Good class, good use of movies. I missed the class before the final in which he gave out the essay questions for the test, but when I contacted him if I missed anything, he forgot to let me know what the questions were etc., so everyone else had an edge!

a good teacher!Very clear and althought tests were difficult, his notes were pretty easy to follow. Very nice guy.

If anyone thinks his class is boring, then you aren't attending class. He is cool. He is interesting. He is helpful. If you go to his reviews you know what will be on the exams.

Great teacher, not a slave driver. He expects you to do the reading and be in class on-time, but his class is interesting and informative.

Great professor, but does have his head in the notes a lot. Always has an answer to your questions, easy exams and assignments, do the readings and you'll do fine.

Interesting lecturer. Help you to understand reading. If you did not read or go to lecture you would find the exams difficult. However, keep up with readings and attendance and you will do fine.

very easy teacher. go to class, u don't really need to do much else. I didn't study for the exams and i got a B+ on the paper but an A for the class. Highly recommended for an easy A and interesting material.

really interesting guy. go to his class because he really knows his stuff. easy class... easy a. just read.

Jeff Dowd is numba 1. He is very cute, interesting, and is really into Sociology...you will love him.

If you go to class, then the exams will be easy. Minimal Work. Skipping class will take a toll on your grades.

No textbooks but a lot of online reading and the exams are pretty hard. Hes cool but def not an easy A

Jeffrey Dowd is an awesome guy, so cute. you will love him. the class is so interesting, especially if you like sociology and social problems.

Professor, J Dowd is a very smart......he knows his stuff.....to me he is the best teacher I ever had in Rutgers. His test are not easy, but if you do the readings, you will be just fine =)

HANDS DOWN DA BEST PROFESSOR IN DA UNIVERSE. THIS MAN CHANGED MY LIFE BECUZ HIS CLASS INSPIRED ME 2 DREAM BIG!!

Very intelligent,and caring teacher.

he is a great teacher, interesting information, tests are a little harder then expected, yet totally passable. he is clear and down to the point. he takes attendance but going to class will benefit you.

You must go to class if you expect to do well in the class. Material is a bit boring. You can manage a B+ if you regularly attend class.

Great professor. You have to go to class, but the material is really interesting and it's easy to do well. I definitely recommend him.

cool teacher. obviously cares about the subject and his students. lectures can be boring, but they are mandatory so go, cause they actually help on the exams. small writing assignments every day, one short paper thats easssssy. great teacher overall!!!

Jeff Dowd is awesome. Makes everything VERY VERY clear. Great guy.... im taking him next semester too... TAKE HIS CLASSES!

great professor, u'll be crazy to not take him!! im gonna take him again for another class. hes very easy to understand and his videos are the best, something i would watch on my own!! take him!!

So I wouldn't call this class an easy A but it wasn't much work at all. He is pretty cool, the material is interesting. You can get a B without much effort and work. There is reading each class but u can just skim it to answer the question

Daily writing assignments that can be done beforehand- he takes 3 and that 5% of your grade. 2 formal writing assignments one due anytime before first exam other due before final. 3 exams were easy for me got 90's just pay attention in lecture- attendence= mandatory. plays movies in class once and a while. Very nice and approachable.

Do not listen to anyone who said this guys class was easy. There are a few movie clips he shows which are a relief to all the notes you take every class, and attendance is mandatory cuz u have to do a writing for every class from the hw reading, hes boring and his tests are hard so do all the readings, which are A LOT, if you want to pass the class

This guy is THE WORST PROF OUT THere....So boringggg....and his exams are not as easy as everyone says.....This class killed my GPA....It suckkksss Rutgers has teachers like this cuz they do not know how to teach and they just fail everybody...AVOID HIM

Dowd is cool teacher. Very sarcastic and likes to talk about his real-life situations. But class is so many notes, enough where you get carpal tunnel. Doesnt require alot. No textbook, daily writings, and 1 3-5 pg paper. Multiple choice exams. Gives lil bit of Ex Cre. Thought I would get C but got B

You will need to put serious time and effort for a decent grade. He teaches a specific "framing structure" for writing essays, which is difficult to execute well. Not impossible to get an A but he is definitely NOT an easy grader you will have to really earn it. All in all, Dowd's a hard grader but he's also pretty chill and intelligent.

