Professor Karney is a really helpful professor. He cares about his students and even goes as far to learn each person's name in a 200-300 student lecture hall. His lectures are also very enjoyable and offer you a general sense of what you need to know. All that being said, you MUST read the book, and not just read, you MUST take good notes. And even if you do take notes, you may still get 4-5 questions wrong on the tests as he nit picks from some minor, obscure detail from the book. He says to know the applications of the theory, but when I asked him what I should focus on while reading the book, he said "I think everything is important". Thanks. So basically, you need to know 250 pages worth of material for each test. He also offers no extra credit FYI. Overall, Karney is a sincere, caring professor who gives engaging lectures, even though you could get a good grade just by reading the book and not showing up to lecture. If you care about the subject and having a quality experience, take him. If you care about your GPA, not so much.

Prof. Karney was one of the best lecturers that I have ever had the opportunity to have. I am so sad I wasn't able to take him personally and listen to his live lectures. The lectures were pre-recorded and even though he said the book was most important I still watched every single lecture that he uploaded because the way he would talk and explain the topics was extremely interesting. The exams are very fair if you read the book and listen to the lectures. Keep in mind that you HAVE to read EVERYTHING in the book because it will probably come up on the exam. I read the entire book at least 2 times. Overall, I am so so glad I took this class and I hope I can take another class with him.

This review will not reflect in-person teaching as I had taken it during the pandemic. However, he used lectures from last spring which means there would be no captions available like most zoom lectures. Additionally, one of the lecture have last 15 minutes cut off due to battery issue at the time of recording. His recorded lectures are still funny and engaging, but I thought he could at least re-record that particular lecture. On his last lecture, he would take questions from students and answer them and I would have appreciated if he at least did that part either through discussion forum or zoom. I know that he used same lecture on last quarter (spring) so hopefully it will get better on the future.

The textbook is must for the course. The test questions are tricky, detail oriented, and contain a lot of information from the book which won't be covered on the lectures. You will have to know inside out of the book as test questions are tough. There is no extra credit opportunities for this class so it was based on 2 exam consisting of 50 MC questions. I think for summer quarter the written assignment was removed as due to fast pace of summer quarter.

Took this class for Summer Session A and overall, it was a great and engaging class to take. All the lectures are bruincasts from 2019 if I'm not mistaken but Professor Karney doesn't speak in a monotonous tone so his lectures were easy to follow and engaging. Best suggestion is to read the textbook religiously (like literally read everything -- tho it isn't hard, I often flew past a couple of chapters a day), and then watch lectures on 1.5x - 2x speed. Everything from the tests was from the textbook or lecture so it is all fair game but honestly, if you pay enough attention, it should be fine.
Would definitely take a class with professor Karney again (hopefully in person!)

Just took his course this last Spring Quarter of 2015. And all I have to say is... God damn.

Okay, well let me just get started on his grading and how it works for people who are -potentially- interested in taking this course.

You have two "midterms", the second one is weighted slightly more heavily than the first one to account for "getting used to how he writes his exams"... yeah. They are both 50 questions, multiple choice, and the second one is non-cumulative. And you have to write a short paper that out of 30 points. So long as you follow the guidelines for the paper and hit all those key concepts, you can easily get the 30/30.

As for the multiple choice... yeesh. So I know people are saying that if reading takes time away from reviewing, then choose reviewing lectures first... but I say, if you want a great grade in the course, you need to read the ENTIRE book and have good notes for them + have good notes for lecture and know every single one of em.

Yes, that's right. You can literally only miss 10 points in this class to get an A. It's ridiculous, but it isn't impossible. You just need to stay on track. That being said, if you're planning to take this course as an "easy" course you can sort of half ass your way through, then DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT take this course.

That being said, Karney is an amazing professor. He is very approachable, outgoing, and makes lecture a fun thing to go to. He podcasts every single lecture (be wary, because sometimes his mic gives out). And he constantly reminds you about deadlines and test dates to keep you informed. He's very honest and will tell how you it is. No bullshit.

This course will definitely inform you a lot about how relationships work. But as Karney told us, fixing relationships is still a very tricky thing to accomplish.

I kind of regret taking this class honestly even though I did learn a lot of information regarding intimate relationships. The material is useful and interesting and Prof Karney himself is an enthusiastic lecturer. However, there isn't any structure on what important topics you have to focus on in the class to be successful with exams. You have to read a book that's about 1000 pages and for the exams, anything in it is fair game. That's about 7 or 8 long chapters for each exam. Like others have said, the exams can include tiny obscure details from the book. So, you can read the book and take good notes of every chapter and still barely pass exams. The study guides aren't helpful whatsoever. Keep in mind, there is also no extra credit offered in the class. If you want to maintain your GPA and take a course just for upper division credit, then this class is not for you.

his exams are a nightmare! i studied way in advance, understood the concepts, and barely managed a c!

I kind of regret taking this class honestly even though I did learn a lot of information regarding intimate relationships. The material is useful and interesting and Prof Karney himself is an enthusiastic lecturer. However, there isn't any structure on what important topics you have to focus on in the class to be successful with exams. You have to read a book that's about 1000 pages and for the exams, anything in it is fair game. That's about 7 or 8 long chapters for each exam. Like others have said, the exams can include tiny obscure details from the book. So, you can read the book and take good notes of every chapter and still barely pass exams. The study guides aren't helpful whatsoever. Keep in mind, there is also no extra credit offered in the class. If you want to maintain your GPA and take a course just for upper division credit, then this class is not for you.

I thought this class was super interesting, and Dr. Karney delivers it in a way that is very entertaining. Unfortunately, I took this class during quarantine, and instead of zoom he just posted old bruincast videos. I would have preferred zoom but there is a chance that that may have been worse. The exams are kinda tough. He says that no dates or names will be on the test, but a few of the questions do mention specific people and their definitions of things. Overall, I do recommend this class! It is definitely doable and worth it.

This class is very tough, if you want an easy A this is not the class. The class is interesting but once you get to the test you will regret ever taking the class. The test are so specific and you really need to study or else you will cry during the exams. He is very unclear of what is going to be on the exams and when you ask him what is going to be on the exam he just says to study everything. The class include a lot of reading and the textbook is for essential to pass the class and is a little expensive. Do not take this class if you want a high GPA. Interesting but a lot of material you will need to retain.