STS 4500

Jack Brown is a good 4500 professor. He keeps you working on the necessary thesis assignments and is fair grader. He is really accessible and helpful, which makes finding a good STS topic easier. It seems that he assigns more work than other 4500 professors, but nothing overbearing.

Has a sense of humor, and a good taste in ties. I would take this class with him again.

This was one of my favorite classes at UVa, and I wish more engineering classes could be taught in a discussion style with an engaging professor. Professor Brown is an excellent instructor. He made it very clear what he expected of students, yet was flexible enough to allow them a significant amount of freedom in the assignments they completed. He did an excellent job of explaining what the overall goal of the Fourth-Year Thesis is and how the Prospectus fits into the larger picture. By November, I had some friends in other sections who didn’t understand what they were expected to do for the Prospectus; I had no such issues since it was laid out very clearly from the second week of class.

Discussions were always engaging and interesting, and they made me jealous of liberal arts students who get to take many of their courses in this format. The readings were generally interesting, but it was still possible to participate in discussion without doing the reading. Giving students discussion questions before class allowed for a more informed and fluid discussion with few awkward silences. One of my favorite aspects of the course was the variety of majors in the class. Any aspect of engineering would prompt the input of students studying that field: Systems Engineers would step in to explain economics and market forces concepts, Aerospace Engineers would describe relevant aeronautical technologies, etc. Discussions always ended by relating the day’s topics to the modern challenges of engineers and society, so I never had a moment of wondering, “Why am I in this course, what purpose is this serving?” And lest things get too dull, Professor Brown would readily read off a set of the funnies to give busy minds a break.