Interesting and funny professor. Took social problems during winter session and he was the prof. No textbook but gives you articles that you need to read and answer questions to (every lecture). Final exam is basically half of your grade (can make or break grade). 1 Paper due at end of semester and he's strict with grading writings

I loved having Prof Dowd. Super smart and down to earth. The people complaining are those who neglect the readings or don't pay attention in class.

As long as you do the readings, you really should be in good shape. He's very charismatic and I feel like I learned a great deal in his class.

Graded on recitation, memos on readings, midterm/final, & short paper. Suspect bad reviews are from unprepared 1st yrs. It's a lecture so you have to be disciplined. Prof. had us converse w/ students/ watched vids to make up for class size. Easy class if you read & pay attention. The study guides are helpful IF you know how to apply the theories.

Attendance is mandatory. Must do daily readings to do well. Overall great professor and easy class if you show up, pay attention and take notes.

took 101 as an easy class to fulfill my core requirements. This class was not very easy and I ended up working harder than I expected. Nevertheless, I learned way more in this class than any of my other core classes; felt very woke! He really does an excellent job getting the point across. Just show up, put your phone down and pay attention A

A funny guy who uses powerpoints and articles to explain the concepts. Short responses for homework but they literally only take 5 mins. Participate A LOT during recitation. He tells you exactly what to study for and what to write in your only paper.

Pretty funny professor. You have to go to class because he makes you sign an attendance sheet. Participate in recitation. He give specifically what will be on the exams and what he wants you to write for the final paper. I recommend him.

Attendance in lecture is mandatory. His powerpoints are easy to follow and his exams are mostly common sense. Got a B+ on both of them with about fifteen minutes of studying for each. Recitation is a lot of pointless group work, but also has mandatory attendance. Make sure you read articles before exams.

He's great as a person, don't get me wrong. The man just cares too much about sociology and I thought the class would be a breeze so I didn't study but he put specific questions on the exam. Definitely interesting and he really cares about the subject and his students. Recitation was also dumb. Attendance is mandatory so that's annoying.

Professor Dowd is awesome. I learned so much in his class. His lectures were very interesting and he was able to explain difficult concepts in a way which was easy to understand. Recitation and lectures are mandatory. There is a midterm, paper, and final. I just skimmed the readings and still did very well on the exams.

There's homework due every class, but it's just a quick 1-paragraph based off the readings (which you can skim even though they are really long). He's a charismatic, funny dad, but his notes make no sense. It's just a bunch of haphazard words written everywhere. The final paper is graded HARSH, and the midterm/final are either rly easy or rly hard.

He's very lecture heavy and doesn't post his notes. He also makes you sign in even in a huge lecture hall. I had him for intro to sociology and the class itself wasnt too bad. He assigns daily readings but I normally skim it. As long as you pay attention in class and review your notes a little before the tests you should be fine.

I had him for intro to sociology and I would take more sociology classes just to have him again. Really interesting lectures. Easy to get and A or a B just study for the exams and you'll be fine.

He was a really cool professor and taking his intro class during my second semester of senior year had me set. Gives really good feedback and works to keep students informed on current events. If I was still in school would definitely take him again! There were a fair amount of readings but they were all extremely easy reads!

I took Professor Dowd for Introduction to Sociology and he's really good! He's very patient and concise at clearing up any confusion with papers and exams. I advise reading the assigned readings since the lectures are based on them anyway. However, you still have to attend every lecture and recitation since there's an attendance sheet.

Professor Dowd is amazing! His multiple choice exams might be little tricky but manageable. If he acknowledges that you are trying to make the effort in his class, he will help you, I will definitely recommend but prepared to read in his class.

His lectures are just absolutely amazing. He's super insightful. I really enjoyed the readings as well. Just make sure you do the readings and show up to class and you'll honestly be perfectly fine! Easy but informative class! Loved it! The papers at the end of the class are difficult to write though.

