I absolutely loved this class and the way Suman taught. He was engaging, funny, relatable and made the 2 hours fly by. Suman is very understanding and allowed questions and does his best to provide an adequate response. There are a few books and several online articles to read (usually short) that you discuss in your sections. Sections are not mandatory but they do help with the exam because it covers key points of the readings. Your grade is composed of a midterm, final, and 5-7 page paper. The paper was actually enjoyable to write because it was about communication you observed in society. There are four prompts but you can get pretty creative with them. The class is a lot of memorization and you don’t want to miss a lecture because nothing is online but Suman does a great job of keeping things entertaining and makes sure you have a really good understanding of the content (Technology is not allowed so be prepared to write a lot). With regard to the midterm and final, it is about 36 short answers- ranging from one word to sentences- and 2-3 short essays. You are allowed 20 pages of cheat sheets over the reading material so you really only need to memorize the lecture content. Everyone says this class is hard, but if you keep up with the reading and attend lecture it is VERY doable.

Do not take class un less you have to. Tests are just memorizing as much as possibe. Allows notes during test but questions are still so unnecessarily specific. Montone speaker.
Selling You Just Dont Understand & Losing the News. $10 for both.
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I loved this class. Although it was challenging, it was very interesting and Professor Suman was extremely knowledgable and engaging. It wasn't hard to pay attention in class. I don't know why his reviews are so bad. Going into the class, I was expecting the worst. But if you pay attention and do the readings, you can do well and get a lot out of the class.

Overall manageable, but definitely a weeder class designed for students trying to get into the Communications major. I would say that you either like this class or you hate it. I enjoyed the material a lot, especially when it came to interpersonal communication and why people act certain ways in social settings.

The workload is heavy because of the amount of readings. Other than that, there is no homework to worry about other than a paper. It would benefit you to ask your TA what he/she expects from you on the paper as well as the tests. The professor purposely tells the TAs to grade the paper strictly, but if you go over your drafts with your TA, they will be more understanding and lenient. There is one midterm and one final. Both are very essay heavy. Be prepared to regurgitate a lot of information from pure memorization.

I ended with a B+ and I started studying around 2 days before both the midterm and the final. The class isn't too bad, and I ended getting accepted into the Comm major :)

Professor Suman has his head in the dark ages. He does not allow any electronics and won't even use slides for class. He posts grades on the wall outside the classroom, so nothing is collected in one space online, making it hard to keep track of your grade. His tests are also subjective rather than objective because even if you know the answers, you won't get points if you word it differently than he does. It was not a good class because I felt like I was memorizing in order to achieve a grade rather than learning content that could otherwise be very interesting. I don't recommend this class unless you have to take it.

This was a tough class to get an A in, but if you keep up with the readings and go to all of the lectures, it should be manageable. Suman doesn’t use powerpoint slides, nor does he let you have any electronic devices out during lecture. He lectures old school, by just explaining the material and writing key words that you must know on the board. Generally, anything he writes down on the board may possibly show up on the exams., but he goes at a reasonable pace, so its not too hard to keep up when writing notes.
He has two exams (a midterm and a final) and one essay. He gives you from the beginning of the quarter to work on the essay, so don’t procrastinate on it! His exams consist of short answers on both reading material and lecture material (keep in mind that he doesn’t go over reading material in lecture, that’s what discussion sections are for!).
Suman also allows you to take notes on the reading material so you can use them on exams, so it’s wise to start early on the notes and take them as you read. These really help during exams, so you can focus more on memorizing the lecture material. A lot of people said that getting an A in this class was hard, but studying beforehand, going to lectures, completing the readings, and not cramming should make it easier.

Professor Suman is a great lecturer and all around great teacher. The content of the class is very interesting. However, the structure of the class is TERRIBLE. *Unless you need this class for Comm Major etc. heed my warning, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! Here's Why: To start, you will have 1 midterm, 1 paper and 1 final. That's it, there is no cushion room to mess up.
PROS: There are no other HW assignments and attendance is no mandatory, there are 20 pages of handwritten notes allowed for exams of readings.
CONS: You may NOT include ANY lecture notes in your 20 pages. Notes are turned in at the time of exam. Your paper will be handed back on the day of the final so you have no way of knowing where you stand until you step out of the class for the last time. The paper is very critically graded, all grammar, format, punctuation and content is crucial. Exam questions will include obscure things you thought were not important and didn't bother to study. Important things you spent hours studying will NOT even be there. The exams will be one sided papers and you will have maybe 5 cm width lines to write your response thats right 5 CENTIMETERS! *Talk about a Hand cramp!
Speaking of notes, If you should choose to take on this heavy challenge, I have detailed notes typed and ready to share if you need them Msg me at ********** Happy class searching!

This class is exactly like other reviews on Bruinwalk. If you put in the right amount of work, you'll be able to get a good grade in the class. Don't be scared to ask your TA or Suman for help because they're willing to help you. If you want a good grade, don't slack on this class! It's easy to fall behind and procrastinate, but you'll be making your life a lot harder and risk not getting a good grade. It's honestly not a difficult class if you do the work and study. Midterm and final should be pretty straightforward. The only thing I would work on a lot would be the paper, so go to the UWC and meet up with your TA to discuss your ideas.

If you're looking to be a communications major, this is a good class to take (not only bc it's required) but because you're introduced to almost every subject from the field. Here's how to get an A and succeed in the class (at least how I did it):
- Start your essay way in advance, I went in with an outline and thesis topics Week 3. TALK TO YOUR TA, thoroughly. The essays are the hardest part, and I got an A on it.
- You don't have to write down everything the man says. Write down the concept from the list, with one or two examples that you think you'd remember for the test. Pay attention, and you'll be fine with lecture. He is very clear about what he expects from you on the tests.
- If you can get Sonja as a TA, she's the best and is one of the most helpful TAs in the Comm dept.
- Study 5 days in advance, there are lots of helpful quizlets I used to relearn a lot of the material. Saying things verbatim on the tests is rewarded in this class.

You will do fine. There's a lot of work. START THE ONLINE READINGS ASAP. Do not leave them until last minute. I know some people whose hands were dead by the time the midterm rolled around bc they were writing too much. I got all my online readings done a week before the tests so I could use that time to study purely lecture material.

I believe in u .

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