Brubaker is a great professor, just don't take this class if you're taking it as an easy GE. I took it because it is a requirement for soc majors and I got a 99% even though I was stressing the whole quarter after he told us the class tends to be a B average. You definitely do have to put in some work for this class to get an A but it really is nothing crazy if you understand the material. You NEED to pay attention in lecture and do the readings, however, or it will become too much to catch up on before tests. This class is not a super easy A but it is really nothing crazy. The class is genuinely very interesting and I learned a lot, and you can tell Brubaker is very passionate about what he teaches.

Worst Professor I have ever had. Has ridiculous expectations and is absolutely no help. He made the class soo boring. He needs to stop teaching and retire. Does not let you use electronics because he cant comprhend how to use technology so you cant either. Horrible and awful teacher and very rude. First he said electronics were optional then on day two of class I take out my computer and he outs me in front of the entire class asking if I attended the first class in an obnoxious way and made it seem like I was the stupid one even though he literally forgot what he stated on day 1. Hopefully no one takes a class with him and if you do switch to a different professor.

Love the professor, but is a little stubborn in his way. We went online in during the period of time when we were supposed to take our midterm, both exams are 'in-person' and all written answers. The midterm was canceled and the final exam was first 35% and went to 50% of our final grade. This is not illegal to do, but it felt wrong as there was a paper and other means to distribute the weight of our final grade.

I love the professor as a teacher and would definitely take more classes with him, and our TA was also very good at their job, this is the only thing that rubbed me the wrong way the entire course.

Brubaker is kind of a difficult prof to take class with. He gets upset/distracted if people get up and leave early or come in late. He uses iclickers. Assigns tons of readings, and grades super harshly on the midterm, final, and paper. I wouldn't recommend taking this class if you just want an easy GE.

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Brubaker is a really talented speaker/lecturer and is actually really renown in this field. However I think this is my least favorite class I've taken thus far. There's a ton of PDF readings on various sociological concepts (so much printing that I think would eventually cost as much as a course reader honestly) and I personally didn't find many that interesting or useful in life. Although the concepts are really easy to understand if you read about them and take notes, I think Brubaker realizes this and intentionally tries to make the class harder by giving ridiculous exams. If you study really well, it's almost impossible to finish in time. I don't get the point of requiring so much writing in an exam, it's as though my understanding of the class content should be measured by how fast I can write/regurgitate info. I remember being so annoyed taking the exams because I felt as though we don't even have enough time to give the "good" responses they're looking for. What makes it worse is how arbitrary the grading is for exams. Points get knocked off like no one's business and you won't know why because they don't leave comments for how to improve or what was missing. But as for the content, the class was okay and I learned a lot of info, but it almost feels insignificant. Wouldn't recommend taking this with Brubaker if you just want an easy GE but if you're a soc major and care about this stuff, Brubaker would be a great professor to learn from!

At the beginning of class I wasnt sure what to expect, but this class was really enjoyable. The reading load was a bit heavy, but all of the readings were very intersting. The professor was extrenly helpful during lectures he discussed all the readings in detail and provided more examples to make things understandable. His lectures are bruincasted so you could always rewatch. There were clicker question quizzes at the beginning of every class based on the readings, but the questions were easy enough as long as you did the readings. He gave study guides for the midterm and final which were exactly like the exams with less material. If you keep up with the readings this class should be fine! So interesting and such a passionate professor! Recommend!!

I would say this is a very balanced GE. Definitely recommend it!

The graded materials consisted of a midterm, a final, a paper, discussion attendance, and a few iClicker questions every lecture that were related to the readings.

Brubaker is very reading-heavy, especially for an intro course like this. It's often 20-30 pages a week, though he does often exclude many of the sections. Each lecture has a pair of iClicker questions related to the readings from the night before, so it's in your best interest to at least keep up with the general ideas of each reading.

He requires the purchase of one "textbook," which is really just a ~$15 book on some general basics of sociology. The rest of the readings are posted on CCLE.

The exams were fairly tough, as they required knowledge from all of the readings to answer completely. 7/10 on each long answer score is fairly common, as your answer needs to excellent to get a 9 or a 10.

Brubaker is a great presenter that brought an incredible amount of energy and passion to his lectures. He shows genuine excitement in what he's talking about. He can get a bit too conceptual at times, but tends to be very clear.

Overall, a good professor that presents clearly and structures presentations really well.

I really thought Dr. Brubaker was one of the best professors I've had so far, though his ratings may not say so. His class was difficult no doubt and involved quite a bit of reading, but the readings were very interesting. I also took his honors seminar, which was not too bad (additional readings and writeups every week). We had some pretty engaging discussions. Overall, he really seems to care for his students.