TAKE THIS CLASS! As a transfer student I was nervous about the transition from a Community College to a 4-year University. Professor Speer made sure that my experience in this class was a positive one. I will admit some of the readings were difficult, but Speer went over them in class and discussed it until everyone understood. Such a caring and understanding person in light of everything going on. I really wanted to take him for Sociology 182 for Winter 2020, but the class filled up so fast, and rightfully so. Speer is hands down the BEST professor in this department. Honestly, the BEST professor at UCLA!! Also if you're good he'll show his dogs Bogart and Nyla.

I was told Speer was supposed to be the best but I didn't see it. he's not terrible but he didn't live up to the hype

TAKEN DURING COVID-19 ONLINE INSTRUCTION:

Speer is a great professor, he engages with his students a LOT in his slides-based lectures which makes the classes go by super fast. He is friendly and likes to see students engage with the material, makes himself very accessible for office hours. He canceled our midterm and restructured our class to assist students having difficulties with online learning, which was really appreciated.

He has a cute dog that he often shows us before/after class, which many of us really got a kick out of. Speer is a HIGH DEMAND professor so if you're able to take a class with him I definitely recommend prioritizing it when you register so you can actually get in!

The final paper was 30% of our grade and based on assessing Marx and his predictions on capitalism, so if you are into Marxism, this class will definitely be an interesting one! One thing I will say though is that it was fairly long (8 pages) and required 5+ outside credible sources, so it took up a lot of my energy. The readings are very hard to understand but his slides are set up to help you process them before and after, which I appreciated as well. You read works by Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.

I recommend him as a professor for SOCIOL101, which is an especially dense class that is made very digestible by him.

Professor Speer was such an amazing professor - he was very understanding and approachable. The class was recorded and attendance was not mandatory. The material was very interesting and applicable to what is currently happening today. We had weekly readings and reading questions to turn in. The questions helped me understand the main points of the readings. There was supposed to be a midterm, but he canceled it last minute and instead we had a cumulative final. We had to write an 8 paged literature review on a question we created in the beginning of the quarter. The final exam was take home.

Absolute worst professor I have ever taken at UCLA. Does not care about his students well being, nor does he care about the learning process of his class to begin with. He did not give us back our final grade, our research paper grade, or half of our homework scores until the night before grades were finalized. From a student who gets straight As at ucla, avoid this professor.

Speer can be a little annoying with how repetitive his lectures are. Still, the class itself is super easy and I found that his repetition actually turned out to be really helpful because hearing the same information multiple times helped drill it into my mind. He might come across as a bit condescending at first, but as the class goes on you'll see that he cares a lot about his students' success and does his best to provide helpful resources and give advice for exams and the paper in lectures. The tests were super easy and don't even really require that much studying as long as you attended the lectures. The final 10-page research paper was the most crucial part of the class and although it's tough, you get to choose your own topic and they didn't grade it that harshly. Overall, a really good class for the methods requirement especially if you're scared of the other more math-heavy options.

Speer taught Sociology 185 based on inequalities within American society. We were graded on homework assignments (T.A. checks them for completion in discussion section), participation in discussion section (we go over the homework assignments), a research paper (literature review), then a midterm and final, and course evals. The homework assignments are timely to do since we are given around 50+ pages to read a week, but they are helpful for the tests to study. The midterm/final are fair and easy if you study. Lecture can get borings at times but overall were clear. Ultimately I believe this is a class everyone should take because it really does open your eyes to the inequalities within American society. I'd say it is fairly an easy class just as long as you stay engaged, attend lecture, and study.

Professor Speer is a great professor here at UCLA. In this class we are graded on participation in discussion section, homework assignments that are graded based off of completion in discussion section, midterm and final, a paper, and course evaluations. Professors Speer teaches with lecture slides that were clear and helpful but also he was great at making the complicated theories easier to understand. The homework assignments were dense and time consuming, but completing them and doing the readings for them are really helpful for studying for the midterm/final. With the midterm/final they are easy if you study and he does not try to trick you on them. Ultimately, this class is easy to pass as long as you keep up with lectures, homework assignments and study!

Note: Professor Speer does not record lectures so going to them is very important to understand the material!

Speer is a great professor, who clearly cares about his students. The structure of the class is meant to help students truly learn, and this topic was incredibly though provoking. I can confidently say that I left the course with a greater understanding of race and ethnicity relations in the United States, both from a historic and current perspective. The class has a midterm and a final, which are typically multiple choice and short answer responses. There is also a 6-8 page essay. Speer is very easy to understand, and does a good job explaining concepts. This was my first class with Speer, and I already plan to take a few more classes with him during my time at UCLA.

I came into the class with a degree of indifference and feel as though I came out the same way. Very reasonable coursework with the easiest exams I have taken since high school. Professor Speer is extremely passionate about what he elects to discuss but that occasionally leads to tangential narratives that have less relevance to the coursework. In short, Sociology 1 with Professor Speer is a solid, well-around course.