Greg Smithsimon

Where could I begin? I have taken many courses with Greg and I was BLESSED to have him as my professor for Senior Seminar. He was an inspiration and was always there for me when I was going through ethical struggles during my thesis. Many people complained about this course but I truly believe it was because they had not picked a thesis which they could see themselves working on for an entire year. After many conversations with him and emails going back and forth I found a topic truly inspirational for me at least. I found myself, and I put together something I will always be proud of. For that I thank Greg, for the guidance and support that he gave me. Barnard is not aware of what it has lost, and it is a shame. The whole Urban Studies Department has lost its backbone... Professor Gutfreund, and Smithsimon. I am grateful I was there when the department was at its best.

Ridiculously dreamy professor who would be a perfect 10 if he worked out a little more. Last reviewer was right, he talks way too fast to get most of what he's saying and sometimes his mouth is working faster than his brain and it just mumbles jibberish for a few seconds until his thoughts catch up. I also agree that if you're not a racist, you don't really NEED the class (although my classmates were better than the previous reviewers, and we all seemed pretty forward-thinking, or maybe just the stupid ones kept their mouths shut). He assigns a RIDICULOUS amount of reading, especially for those of us who like to read every word, but at least 89% of it is interesting. But none of this really matters anyway, since this was his last semester. I kind of feel bad for the students who will miss out on the easy-ish A and those baby blues.

I actually like Professor Smithsimon a lot. I don't really get the whole "smug" critique. I have to agree with the previous reviewer though, if you are not a racist moron then don't bother taking this class, which I refer to as "How not to be Racist 101" The class was filled with little gems like black people can't get jobs because the economy is structured to have unemployment not because they're lazy! WOW! Honestly I thought Smithsimon handled it well considering the heaps of insanely racist questions asked. I would strongly advise people not to take this course if you want to have any respect for the student body at Columbia left. One girl on the last day of class after countless days of attempted reprogramming against cultural stereotypes said "Yea but Muslims are just way too religious to assimilate." My bill for text messages went through the roof because of this class because I was constantly texting all my friends the insanely racist quotes from my classmates that made up this class. One last anecdote, a girl actually raised her hand and said "You know in Crash the scene where Ludacris is like 'oh look those white people are crossing the street because they think we're going to rob them' and then he did. Like what does that mean?" Ah how racism thrives among the enlightened body of this fine institution.

I agree with all the other reviews--he is energetic, interesting, and dedicated. He's extremely available outside of class and really works hard to get to know his students. Unforunately, I found the class itself kind of stupid. It usually went from people talking about the reading to then talking about whatever they wanted--which was great because I could participate without doing the reading--but was rather irritating sometimes.

I Loove Greg! He was so enthusiastic and helpful and passionate. Columbia REAAAAAAAlly messed up by letting him go. I absolutely loved his class. It was always interesting. And he was really hot! what more could you ask for?

I HEART GREG! Yes, his class is so boring that I want to make a break for the door 20 minutes into his lecture which he manages to deliver at top speed, mumbling most of what he's saying, but his mild attractiveness and metrosexual fashion sense keeps me seated as I try to figure him out. Overall, he is a good person and grading is more than fair... (Isn't that all that really matters?)

Oh Greggy... Beware! This class is sort of for people who need an introductory course to reality. In other words, if you already know that Black poverty/underclass is a result of structural problems and not cultural patterns, then you don't need this class, because Greg will just beat the subject like a dead horse and he's some prophet spreading the gospel. The gospel of not being a sheltered pseudo-racist I guess. I found this class boring and even a little insulting sometimes, because Greg is just so smug. He seems like one of those kids that grew up in some lily-white suburb outside of Boston, went to college and took some sociology class, and is now obsessed with teaching others like himself the plight of African Americans. Also, he's a novice professor, and he shows all the signs. His midterm was way too long for the amount of time given, plus it was just full of rote memorization-- he's one of those professors who's trying to find out what you don't know, as opposed to testing you on what you know/have learned. (X author cites 9 components of the global city. Please list them and explain their significance in 2-3 sentences. You know? Ugh! How do you explain "The Global City" in 2 sentence?) Plus, the readings come off as kind of outdated, from the late '80s, like maybe he read them when he was in college. Plus, his TAs are obnoxious, and aren't really in touch with what…

Greg is a great teacher. He designed the class in a very unconventional way: there was a choice of readings, so for each class not everyone was reading the same books. I doubted at first whether this would work out, but it turned out to be great because we brought in so many more angles than would have been possible with a single reading list. The readings he picked were all great; the title of the class "Evaluation of Evidence" is a misnomer, because no individual book is about that; the evaluation comes in comparing the books. Also, he brings a ton of energy into class, and he creates a really supportive learning environment: no matter how incorrect your comments are, he'll find some element of value in them and bring it out. He also uses a lot of real-world examples to explain concepts that might be hard to get otherwise. Really dedicated, incredibly helpful, and fun. Take any class with him. I would also disagree with the previous reviewer's comment that going on strike shows a lack of dedication to students. The afternoon before the strike, I had a long conversation with Greg in which he gave me a ton of help on my final paper. He was dedicated to his students to the end; I get the sense that when the strike is over, he'll return to the classroom just as dedicated as before.

Professor Smithsimon is very excited about his course and the material, however his lectures were increasingly boring as the semester went on. He began to give summaries of the readings, and no longer brought new or interesting ideas to the table. There was a lot of lecturing in this course, and not very much discussion. Some of the readings such as Streetwise were interesting, but many were repetitive and hard to force yourself to get through. The two assignments--both requiring interviews and research--were all right, but the grading rubric was pretty vague and unexplained. Your grade in this course really depends on which TA you get. This semester one TA was far more lenient and generous with grades while the other gave no reasons for his grading, but simply docked points. Overall this class is pretty boring if you aren't planning on becoming an Urban Studies major, but Professor Smithsimon makes a good effort, although unsuccessful in my case, to make you as interested in this course as he is.

I disagree with the negative reviews of this professor. He allows his students to express their opinion and allows us to talk about racial issues that honestly just make some students uncomfortable. But that is the beauty of his class, he is trying to expose the truth, not try and be so polite that he cannot touch upon racial issues. It is impossible to talk about city life without evaluating race relations. Also, I enjoyed his essays because he gave us room to develop our own ideas and go out into the city for a hand-on experience.