billy Close is a great professor, he is down to earth, funny and actually cares about his students. He has opened my eyes to the issues surrounding race in ways someone who only cares very passionately about an issue could.

Dr. Close is a great teacher. His class is not just Blk and Wht he also talks of other Ethnic groups. Hit test is multiple choice so it's pretty hard to be **** in that aspect and he lets everyone voice their opinions. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

The class is pretty hard and he takes attendence, but lectures are interesting and he makes you think. I'd probably take him again.

Very good professor, I very much respect him. Does alot to expose racism in the criminal justice system, he does not get the respect that he deserves.

One of the best professors at FSU. I learned alot from this man

I think he's an awesome teacher. The only problem is he doesn't sugar coat the race issue in American and being of mixxed race I understand both side of the argument. My dads relatives were confederates and my mothers relatives are black so most of the things he says are true. Whites are more sucessfull because...Well who invented government?

My favorite class since attending FSU. And this was a 8 A.M. Class. You must come to class for the videos which you must do reaction papers and so he can break down what you need to know. Couple tests which is about some of the reading and class lectures.

Dr. Close is a very smart individual. I took his CCJ4662 11:00 class and it worked out just right. You need to attend every class if you want to do well. He takes attendence and do all the reaction papers. I learned alot from Dr. Close.

Dr.Close class was very good it's amazing how much African americans still have to learn about their race,I never missed a day of class d lectures are so good we stayed past our release time,I want to take his other class I got a B because I didn't try hard enough,I could have gotten an A,TAKE DR.CLOSE,he is fine too ladies, Best instructor in CCJ!

Wonderful one of my best classes at FSU.

Dr. Close is a cool teacher. Just make sure that Andre is not your TA. He acted as if he was the teacher thoughout the entire summer. He graded our papers poorly and didn't give a darn about our grades.

Dr. Close is very passionate about the sujects he teaches, but you must have an open mind about the topics (esp. in 4662), because a lot of them are very controversial. You must also be willing to work hard, because he will make you earn your grade. By the way, you can do well in his class, even if you are white!!

Really enjoyed this class and surprise, I'm a white female. I think everyone should take this class, white, black, hispanic, asian.

His class was very interesting, it was just a lot of reading. You have to do good on the essays to make an A in the class, so if writing isn't your thing, I advise you that it will be a challenge. The worst thing about the course is that the final is worth a huge amount of your final grade, about 40%, and it was difficult. However, great teacher.

He is a great professor, and likes to teach. You have to work hard in his classes, but he is always fair.

Dr. Close is a great techer. Contoversial discussions most times nonetheless his classes are always good. I am taking my second class with him. You WILL earn your grade but you will have fun doing so. Also his classes are ALWAYS full so if you got in good job!!

Dr. Close is a great teacher. He knows his stuff. Everyone on campus should take this class, no matter what race. It really opens your eyes. Very interesting stuff, I guarantee you won't fall asleep in this class.

Dr. Close is a wonderful teacher. I would take all of his classes if I could. His tests are hard, but if you do your reaction papers and participate in class discussion as well as go to his office hours you should do fine. Make sure to throughly do your study guides!!!!!!!!

He was an excellent professor. His discussions are always interesting, and he was enthusiastic about the material in class. Learned a great deal from his class, helped me to open my eyes to society. Hard grader on papers though, so if writing is not for you, I would not suggest taking this class, unless you want to be greatly challenged.

Excellent professor

A VERY good professor, but you definitely have to read the text to pass the class, and be there to take notes when he gives them.

**ATTENTION** Dr. Close is one of the BEST teachers I have had the opportunity of meeting at FSU. He is very honest and up front about everything, very knowlegable about what he teaches. Come to class, listen and do all the work he gives and you should have no problem recieving an A.

Good professor. Participation/attend. is a big portion of grade. You cannot just breeze through. Fair amount of reading, a few very short papers, mid-term, and final. Actively encourages discussion which is reflected in your grade. You must have thick skin and be open-minded, it is a controversial class but is also very interesting.

DR. CLOSE IS AN AMAZING TEACHER! I HAVE NOTHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT HIM. HONESTLY, IF YOU COME TO CLASS, AND READ, AND MAKE SURE YOU PARTICIPATE AND GIVE A GOOD GROUP SPEECH UP FRONT FOR TEN MINUTES YOU WILL DO FINE! JUST MAKE SURE YOU READ THE BOOKS! HE'S AWESOME! HE LOVES TO TALK, SO TALK TO HIM AFTER OR BEFORE CLASS, BECAUSE HE IS EXTREMLY HELPFUL!

