URBS V3420

Workload would be fair and doable if the grading scale wasn't based on vibes and feedback wasn't nonexistent.

If you do all the "required reading" its ALOT. If you go to class and take notes on EVERYTHING she says because its hard to write the final exam paper without it - its still a good amount of work. If you're really good at writing sociological papers and like writing them...take it. IF NOT, DO NOT.

DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. A lot of the content is interesting but it is never unpacked in a nuanced or engaging way. Too much of the course is left up to student discussion and when no one does the reading (which is often), you will get nothing out of the hours you are wasting in this course.

So basically the class was a waste of time. While it did fulfill my Barnard Social Analysis Requirement, I was quite often zoning out and there was really no need to go to the class if you could understand her power points. The class is mainly how race (black vs white basically) works in the city, so if you find that a little aggravating don't take the class. I got aout with a B+. The TA's grade the paper and honestly depending on who grades your paper and what mood there in your grade can change exponentially. A lot of work outside of class is required and you will be expected to interview strangers who quite often cop a tude.

The workload is not that heavy, just one reading before each class and three 1500 wd papers spread throughout the semester. The first section of the class was mostly based on one book, and after that it was single articles. Since the class is so discussion-heavy, it's really important to do the readings, and hard to bs your way through them when you talk.

three 4-5 page papers about a specific census tracts and a 5-6 page take home final. pretty light overall.

Urban sociology was a pretty good class. I'm an urban studies major so I already knew Professor Passell, and agree with him when he says the course shouldn't be called an intro class. Having a background in urban studies or sociology is definitely helpful in this class, though not a prerequisite. The class is split into three broad topics (neighborhoods, gentrification, and suburbs) and is well organized. It's pretty dependent on student participation, so if people didn't do the reading before class or didn't feel like talking it was slow. However when people were engaged it was really interesting and Professor Passell was great at directing the conversation.

This class was an absolute waste of time save for the interesting field work. Professor Olvera simply summarized the various readings in each class and as a result most people just stopped showing up. I found her lectures to be boring at best and terrible at worst. I did not complete any of the readings after the first week and I was just fine in the class grade-wise. Overall, if you are interested in urban sociology, perhaps take this course but skip lecture and do the readings or just don't take the course at all.

5 pg report describing a census tract in new york - 20% 5 pg report describing field observations in the census tract - 20% 5 pg report describing interviews with ppl in same tract - 20% take home final - 25% attendance/participation - 15% (and if this is true, i don't know how many are passing....)

Passell is a cool guy who teaches cool stuff. But he doesn't really teach this class like an intro class. A lot of his readings are super dense and discouraging. And his papers are super creative and requires you to hit all these marks that you ultimately miss and it is difficult to give him what he wants in regards to his papers.