Suman's a classic professor. His booming, monotone voice and deliberate enunciation make him easy to hear and understand...which is good, considering how much info he imparts. Make no mistake, the material you learn in his class is not difficult in the least, but you will learn a LOT of stuff. A lot of it involves basic everyday stuff that you know, except complex names are put on things like aspects of flirting. If you underestimate this class, it will bury you. If you miss a lot of lectures, you're screwed. The class itself is pretty basically structured, a midterm, a paper and a final. The reading ranges from interesting and easy (the men & women book) to dense and inaccessible (the media book). The paper is really a wild card in how you do in this class. The TA's grade it really hard (some moreso than others...), but the paper itself is very difficult to write. There's no research involved, there are few guidelines given and you're basically supposed to write it based on your own personal experiences. This makes it really hard to figure out whether you're actually BSing or not. In all, this is definitely a weeder class for Communications majors, but it's still interesting. Bottom line, it will either really turn you on to the subject and/or reinforce your interest or make you hate it and wonder why on Earth you were ever interested to begin with.

Doc Suman is a really nice guy who truly cares about his students' learning. I took the class just as a random GE and it actually turns out to be pretty interesting. The bottom line is: Anyone who can keep his students awake for a two hour lecture is a damn good lecturer.

This is a great class. Although there are a lot of notes and you need to know them all for the one midterm and final, Suman is a very funny guy and tries to make the class as interesting as possible. He is very approachable and patient in explaining concepts. My TA was Lars who was very helpful right before exams or regarding the paper and he knew his stuff. If you're in the honors program, it's worth taking the honors section which is a group experiment and paper. I enjoyed the class and I'm an LS major, but I would definitely recommend this class and professor.

Professor Suman lectures were packed with information. However the info is pretty interesting and has to do with everyday life. But this is a weeder class for the Communications major, therefore it is going to be a little difficult. It wasn't hard in the sense that the material was difficult to understand. But the abundance of information (about 8 pages of written notes every lecture and having to memorize it verbatim) will get those students who take poor notes and study the night before the exams. You have to do all the reading since they show up on the exams and have almost nothing to do with the class lectures. Definitely go to section as your TA will briefly go over the readings. My TA, Almudena aka Almu was excellent. She was an outstanding TA which helped in getting good summaries/outlines of the readings. One time she could not make it to her section and Lars substituted for her and he didn't even go over one of the readings. Also, I went to Hector's review session and he only went over 2 or 3 concepts out of literally 100. Not only that, he explained one of the concepts wrong and those who had not started to study yet got so confused. Anyhow, since you guys can switch sections, whatever you do go with Almu!!! Although I didn't need this class for a pre-rec or didn't take it as a GE (I took it because I was interested in it). My advice would be to only take this class if you are SERIOUSLY considering the communications major.

can anyone be more sarcastic? his jokes were never funny, but at least he tries. lectures are not all that bad, just filled with info. good notes are a must. memorization is also a must. you must be able to spit out concepts word for word during exams or else you will be graded down. and its tough when there is so much to know. ta's are helpful. decent class but too much info.

Professor Suman's lectures are good. His fast-paced, content-loaded two hours pass by relatively quickly and interestingly. You will learn a low of informative, good things you usually otherwise would never know. He uses anecdotes and examples all the time, which make lectures effective. They are good, in general, if you like the material. He can be funny at times, and makes things important.

The class is alright. Be prepared to take massive amounts of notes, study with a friend, and always attend and pay attention in lecture. The workload is pretty good: not much reading (some of it is good, some of it is a bit boring and predictable), but the tests are difficult. Pay attention to detail and memorize memorize memorize! That's all you pretty much have to do: lists, etc.

TAs tend to grade pretty hard, especially on the paper and essays. You need to stand out to get an A in the class, but getting a B isn't too difficult. The subject material isn't bad, but it may depend on your preferences. I enjoyed it, but it showed me I really didn't want to be a Comm. major simply because I'm not interested in the material. It's not an easy class, and probably not worth it for a G.E. but take it if you're interested or want a challenge.

Suman is a really nice guy and hes helpful when you see him at office hours. he's funny but the second half of class (mass comm) will bore you to sleep. it is sooo boring. its not suman's fault though. the material is just so bad. im glad i took this class in retrospect, but it was a lot of work. the ta's determine your grade. susan kim is hard grader but i hear she is the best. i had lars-not very effective and not the easiest grader either. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS FOR A GE. it is way too much work! overall, prof is great but grading is harsh. there is a curve, but they grade according the curve--so really the curve is useless. dont't fall behind on the notes. to do well-read and study your notes! memorization is key. dont slack off in this class!

Suman is a great lecturer. Even though the topics are not always interesting, he is very organized and his points are clear. He responds quickly to emails, which is always a plus. The class is a tough GE, but interesting. I had a boring TA so never went to discussion. Exams are extremely difficult - you must know everything to be prepared. Bringing a laptop to class was beneficial in taking good notes. I would definitely recommend Suman for those interested in Communications.

I LOVE Professor Suman and his classes. Comm 10 is a bit tricky because there's so much information, but he is straightforward in telling you what you need to know. His 152 class is so fabulous! The information is intersting and entertaining - where else would you get a lecture on the sigficance of NWA's "Straight Outta Compton"? The class is small, discussions are great and the people who take the class tend to be very intersting.

I hated this class and it is so far the only class I've taken that I felt was a complete waste of time and effort. I did improve my memorization techniques but that is the only positive aspect of this class. The lectures are boring, bits and pieces of information taken from all over are presented as well established facts, the sources are rarely acknowledged and these so called facts are never analyzed. I believe in the importance of critical thinking but I realized soon into this class that that is not a sought after characteristic...take notes and memorize seem to be the concept. The tests are hard because of the amount of information. The TA:s grade unfairly hard and seem to take pride in this accomplishment. Unfortunately most of us comm majors have to take this class and can't avoid this night mare. I have only one comfort: if I made it to the other side, so can you. There are plenty of interesting comm classes, this is just not one of them. Hang in there!