EASY CLASS,KEWL TEACHER BUT HIS TEST ARE HARD AS HELL. JUST DO WEL ON THE PAPERS AND YOU SHOULD BE FINE.

Dr. Close is probably one of the best teachers at FSU. His tests are extremely hard, however he give you other ways to make good grades. Just do all of the reading and join into class discussions and you should be fine. He is always willing to help whenever you need him. I would take him again!!

great open minded professor that encourages students to form their own opinion.

He is the Best teacher at Florida State. He is totally upfront and str8 2 the point which I admire. Come to class with an open mind and read and you'll do fine.

Extraordinary teacher!! Answers questions usually with a question, but that's all a part of his genius mindset! This man has more to offer than most teachers.. So far only taken the midterm, which was really hard (got a C after studying a lot) but I would definitely take another class with him anytime. He's extremely smart, and gutsy.

Great teacher although extremely hard. Two tests- one midterm and one final- count for most of your grade. About 4-6 reaction papers in which grading was done harshly, (I never even recieved a full 10/10 on one.) Must study for the this class and must show up, (more than 2 absences was an immediate failure.) All in all, a very informative class.

I had him for the Black Graduate Student Association Orientation scholarship program for two weeks prior to starting my masters degree in music education. He was very informative, helpful, and supportive! Even though I wasn't a Criminal Justice major, I would stop by his office for advice and to catch up with one of the best prof.'s at FSU!

very cool teacher...God bless him and his family

Had him for Min. Crime. & Social Policy. AWESOME CLASS! Extremely interesting. Very smart guy, gives everyone the time of day. Tests are really hard but you learn a LOT. If you cheat, "You will NEVER graduate from THE Florida State University!" lol take the class and you'll know what I mean. Anyway, if you want your mind blown, TAKE THIS CLASS!

Great professor, very smart and always has you thinking. Not the easiest class I ever took but not the hardest either. Tests were medium in difficulty, several reaction papers, attendance is mandatory. Overall the class was very interesting.

Lets Clear Up A Few Things!! This is an AMAZING class, it may not be the easiest but you will walk out feeling as if you actually learned something. Attendance & reading is a must! Close is really good professor but don't expect him to help you if you aren't willing to try or put in effort.

BEWARE OF TA SURRENCY! She is tough on essays and gave me a 65 just because my spacing was not correct on the first essay. She makes me cringe. Dr. Close is amazing. I earned a B in the class, but my final grade was an A- because I was an active participant in class

You will be told that blacks are the only people to have ever been oppressed ever, every day, regardless of what the class is actually supposed to be about. Other than this, enjoy the class. Speak up - we disagree on everything but he respects me because I always talk in class. If you read the texts and go to class, tests are ridiculously easy.

I have taken two class with him last semester and one this semester. His class is a bit repetitive, but its because he is passionate about the subject. Personally I found his test very easy as long as your willing to read and attend class, it's college if you dont read and dont show up dont expect an A.

He is very passionate about the subject but does not really "teach" the course. He makes the students read the books and teach the class. The papers written in class were harshly graded but was more generous in the course journals. Overall, interesting subject but I would have preferred an exam or two.

Such an awesome and down to earth individual! I would take any class of his!

He is an amazing professor, come to his class with an open mind and you will learn a lot ! I really enjoyed his class and took a lot from it! Great professor as very funny!

Love professor close, one of the most brilliant professors at FSU. Come open minded and be ready to be challenged, also keep up with journals and readings.

Amazin professor. By far two of the best classes I've ever taken. Received an A in both. Students teach the class, he just adds to what they say - very interesting stories. Keep up with journals - tell what you learned and observed DO NOT summarize what you read. Will do well if you go to class, read, and stay engaged.

I took Dr. Close for both Black Males and Minorities last semester and he is AWESOME! He did test and group projects. The Test were some what hard simply because he does the eitheror, or both type of answer choice. He also gives MAJOR extra credit for mentoring. That's how I got an A cause I barely passed his test. TAKE HIM!!!! and BUY THE BOOKS!

Wonderful course each student it's capable of making an A. Exams are proctor the first two are multiple-choice the last final is multiple choice in addition to fill in the blank . TA are very lenient with grading weekly discussion boards .if you focus on the power points you will pass the class with an a .

