I have never felt the need to write a review until I took this class. Professor Anderson is quite hard to work with, both from student and TA perspective. She is very rigid and is unwilling to comply to outside factors that can impact a student's focus and school engagement. Understandably, she is against A.I. (which I had no qualms with), but the fact that she teaches about mental health and has so empathy or sympathy is crazy to me. I had a lot of personal things going on while taking the class and she did not care at all. Her class is structured with mandatory discussion sections, one Persuall assignment due on Wednesday's, and on Thursday's you submit a discussion post and take a quiz. YOU HAVE TO DOWNLOAD A LOCKDOWN BROWSER FOR THIS CLASS. This wasn't a deal breaker for me but it is crucial information for some. Also she uses Google Docs and needs you to include it in a specific spot or else you just loose credit, even if the work was 100% yours or if it was submitted in a different spot. If you want to do well in this class, know every material front and back as if you were the author. It's bad when the TA's think the way she operates, makes decisions, and grades is literally robotic. The course material is very interesting but genuinely just find a similar class or different professor if the subject matter interests you. Save yourself the hassle and protect your peace. I really enjoyed the course if it wasn't for how the professor is dismissive of her students and the efforts they put in, especially if it is their first time taking a class in this department with no prior knowledge of the subject matter. It makes students not want to try and/or exploring the material further.

Avoid this class at all costs. Professor Anderson is one of the most rigid and unapproachable instructors I’ve ever encountered. There is absolutely no room for conversation, especially when it comes to grading or clarification. She is extremely heavy-handed and strict about AI usage. You’ll be required to submit a Google Doc edit history link with every assignment so she can monitor everything you typed, every change, every revision. It feels invasive and unnecessary, especially for a sociology course.

Points are deducted randomly, often in tiny amounts like 0.1 or 0.3 points, but she gives no explanation or feedback when this happens. She’ll even call you out on Canvas for “using AI” or “not watching lectures” or “not reading,” even when there's no proof. She tracks your time spent on Perusall readings and makes assumptions based on those numbers.

The TAs are supposed to do most of the grading, but even they don’t have any power. If you want to contest a grade, Professor Anderson won’t answer your emails—she makes you go to office hours, and even then, she often won’t budge. Everything is up to her and her subjective judgment.

Expect weekly proctored quizzes with only 4 questions, and they’re always super specific, focusing on tiny, random details from the readings. Each week also includes a Perusall reading assignment, a discussion post, and often multiple readings along with over 100 minutes of video lectures. The workload is extremely heavy. The midterm is an essay and the final is an oral exam—again, graded solely by her.

This class felt more like surveillance than education. There’s no way to improve your grade, no opportunity to advocate for yourself, and no sense of fairness. I don’t recommend this professor under any circumstances.