SOCIOL 158
Urban Sociology
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Description and analysis of urbanization and urbanism in the U.S. and world. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - I did not at all like the content of this class, however Professor Herring did his best to make lectures engaging and understandable. I struggled a lot with the midterm because the content was more theoretical. The grade was made up of weekly reading reflections where you choose 1 question out of 2/3, take-home essay question midterm (2 questions), and a final research paper. Attendance is mandatory and he uses a location based attendance check in app so don't try to cheat it. However you only need to attend 75% (or 60%?) of lectures to get full credit. Only one reading reflection gets actually graded based on the content and how you answer the question, the rest are completion based. Just make sure with the midterm, reading reflections, and final that you are answering what the question is asking. For the final paper you choose a city to write and honestly, it did take me a long time and was super stressful for me since it's worth a big part of the grade but it wasn't too bad. Overall the tas and the Professor were nice and tried their best to make the content interesting and easy to understand.
Fall 2025 - I did not at all like the content of this class, however Professor Herring did his best to make lectures engaging and understandable. I struggled a lot with the midterm because the content was more theoretical. The grade was made up of weekly reading reflections where you choose 1 question out of 2/3, take-home essay question midterm (2 questions), and a final research paper. Attendance is mandatory and he uses a location based attendance check in app so don't try to cheat it. However you only need to attend 75% (or 60%?) of lectures to get full credit. Only one reading reflection gets actually graded based on the content and how you answer the question, the rest are completion based. Just make sure with the midterm, reading reflections, and final that you are answering what the question is asking. For the final paper you choose a city to write and honestly, it did take me a long time and was super stressful for me since it's worth a big part of the grade but it wasn't too bad. Overall the tas and the Professor were nice and tried their best to make the content interesting and easy to understand.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Professor Johnson was incredibly accommodating in light of all that was happening during Fall 2020 (coronavirus, elections, etc.). He was very clear with his requirements and grading rubric. Much of why this class is so great is likely because he is a recent grad student himself and clearly emphasizes with our plight. Additionally, I really enjoyed learning about all the different urban planning concepts regarding New York, Chicago, and LA. The class required approximately 5 short MC quizzes, 5 short written assignments responding to a forum prompt, 1 midterm, 1 group essay, and 1 final. If you watch the lectures attentively and skim the readings you should be fine with all of these. The TA Taylor Aquino was especially awesome and made learning really fun. Please take her if you have the chance.
Fall 2020 - Professor Johnson was incredibly accommodating in light of all that was happening during Fall 2020 (coronavirus, elections, etc.). He was very clear with his requirements and grading rubric. Much of why this class is so great is likely because he is a recent grad student himself and clearly emphasizes with our plight. Additionally, I really enjoyed learning about all the different urban planning concepts regarding New York, Chicago, and LA. The class required approximately 5 short MC quizzes, 5 short written assignments responding to a forum prompt, 1 midterm, 1 group essay, and 1 final. If you watch the lectures attentively and skim the readings you should be fine with all of these. The TA Taylor Aquino was especially awesome and made learning really fun. Please take her if you have the chance.
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