He is awesome. Very eye opening and passionate professor. I would force everyone to take his class if I could. Take him, it will be good for you.

He is an amazing professor and really made sure you understood the material. Take good notes and show that you care and you should do great. Also take advantage of office hours they really help with the papers.

Great guy, super interesting and funny, but be cautious if you don't like speaking up. Grades on participation! You'll read A LOT. Really tough grader-gives no one an A, but curves the final grade. Keeps class interesting but you definitely have to put a lot of effort in if you want a good grade!

You will read two full textbooks before the end of the semester. If you don't read, you wont pass. Grades tough but rounds the grades at the end. GO TO CLASS. Lectures and class discussion are EVERYTHING. Group presentation on read material. GREAT guy but don't take if you're looking for an easy class. Pop attendance grades.

Dr. Close is hands down the best professor I've had at FSU. Go to class! Not only is he hilarious & makes lectures enjoyable, but he also takes attendance pop quizzes. You will need to read in order to pass but the books are easy to read (at least for the Black Males class). He will call you out and make you speak up in class! Overall great.

I took Dr. Close for spring semester Black Males course. I loved the class and I think he is an awesome professor. He is very passionate about what he teaches and he is so curious to hear about what everyone thinks and feels about the subject matter. He can get WAY off topic, but I recommend this class. In today's society, I think it's important!

He is inspirational and really teaches about diversity and justice. He informative and very interested in his students views of diversity, there's a lot of reading, reading is not totally necessary to pass but someone has to do it and go to lectures, he shows videos and just make the most out of that class. Revise your papers and you will get an A.

He is a great professor and you will learn a lot. He loves class participation too.

Dr. Close is very passionate in what he teaches and tries to make the class more lively. He has a great personality, but is not an "easy A" class. He tells you at the beginning of the semester that he expects you to work like a college student. Readings aren't bad but the tests are a little vague and not easy. Overall, not a bad professor at all.

Awesome class

My favorite Professor at Florida State. Made the class super interesting and made you understand things from others perspective. Test are hard, but I went to every class and received an A without the mentoring.

He is a great professor, My favorite in Florida State. He gives huge extra credit for the people that qualify. There are 3 books to read in this class. You would have to write a paper about a specific chapter almost weekly but they are interesting. All the books are an easy read. Go to class! Didn't do extra credit, got an A. Super funny!!!

His exams are easy, questions come directly from the books assigned and are very repetitive on exam 2 and 3. The group facilitation sucks and seems as if no one gets higher than an 89 but he curves grades. Loves to call people out in class and try to get everyone to participate. He also has random attendance checks for credit. Easy A if you read.

Dr. Close's class is fairly easy. All he requires is for you to read chapters from an assigned book weekly and write a page reaction. His tests are based on the readings as well. Attendance is important!! He gives grades for it. Also offers extra credit which is by mentoring throughout the semester. Overall he's a good prof!

Such an easy A as long as you read, keep up with assignments and come to class. Group project is very simple and he offers extra credit as well

This was the Social Reality of Black Males class, if you show up and do the assigned readings then you will get an A. His lectures are very entertaining and he will challenge you to justify everything you say. The required books were cheap and had short chapters.

Really interesting class, and Dr. Close is a very caring and intelligent professor. Will challenge you to justify the points you make. Class isn't too hard, few reaction papers, two exams, and you'll need to present a couple chapters. Dr. Close is also very funny and made going to his 8 am class a pleasure. You need to go to class and read though

Dr Close is a hilarious and intelligent guy, who has a lot of wisdom and insight. It's an interesting class, as I loved the discussion of various life perspectives and events. However, the class is structured poorly and there are no slides/power-points. You MUST read the chapters/articles, and attend class for pop quizzes in order to pass.

Dr Close is great. I wish he used PowerPoint more often to add a bit more structure to the class. Nevertheless, his lectures are very good and relevant. Its a straight forward class, just make a summary of each reading and you will be ready for the exams. His TAs office hours are also very helpful to better understand the material.

Dr. Close is a fine professor but there were a lot of days when his lectures would have nothing to do with the readings or actual course material. His test cover material that is directly from the book, so STUDY. The one thing that I really did appreciate from this class was the "Ethnic Notions" video. It definitely helped change my world view.

He was a great professor because his lectures had you really thinking about certain topics we would discuss in class. It was really hard to not pass the class because he offered extra credit that would boost your grade a whole letter grade up. I will say the exams are extremely hard so make sure you study!!!!!!

