This review is for COMM STUDIES 111.
Malamuth is a great teacher. All the stuff I learned in the class was really helpful to everyday situations. Do the readings, and you should be fine!

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The class is very useful and I would recommend it to anyone. Plus it's easy because the grade is only based on a multiple choice midterm and final, but for some reason the tests are deceiving in the sense that you feel you did well and got an A, but then you see your grade and it's like a B (others I talked to had the same feeling). I don't know if it's the test questions (which seemed straightforward to me) or if I'm just missing certain details, the grades just seemed strange. But like I said it's not a hard class, plus there's always practice questions and study guides before exams, so you'll have a good sense of how the exams will be before you take them.

Lectures were pretty boring though (maybe because they were almost 3 hours each). Even though there's no Bruincast, he does post up the lecture slides, which are very detailed, so you're not missing out on too much by skipping lecture besides the videos he shows. Plus, the readings are not hard to do and the study guide tells you exactly what you need to focus on. So this is one of those classes where you can still manage to get a decent grade even if you don't show up to lecture as long as you study the slides/readings well. Malamuth does seem nice though and acknowledges everyone's comments (you can get extra credit by participating), so it's not like lecture is completely unbearable. Regardless of how you approach this class, the material is useful, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Before finding out my grade, I thought no matter what I get in the class I am so happy to have taken the conflict class because I can honestly say I learned a lot. My grade reflected this attitude. I did really well in the class, but this was the first time I had a passion for what I was learning. I was having a lot of conflicts with roommates at the time so the class really allowed me to understand different situations more clearly. I loved going to class. Usually 3 hour classes kill me, but not with Malamuth. He is actually quite a naturally funny guy. (he kinda looks like Jack Nicholson at certain angles, too... kinda random). The videos we watched were so cheesy and hilarious. literally taken from the 80s with horrible acting. The material you read is a self help kinda book and a textbook on conflict. He also includes slides that have some material not covered in the readings. Overall, an ESSENTIAL practicum class. Conflict management is a very important skill.