STS 4500

Strongly recommend taking 4500 with Prof. Norton. The class is mostly spent on group discussions of different articles related to various STS topics (You decide as a group which articles each person reads and switch groups 3-4 times during the semester) and learning about how to write a strong (thesis) proposal (I found this extremely useful even after graduating). The other main assignments in the class include a casebook group project, where you study an STS phenomenon or event and write a wiki page and give one or two presentations on it, as well as the thesis proposal document. Pretty easy A/A+ as long as you spread your workload over the semester. Prof. Norton is extremely passionate about teaching the class and dedicated to each student's projects and success. Highly recommend!

If you are in between who to take for STS 4500 this is your sign to take Professor Norton! He is a great lecturer (mostly because he is really passionate about what he's talking about), the readings/small group discussions are pretty interesting too (classes are really chill you never have to share anything with the whole class), and he gives a lotttt of instruction and feedback on the big (e-school required) writing assignments which I heard was not true for most sts professors. I enjoyed his class enough to take him again for 4600!

Peter Norton is an engaging lecturer and this course contains a lot of interesting material, especially compared to other professors for this course. The class doesn't require a lot of work other than doing some very short readings every week - most of which are actually very interesting. Peter Norton is also a very particular professor who likes things to be a certain way. He insists your writing uses very concise, short sentences - and if you don't write this way he will take off points. His grading is quite subjective but there aren't many assignments so it doesn't matter too much. If you are on your phone or laptop and not making eye contact with him when he's speaking he will stop and ask you to pay attention. If you try to eat in his class he will ask you to stop. If you use the bathroom or get water during the class he will announce to everyone that you shouldn't leave during class. If you fall asleep in class he will ask the person next to you to wake you up. I found the content of his class very interesting but I have never had a professor that insisted that every student give him 100% of your attention every minute of the class. Despite his peculiarities, I still would probably choose to take the class with him if I had a choice.

Went into this class with absolutely 0 positive expectations based on my experience with other STS classes, but Pnort is easily one of the best lecturers I've ever had at UVA and I loved the class. He is incredibly passionate and prepared about the lecture material, and lectures usually just turn into interesting discussions between him and the discussion groups. No written homework, you just read 2 short articles before each class and then talk about them as a group. Professor Norton is very generous offering help with thesis writing, and is really just a genuinely good guy overall. If you're present and paying attention in class, he will like you and your grade will work itself out. Couldn't recommend this professor any more!

Pretty sure Norton has no idea what he's doing. I took this class with him in the fall and got a B+, switched to a professor considered to be more difficult in the spring and got an A. Boring lectures, but easy class with virtually no work. However, Norton's grading scheme is subjective and suspect. He wants everyone to write in short, terse, boring sentences and will take off points if you don't.

Professor Norton provides fantastic guidance on finding an STS research topic and for writing a great Prospectus. I've never had a 75 minute class pass by so quickly. I often find myself bringing up class topics in random conversations outside of class because the material is always relevant and interesting. Professor Norton is a great lecturer and extremely easy to talk to. I highly recommend taking STS 4500 with Professor Norton, his course has been one of my favorites.