SOC 2052

Very cool class on a topic that you just wouldn't expect. Grading is pretty easy as long as readings are cited. I would recommend for those looking for a final class to complete a schedule.

I'd call this a deceptively easy class; for that reason, I expended minimal effort and generally relied on my own personal social/political knowledge to skate by most of the time. If you follow current events at all, it's really not that hard to guess what Wilcox wants to hear: the nuclear family as the quintessence of American family life, the ills of single motherhood, the dangers of cohabitation before marriage, and so on. Basically, when in doubt, revert to institutions -- whether that be the family or the church -- because Wilcox hammers them. On that point, I definitely appreciate his conservatism; it's a refreshing change of pace from the usual doctrinaire liberalism we're accustomed to in the classroom. And he doesn't foist it on the class either, instead making sure to acknowledge (even if dismissively) the other side. What's more, the guy is pretty funny, even if only in the most awkward way (I loved his outdated pop-culture references and '90s clip-art stock photos on the PowerPoints). Even if you aren't particularly interested in family issues, take the class if for no other reason than to broaden your horizons and experience academic conservatism in the age of Trump. As for the work, the grading on the first exam was admittedly harsher and far more punctilious than I expected. But after correcting for that, participating in class, writing a cogent term paper, and developing a rapport with Wilcox (and the TA) I came out with an A and felt fully satisfied with the class.

Wilcox's course is a little bland but the topic is super interesting. Definitely an easy course to fill an elective slot. The exams are easy and the papers won't be graded hard either. It's also interesting because Wilcox is a conservative sociologist, which is a very rare thing, so you get to hear a unique perspective in this class.

This course is so interesting and relevant! I now find myself applying the things I learned to my own life and relationships. Wilcox assigns a lot of readings and uses them on the exams (only two total). However, as long as you have a general idea of the week's readings, your TA will go over the important aspects in discussion! There aren't a lot of assignments, which is nice (only a eight page final research paper that's graded easily and a partner debate project). Lecture can get a little boring but if you have to miss a class, most of the info can be found in the power points (he posts them on Collab). Overall I highly recommend this class!

Very enjoyable and interesting class. You'll learn a lot about family from a viewpoint we seldom see today. Wilcox is an amazing person. The exams are really straightforward and easy and the other assignments are also pretty simple.
#tCF2020

This class is not super hard, and it's very cool to get exposure to a conservative academic like Prof. Wilcox who in no way forces his opinions down and actually tries to represent multiple perspectives with some cool guest lectures. None of the class material and statistics on marriage/single parents/etc is super mind-blowing if you have common sense, but you have to memorize some statistics from lecture for the tests. I took it during COVID so we had open note exams, but I believe they are usually closed notes. The readings are really long but he does test you on some material from them. The key to the exams is the short answer section-- those questions draw from overall course themes so it's important to do the readings. Overall, not the most fascinating or engrossing course in the world, but one that's not too hard and exposes you to a really brilliant mind from the right side of the political aisle. Great for people really interested in overlap of politics/policy and culture.
#tCF2020

This was a very easy and interesting class. About two to three readings are assigned per class, but they all include really straightforward information (as long as you have even the slightest understanding of different viewpoints on sociology topics), so they shouldn't take up too much of your time. The discussions, debates, and final paper are graded very easily and the midterm and final exams were relatively easy as well. One thing, though, is that I took the class during COVID times, so the midterm and final exams were open notes, which definitely made them much easier than they may have been otherwise.

This class was AMAZING! Brad (Professor Wilcox), provided a wonderful overview of the many concepts surrounding the idea of family. This included courtship, marriage, adoption, etc, and provided a very thorough approach to this broad topic. Discussions were well structured and interesting, and his tests were fair. The paper can sound daunting, but if you start it well enough in advance, you can easily find all the resources you need to formulate a good argument. Overall, I would definitely suggest taking this class!

Ok here's the deal, readings = super interesting, lectures = not so much. Grades consist of 1 debate (easy), midterm, final, and one 8 page paper. The paper can be on anything so start it early there is no need to wait until he mentions it. I thought the material was pretty interesting, wilcox is a little dry but so it goes. But yea, go into this class knowing you DO need to do the reading.

You learn so much from this class. It was fun actually having it in person. Brad Wilcox is a big name in the sociology world, especially one researching family values. I see many reviews call him biased and "traditionalist". He does start the class saying his class promotes marriage and more classic family values, but a lot of the stuff he covers combines elements of different views of the family. Plus, he welcomes viewpoints different to his – he explicitly states this.
The work devoted to it was a little overwhelming. There is quite a bit of reading for each class, something like 2-3 chapters per class. There's often a lot of data and information points mentioned. You need to know the general points. And although you don't need to read for lecture, you need to for your discussion section. I would suggest taking some quick notes for each reading. It'll help so much for the exams. There is a midterm and a final. We had to cite from readings and lecture so those notes will be crucial in saving you time! There's a debate you need to do in discussion. It wasn't graded harshly. The prep (research and practice) was stressful and time consuming. You need to look at a lot of research and text. The final paper was worse: 8 pages double-spaced using readings from classes and outside. Try to start that early.
I would recommend this class if you're interested in learning about marriage, divorce, cohabitation, hooking up, having kids, and the work-life balance. You learn what the data determines as the paths of happiness in each of these areas. This class is one of the more fascinating at UVA.
#tCFspring2021