One of the sociology department's gems. I don't understand the slander of the review below mine because this class was so standout to me. Not only are Professor Speer's expectations clear, but the structure of his class is very fair. If you work hard, it pays off. If you slack off, don't expect a good grade. I think that should go for any class at UCLA, although it doesn't always, as so many classes don't feel that your work actually translates to your overall grade. I also appreciated how he didn't let students use the restroom during the final, mandated masks/pushed for testing, and even provided pencils if we forgot them...can't say my other professors have been as applaudable with any of that. He was also very responsive via email and was always available to provide feedback or help where needed. His class was very interesting. I would definitely recommend any of his classes and look forward to taking more with him in the future.

Very boring lecturer so it’s hard to stay engaged. Doesn’t give back grades on research paper, final, and other until minutes before the deadline, long after class is finished. TAs weren’t consistent with grading. This was a non math methods course but if it weren’t for that, I would stay away from this professor

Sociology was the first GE that I took here at UCLA, and definitely one that I would take again. Speer was an engaging professor who really tried to help us understand the material he was presenting. In addition, his TA's were all top notch and really helped clarify anything that we didn't get in class. Soc 1 was a great class, and I would definitely take this again.

Would definitely take this class again. Professor Speer is an amazing lecturer and is young so he understands students better than older professors. The material is a tad confusing but he does a good job of getting you to read and comprehend through homework questions that are very specific to the readings!

The class was very straightforward. If you do homework and study, you can easily get an A.

Easy class in the summer sessions. Seems much reading but professor provides questions to guide you. Easy midterm and final that you only need to spend a couple of hours to remember the stuff and the questions are basic. Majority of the students get an A. Recommend this class.

Literally the easiest class at ucla. TAKE THIS CLASS. The midterm and final consist of matching, multiple choice, and fill in the blanks. This is an EASY A class. You can do minimum work and be fine. Just memorize things and pay attention in discussion!

Professor Speer's class was by far one of the easiest classes I've ever taken. He puts all of the slides online and gives study guides for the paper, midterm, and final (which is non cumulative). We also had one paper, but he gives you basically free reign on the topic and how you want to go about writing it.
There is weekly reading and questions which can get pretty dense, but it's pretty interesting. It's clear that he's passionate about sociology and clearly explains all concepts during lecture. Participation counts; you have to participate three times during the quarter to get full credit.

Personally, I enjoyed this class. However, I can see why people did not. The actual content of the class, while easy to understand, is pretty boring, which makes lectures very boring as well. However, I wouldn't really blame this on Speer himself, since no matter how you teach it, the concept of "Comparative and Historical methods" is going to be boring nonetheless. He did try to compensate for it, such as through interesting readings, case studies, and him being funny. The final essay, while 10 pages, allows you to choose any topic and the TAs grade it leniently. The tests are also really easy as long as you study and pay attention in class. Just a heads up that the further the course goes, the readings do become a bit longer and more difficult to understand, but they're still manageable. Honestly the only complaints I have are whenever you ask Speer a question, he sometimes does come off as a bit sassy (as others have noted), but IMO he's just blunt like that and means no harm. Also, he's becoming a bit paranoid of AI and will go on random rants about it (he also makes you do your work on a google doc so he can see your version history). However, since this class does not have any math whatsoever and it is very easy, I highly recommend it to get your methods requirement done. Note: speer says taking sociol 101 before this class is "recommended" but I didn't take it yet and still found this course really easy so you should be fine

This is a pretty easy class. Sometimes the homework can get boring or repetitive, but it is still worth doing because the exams are based so heavily off the homework. Even so, the homework is not that bad. Take this class. Trust me. You will have a easy time.