SOC 3020

If you are a sociology major, this is requirement so there is no way around it. It's actually an easy and interesting class. There are two midterms and the final and they are all open notes. This means if you go to all the lectures (where Fuchs basically regurgitates the very dense reading from Marx, Weber and Durkheim) you will be just. Also go to discussion because its mandatory but also because Paul Rosenstein is the best! He's easy on the eyes and has the best voice ever! I think he's graduating though so... It's a theory class so I can see how boring it can be for some people but other than that I would recommend it if you are just looking to fulfill a requirement. I never did the readings and I got an A.

As many other reviews mention it is a requirement for the sociology major however I found it to be very interesting. It is kinda dense, but so long as you take good notes to use during the open note tests, and pay attention, it's all good! Not much I can say on Fuchs, I liked him as a professor and he was a good lecturer in terms of letting you know exactly what he wanted you to, not much personality though. I liked him a lot regardless though!
SO if you have to take the class for your major, never fear, its great! And if you're looking for just a sociology class to take, the one may be a bit dense for you and it helps to be familiar with the discussed theory and sociologists, but you could easily keep up!

The professor basically talked off the wall for the entire 50 minutes about very abstract philosophical concepts. The general consensus is if you write down verbatim what Fuchs says, you'll succeed in this class, because exams are open-book and open-note, and exams only test your understanding of the lectures. The readings are dense, but you can get away with not reading easily.

I was really excited for this class because I thought that learning social theory would be incredibly cool and mind blowing, but I was majorly disappointed. The material is incredibly dense, and I walked out of every class with a sore arm because Fuchs starts talking the moment class starts and does not take a breath until class is over. The exams are open note, so you have to write down every single word he says because everything is fair game. I thought that I would get an easy A because the exams are open note, but they are essay format exams, so instead of just regurgitating the information, you have to apply it. The weekly readings for section are long and dense, but there are reading guides to help you out, and you'll be able to follow along even if you do not read. I often felt like the lectures and discussions did not really match up, but I guess that depends on whoever the TA is; I had Mary Collier Wilkes, and she was so nice and lovely, but the discussion was definitely not easy--you have to know your information. Overall, fine class. You should do fine if you take vigorous notes, but the class isn't all it's cracked up to be

This is one of those classes you either love or love to hate. I happen to fall in the latter category, but I can also understand why people would love this class. Fuchs is...a character. His lecture style is very slow and quiet, which lulled me to sleep more often than not. The class consists of readings on Marx, Durkheim, and Weber (which just wasn't my thing) and you have two midterms (20% each), a final (40%), and discussion with reading quizzes which could be relatively difficult since the readings are dense(20%). The exams are open note and aren't that hard, so as long as you attend lecture you can get away with quoting Fuchs verbatim on exams. You do need to do the readings for discussion though, which is a bummer. Its not bad for soc majors, but if you're not obligated to take this class and dont have a passion for abstract philosophy, I'd recommend other soc classes.