrilled by the Sunday 8 am deadline. However, I came to appreciate the reasoning behind this: Dr. Villarreal literally prints out every single one of our reflections and spends a few hours of his Sunday reading through them and making notes on points he wanted us to bring up in the discussion. For those who complain he was not engaged in our learning in the soc 1 lecture, I think it is just because there are so many students (200+). His 89 course showed me he clearly cares about helping students to learn and probably the lecture is just a difficult environment in which to provide 1:1 support or feedback. Anyways, the papers were not difficult but did force everyone to read the article and at least have something to say in class. In a lot of my other discussions it is easy to show up without reading the article (I even do that from time to time sadly) but this reflection really forces you to read and try to understand as much of the material as possible which makes for a great class discussion. I received a 95% on all of my reflections. Participation: As long as you show up and speak (he makes sure to call on everyone when moderating the discussion) and submit your weekly reflection, you will receive full participation credit. Also, you are allowed to miss 2 reflection assignments with no penalty to your grade. Additional Advice: Go to his office hours! I regret that I never went. Dr. Villarreal is an extremely accomplished researcher and I feel like he would've had lots of interesting advice in OH. Key Takeaways: -Dr. Villarreal is very personable -The weekly articles were quite interesting -Take this class if you have any interest in social science research, or just want to actually stretch your learning in a class without it being stressful -Take this class if you prefer small, discussion-based learning environments -You do not need a sociology background to take this class or find the material interesting -Again, even though the material is a challenge, this will NOT hurt your grade! The class is all about showing up, stretching your thinking, and showing that you are engaging with the material
Fall 2024 - Overall Vibe: 89 is a small honors seminar that you can co-enroll in if you are taking Soc 1 (there is also a version for Soc 20 I believe). I LOVED this class, though it may not be everyone's cup of tea. We were pushed to read the same kinds of paper's Dr. Villarreal's PhD students are engaging with, which I thought was a great learning opportunity. The structure was collaborative, and I find small environments (about 10 students) to be much more conducive to learning than big lectures. Honestly I learned much more in this course than in the Soc 1 co-requisite lecture. Exams: No exams :) Readings: 1 academic article or study per week. These could be dense and a challenge to understand at times, but Dr. Villarreal was encouraging and acknowledged that it may be difficult. As long as I engaged critically with the material, any challenges or misunderstandings with absorbing the material did not hurt my grade; I truly felt like the purpose of this class was to stretch myself and learn in a supportive environment. I found most of the studies he selected to be really interesting and topical (a lot on race, gender, and immigration as these relate to employment and other life outcomes in modern America). Papers: We wrote a short, 1-page double-spaced reflection each week. These were due Sunday at 8 am before the Monday seminar meeting. At first I was not thrilled by the Sunday 8 am deadline. However, I came to appreciate the reasoning behind this: Dr. Villarreal literally prints out every single one of our reflections and spends a few hours of his Sunday reading through them and making notes on points he wanted us to bring up in the discussion. For those who complain he was not engaged in our learning in the soc 1 lecture, I think it is just because there are so many students (200+). His 89 course showed me he clearly cares about helping students to learn and probably the lecture is just a difficult environment in which to provide 1:1 support or feedback. Anyways, the papers were not difficult but did force everyone to read the article and at least have something to say in class. In a lot of my other discussions it is easy to show up without reading the article (I even do that from time to time sadly) but this reflection really forces you to read and try to understand as much of the material as possible which makes for a great class discussion. I received a 95% on all of my reflections. Participation: As long as you show up and speak (he makes sure to call on everyone when moderating the discussion) and submit your weekly reflection, you will receive full participation credit. Also, you are allowed to miss 2 reflection assignments with no penalty to your grade. Additional Advice: Go to his office hours! I regret that I never went. Dr. Villarreal is an extremely accomplished researcher and I feel like he would've had lots of interesting advice in OH. Key Takeaways: -Dr. Villarreal is very personable -The weekly articles were quite interesting -Take this class if you have any interest in social science research, or just want to actually stretch your learning in a class without it being stressful -Take this class if you prefer small, discussion-based learning environments -You do not need a sociology background to take this class or find the material interesting -Again, even though the material is a challenge, this will NOT hurt your grade! The class is all about showing up, stretching your thinking, and showing that you are engaging with the material
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