SOC 3700

I was nervous coming into this class. The syllabus can appear intimidating at first glance, but that being said, I could not be happier that I stuck with it. Professor Skubby lays every single detail out in the syllabus, so while it seems like a lot, everything you will need to succeed is in there. You are required to write one reflection paper, though you can write a second one if you want a better grade, a midterm after every unit that includes short answer and multiple choice, and a final noncumulative test in addition to the final paper. In the end, it can be a lot, so I recommend starting the final paper sooner rather than later. I ended up rushing at the end, and my final paper was my lowest grade. That being said, his test questions were directly from the slides, and he dropped the lowest test grades. Tests also include extra credit questions. I averaged around a 94 on the tests and easily got an A overall. Skubby also makes himself available to students and will edit and return your essays before you officially turn them in. He really does want you to succeed and love sociology as much as he does. Just stay on top of the readings and work on essays as early as you can; otherwise, just enjoy this wonderful teacher and class!

The syllabus for this course intimidated me. I had never taken a sociology class before, and the amount of readings/essays/quizzes scared me. However, I couldn't be happier that I decided to take the class with Professor Skubby. Professor Skubby creates his lectures, which are straightforward and engaging. While I was familiar with some of the early content, I learned plenty of new and interesting content later in the semester.
Here is my advice: do not procrastinate. I know that advice is basic, but seriously, this class is super easy if you give yourself plenty of time to do the work. For example, you'll be required to write a reflection on one of the five books you read for class. Write the reflection paper for the first or second book—don't wait to write it for the last book when you'll be busy writing your term paper. Another piece of advice is to take advantage of Professor Skubby's office hours. He is very kind and patient—he read over and gave me detailed feedback on both my term paper and reflection paper before I had to submit them. The midterms were likely the hardest assignments because he couldn't offer feedback before you submit them—I would recommend asking your TA (who will be grading your midterm/final) for advice on what they want to see in your paper. Also, while the syllabus describes the quizzes as "pop quizzes," Professor Skubby always informed us of the quiz a class period before we had to take it.
Furthermore, he offers extra credit in the form of quiz questions (on optional readings/the syllabus) and awards preparation. If you submitted a term paper proposal and completed your bibliography before certain dates, he added up to 3 extra points to your term paper grade.
Overall, I am so happy I took this class. Don't let the amount of work scare you—use your resources, take your time, and enjoy this wonderful class!

I thought the content of this class was really interesting however definitely not an "Easy A" class. All of our assignments were written, including the midterm and the exam, and they were graded fairly hard. Professor Skubby is a great professor however keep in mind the workload!

I took this course in Fall 2020. It was an in-person/hybrid course but I did it completely virtually.

This class is incredibly interesting and approaches health from the individual level to the broader societal level. Professor Skubby is a very understanding professor who is very down to earth and seems to really appreciate when students share their points of view. The class involves a lot of writing and reading, but Professor Skubby is very clear about his expectations so all of the papers (and even the midterms) have exact outlines of what you should write. The workload includes occasional reading for discussions, reading a book every 2-3 weeks for a small group discussion, two reflection papers on books of your choice, a final paper on a topic of your choice, a midterm, and a final. I would definitely recommend this course because the content is interesting and Professor Skubby is a really great teacher.

I absolutely LOVED Professor Skubby. He's got a lil bit of a lisp, but it's something you get past after the first week. He loves the topic and and he cares a lot about his students, so he is more than willing to help out his students via email or office hours (he's also willing to meet outside of office hours if need be). My one piece of advice for you guys is this: for Reflection papers, he doesn't want any actual like terminology or stuff like that. He really just wants some pure emotion behind it. If you go to office hours, he'll ask you to send you his stuff before hand, and if you leave questions throughout the paper, he'll be sure to answer it for you.

Professor Skubby is absolutely fantastic. He's super passionate and he's a good teacher. He grades essays/tests very fairly. The material in this class is easy to grasp and really interesting. I would definitely recommend this class for anyone pursuing a job in healthcare who wants to hear the other side- this class helps you grasp the problems with the medical system today.

Loved Skubby and found the course material to be pretty interesting. The majority of the work assigned for this course is writing papers. We also read 5 book throughout the semester. There is a lot of writing like I said but it seems to be manageable. Majority of the classes (on Tuesday and thursday) are just lecture days so you pretty much just need to show up and take notes. When no papers are assigned for the week, it goes by pretty easily. Recommend this course!

Lots of work but definitely a rewarding and engaging class.

I'm a sociology major, and in my opinion, this is one of the best classes that you can take within the sociology department (regardless of your major). Professor Skubby is a fairly engaging lecturer and I never found lectures to be too boring that I fell asleep. At first you may find much of the material repetitive/review (especially if you have a background in sociology), but as the course goes on it gets progressively more interesting. There is also a high amount of writing as others have mentioned, but I found the writing to be fairly engaging as well. Some of the readings can be dry/long, but discussion definitely helped make the material more accessible. My TA Heidi was amazing and a very fair grader. I also recommend you go to Skubby's office hours at least once if you take this course, even if just to chat with him. Overall, I think a good grade is very accessible in this course if you put in the work.

Skubby is a very kind person; the polar opposite of a pompous professor. This class was interesting, however the amount of writing required has far surpassed the level of any other course I have taken at UVA. (I'm a science major, but I have taken a philosophy and a history thesis course). There are memos due once every few weeks, weekly prep sheets on half of a book for the discussion, at least one reflection paper, a white paper, and essay exams. Also, this class is very critical of the medical system, so if you are premed be prepared to face some opposition to the profession! Overall, the content made this class worthwhile. I've never been exposed to any of this material before.

Skubby is the best! I took this class in his first semester at UVA and I loved this course. He frames the class in a way to encourage participation and discussion, which I found very helpful in learning the material. He can be strict on papers and exams, but if you've done the reading, which isn't a lot, you will be fine. He can tell who has been putting in the time and you get paid off if you do. I highly recommend this class, but do not expect to do nothing and get an A!