Evaluation of Evidence · Sociology
Weekly response memos, an open book midterm and final, and a research or field study project paper (8-12p) due on the last day of class.
Low and high. Work is moderate and not so difficult, so low in that sense. However, the "intangibles" I discussed will stress you out, so high.
A few very short papers; one longer term paper of 10 pages or so; and a final.
Easy, that's the upside. Weekly readings that you don't really have to do. 2 short papers, and a final. No midterm, which is awesome. Plus, he's a pretty fair/average grader.
Wow. My first semester was a blast, thanks to Professor Whitford. He exudes and energy and classroom presence that reminds me why I came to Columbia in the first place. (Why does the man not have a gold nugget by his name yet?) Sure, he goes on tangents and talks a little too fast. But he warns you of that on the first day of class. He truly has a passion for his work, and he just wants you to understand the concepts. Even after the class ended I still can apply the concepts he taught, and frequently bring them up at parties, much to my guests' chagrin. The texts can be tedious, but he has accommodating office hours and will stay after class as well to answer questions or just chat. The grading depends on the TA, but the average grade was a B-B+ with a good percentage receiving A's. Do you readings and memos and you should easily get a B. I am not a sociology major, and this class counts as my QR requirement. Still, I enjoyed hearing him speak about interesting and controversial topics, make jokes, and complain about how a 10:30am class is too early. Take this class! You will be glad you did.
WARNING WARNING WARNING I do not know where these glowing reviews of Prof Fisher are coming from. They certainly are not coming from her methods class. I have YET to meet a single student in the class who did not find her teaching extremely problematic. For one thing, her lectures are, shall we say, of limited value. AKA she simply reads from the book. Any one of the students could give the same lecture! For another thing, as another review mentioned, her grades do not always seem related to your performance and skills. You can learn the material really well and do poorly. You can also have a mediocre grasp and do well. FINALLY--favoritism. This is pretty unprofessional, but also pretty obvious. It does not matter why. If she does not like you for whatever reason, you will do worse than you deserve. If she does like you, you will do better than you deserve. I hate to write such a scathing review, but I heard the same thing from EVERY other student I have ever met who has taken her methods class. Some got A's, some barely avoided C's. This really sucks, because this class is worth four points. So what can you do? 1) You need to go to lecture. It's part of the grade. BUT you probably will hurt yourself if you closely read the chapters before the lecture. Then you will seem too smart for your own good, and she will not like you. Better to skim so that you kind of understand, then…
Any class that this guy is teaching, you should take. He's super-bright, energetic, and entertaining. The workload is very reasonable for a social science class, and he's generous with the grading. If you stay current with the reading (which is on the light side), you will walk out of the semester having definitely learned something and with a very good grade to show for it. I just graduated with honors as a Sociology major, so I can attest to the fact that this department has its fair share of nitwits. The problem is that it's superb guys like Weiss that this sucky department can't hold on to (as with David Gibson and Mary Ruggie -- two sociology professors who both left Columbia last year to teach at Harvard). So, take Weiss while you still can......he's worth it.
Levinson handed out the syllabus on the first day, and I think that over the semester we made it about half way through. Why? Because he lectures on EVERY detail in the reading. This sentence here, that word here, and continually gets lost on long, unrelated tangents. In this class, you will learn very little, and spend hous in class tuning Levinson out. The material is pretty interesting, but it's lost on Levinson's lackluster and over-obvious analysis. You can definitely find better professors for this class. If you're really interested in the subject (He focuses on medical and technology sociology), then take him. Otherwise, hold out for a better/different professor.
A book a week, not too hard, plus a one to two page memo, which helps you keep up with the reading. A 5-7 page paper. A midterm and a final, both open book/open note. So basically, if you take really good notes and read the books, you'll do fine.
By far one of the best classes I have ever taken at Columbia. Prof. Whitford is charismatic, funny, knowledgable, and incredibly good at listening to his students. Sometimes the lectures are hard to sit through, but that's only if you haven't read the book. If you did read the book, the class is fun and fast paced, but not so fast that you can't keep up, you learn a lot about sociology very quickly. This was my first introduction to sociology, and now I'm considering switching majors. Prof. Whitford is very approachable, and his weekly memos are really forgiving (you get four re-do's on the memos). If you decide to take the class, I highly recommend you go to his office hours to ask for help on the paper!