SOC 3700

I’m not sure why the reviews for this class are so positive. This class was a bad experience. The amount of work is absolutely absurd. The lectures are mediocre. The professor can be extremely disrespectful. I write this review as a warning: don’t take this class.

Absolutely do NOT take this class if you can avoid it at any cost. skubby is a nice guy but this is the 3rd hardest class i've ever taken, right behind biochem and orgo 2. the grading is absolutely absurd, I got exactly 1 grade above an a- the entire semester, and went to office hours at least 20 times and implemented all his suggestions. exams are ridiculous, essay style questions where you're required to cite every single lecture/reading every piece of info is from which is IMPOSSIBLE as there is easily 5 hours of reading/week. me and others went to him for our final paper, and he told us it was great just for us all to get B's. i don't think he bothers to grade the essays, simply assigns an arbitrary grade.

WARNING: DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! This class is genuinely one of the worst classes I have taken. The content of the class seems so interesting, but this class is so poorly designed, especially with Professor Skubby. He is a nice person, yes, but he is NOT a good teacher. He expects you to have photographic memory, for example: you have to be able to cite every lecture you got your information from (MLA style) on all your 4 Unit Exams (which are handwritten, Blue Book, no notes, timed). The slides from each day aren't even posted-- he expects you to get notes from friends or stop by his office hours to copy down notes (in 15 mins). Here is the coursework: 4 Handwritten Unit Exams (20%), 4 Reflection Papers (10%), 4 Memos (10%), 4 Groupwork Prep sheets (10%), paricipation that is graded by your group (10%), 1 30-source annotated bibliography, 1 11-page term paper (hard cuttoff, and it includes references which you have to cite at least 20) (20%), and a final paper which he says you cannot physically get a 100% on (he either gives 95, 85, 75, or 65, with no in between) (20%). Additionally, I have read 5 books, 50 articles, and am expected to be able to reference all of them on the spot. You have to write notes in every class and be able to reference your peers by their name, or you get a 0. He maxes out participation at 95%, even though it is graded by your group??? One other key moment that stands out is when he said we could get our term paper reviewed by him before final submissions. He gives you some comments, and when you ask if there are things you should change, he says no. THEN YOU GET A B/C because he expects you to read his mind about comments he had afterwards??? He fails you if you use improper research methods on the term paper, even if we have never been exposed to research methods in the past and he doesn't teach it in class, so we are just expected to have been born with this knowledge ig?? His feedback on your work is also all handwritten, and he has illegible handwriting. My friends and I literally play guessing games with it. We also all get drunk after every exam to COPE WITH THIS CLASS. If you like pain and suffering, take this class, but if you are a human being who wants professors that understand the limitations to BEING HUMAN, do NOTTTTT take this class, it is not worth the time and stress it is.

NEVER EVER EVER TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! RUN THE OTHER WAY! I MADE AN ACCOUNT JUST TO WARN YOU GUYS! I really enjoyed the course content HOWEVER this class is genuinely WAY too much work for any singular class. For this class, I have read four entire books and over 50+ readings. I have written four unit exams (with four long essay questions each), four reflection papers, four papers on the readings from class, four papers on the unit books, an annotated bibliography on 20 articles, and an 11 page research paper that I had to read each of the 20+ scholarly articles for due the day before thanksgiving. Not to mention there is still a final paper. I have done four Socratic seminar style class discussions and a small group discussion every single class and I have written so many notes that I get hand cramps. His grading is so difficult to understand, he barely gives any feedback and the feedback given is handwritten and illegible. When you ask for clarification, he barely elaborates or he gets upset and threatens your grade. He refuses to give anyone over a 95 for participation, even tho it is peer graded, and on the final, you can only get a 95, 85, 75, or 65 (nothing in between, so it is a whole letter grade drop). WAY too difficult and exhausting.

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.