I love professor Close, I took him for both Social Reality of Black Makes and Minorities, Crime, and Social Policy. All you really need to do is go to class and pay attention. A lot of questions come from him lecturing. He takes random attendance as well as gives a ton of extra credit. I rarely took notes, I just showed up and paid attention.

Dr. Close is an amazing professor. Everything he teaches is extremely important for people to learn and understand. He's kind and understanding. His tests are hard so make sure you're reading but if you keep up with it you will be fine.

Dr. Close is a great professor but the class itself was very difficult (LOTS OF ESSAYS). I had to take this class via Zoom because of the virus and Dr. Close tried his best to make the lectures interesting. The TAs grade all of your work, not Dr. Close, and they can be harsh. Read the books and syllabus. Go to his review sessions and ASK QUESTIONS.

Dr. Close is very knowledgable and his class is very interesting. His quizzes are a little hard, especially due to formatting issues. There are also two discussion board posts. He also does attendance quizzes randomly, so it's important to go to class.

Dr. Close is an acquired taste. If you're looking for an easy A then his classes aren't for you, but if you're looking to learn then I don't think there's a better Crim professor. His tests are extremely difficult, he tends to nitpick statistics. His lectures are amazing though. I expect to have an A- as my final grade in this class.

Dr. Close is easily the best lecturer I've ever had. He really cares about us understanding the material & will open your eyes to SO many new perspectives. He doesn't respond to emails very fast. He never records Zoom lectures & rarely uses PowerPoints; you NEED to be in class to learn it. Don't take his class if you want an easy A!

Dr. Close is a great lecturer and offers incredible insight to a sometimes difficult topic. The tests are pretty difficult though and all based on the reading. If you don't read the books, you will fail. However, they are very interesting. He also has attendance quizzes randomly so you have to make sure you are in class.

Dr. Close is more of a stern professor. He told us on the first day of class that we should be finishing up reading a book that was required for the class when we only received the syllabus the night before. Over the course of 6 weeks we had 3 essays and 4 discussion post on 3 books that we have read. Hardest class so far at FSU.

Dr. Close is a nice professor, very passionate about the course material. He tends to go off on tangents in lectures, very engaging. Our class was a flex class, he encouraged participation to show up in person. He relies ALOT on chapter readings. He sucks at responding to emails but talk to him after class, you'll be good. He curved our final grade

There are a lot of negative reviews under Dr. Close, but they are all by people who do not come to class, do not do the readings, or even read the syllabus. If you do the reading, participate in in-class discussions, LISTEN, and actually make an effort to speak to him IN PERSON with your questions, you will do absolutely fine. He really is great.

As long as you come to class and stay engaged in his discussion-based lectures as well as read the chapters he assigns, you will have no problem doing well.

I really enjoyed taking Dr. Close. He is a difficult professor but as long as you show up to class and read whatever he has assigned you'll do fine. If you're wanting to actually learn something, take his class. If you are looking for an easy A, don't.

The syllabus makes it clear: attendance quizzes count for 15% of your grade. Go to class, read the books, and get help at the ACE studio if needed. Ask questions and check the semester timeline. Stay organized and spread out your readings.

Personally, I loved Dr. Close. He was very knowledgeable on the topics of this class and the syllabus was very clear on what will be covered and when things are due. You have to read the books, and you'll write a few papers that are graded by the TA. He does random attendance quizzes worth 15%. Final is curved.

Dr. Close is one of the best professors I've taken at FSU so far. However, I will not take another class with him. There is a massive workload and the tests were extremely long and difficult for a 50-minute class period. While attendance isn't mandatory, there are random attendance quizzes. He encourages students to think critically and freely.

The class itself isn't hard. It's just that you have to pay attention in class or else you will fail the quizzes because he literally says all the answers in lecture or they're in whatever book he assigned you to read.

Professor Billy Close is an absolute genius. But this class is brutally hard. Attend every class or face a grade drop. He gives 5 insanely hard exams, with specific questions. Limit yourself to 3 classes for a shot at a B/C, despite hard work. I learned so much from Professor Close, but I am straying far from any of the courses he teaches.

Professor Close's class is challenging but rewarding. Attend every lecture, read the textbook, and engage in discussions to succeed. unstuck ai helped me ace the tough exams. Worth the effort for the valuable lessons learned.

best teacher ever, you'll learn so much