Dowd is pretty good. He's really funny, and specific with what he wants from the papers but he spends days going over it in class. His lectures are kinda all over the place and hard to follow from day to day, but as long as you understand the concepts he teaches each lecture, you'll do well on the tests because his tests are straight forward.

Professor Dowd was awesome. He really made me love Sociology. He's a great lecturer and I like how he gives real life examples to explain different sociological concepts. I would definitely recommend this class and you would be lucky to have him as a professor. His tests are very straightforward and make sure to read the essay prompts carefully.

Hes a good teacher, pretty straightforward and a lot of assignments to boost your grade. There is one midterm, a final, 1 short essay and 1 final essay thats 2-4 pages long. Definitely an A grade with some effort!!

honestly he can be confusing at times, but the class itself was kind of interesting. there's no textbook for this class, but he assigns daily readings and some of the readings can be a bit long. As long as you have an idea of what those readings are about, you should be okay for the exams. Also be sure to take good notes from his video lectures.

Lectures and readings are interesting. Exams are easy if you pay attention in class. Reading responses are pretty straightforward. I would have gotten an A if I did the extra credit. The short essays you have to write can be a bit confusing. Recitation and TA's help. Does a review before exams and answers any questions. I enjoyed this class.

Very organized asynchronous class with 2 lectures and 2 daily questions as well as a recitation session each week. Lectures are very interesting and informative, but if you don't watch them and understand the concepts, you definitely won't have a good time with the exams. Allows for late assignments if you fall behind without a penalty.

Professor Dowd is a fine professor and his lectures/readings are very interesting, but don't take him if you are looking for an easy A. Only 22% of the class got A's this semester and you need to take notes on the lectures and really study to do well on the tricky exams.

Professor Dowd's lectures are very interesting, and they're not too long. As for the essay assignments, I wish that he would be more clear on what he expects. The midterms require an understanding of the material rather than just memorizing. Overall, this class required a lot of work, but it was not too bad.

Material from lectures and recitation were all really interesting and engaging. Class is a pleasure to sit through. Very easy if you pay attention in class, but you won't do well if you don't. Much of the material is political and is given with a strong liberal bias. He doesn't seem open or willing to entertain arguments against his politics.

i had him for six great reads; i think he's a pretty decent prof. knows what he's talking about and really makes an effort to answer as many questions as possible. lots of reading but i found the books really interesting.

This is hands down the best teacher I've had for my first semester. The work is fairly easy and straightforward, and the teacher is always willing to give you feedback after class is over. so many opportunities to fix your grade 3 parts to exams 1 and 2 take advantage and do what is asked from him, made me want to minor in sociology .overall great

The professor does a really good job explaining the concepts and consistently engages with his students, always answering questions near the end. That said, the class is very lecture heavy and most of your grade is determined by exams. Overall, I found the class to be interesting. Work isn't too bad.

Dowds class wasn't too bad. The papers were straight forward and just hope your TA grades them, they're pretty gracious with the grades. The workload wasn't too bad as long as you go to the lectures. I didn't do any of the readings and still passed, just attend the lectures/recitation and you'll do fine.

Prof. Dowd was great at explaining the concepts. Quite a bit of reading for homework, but he reviews and builds upon the concepts in class so you won't feel lost. Attendance isn't mandatory, but he doesn't post his slides so you sort of have to go. The test questions are tricky but nothing that we didn't learn in class. There are two papers.

Prof. Dowd was always eager to answer questions and gave clear instructions on each assignment. He did not grade papers, the recitation instructors did. However, prof. Dowd made this subject very interesting to learn and his lectures were fun. He posts a lot of helpful readings and material. Lots of good ways to get free points in class.

pretty tough of essays but gives easy participation points

I had professor Dowd for my first ever semester here at Rutgers and it easily became one of the classes I looked forward to. He is great at lectures, taking notes on what he says in lecture and his notes on screen is equally important for the exams, but he makes it interesting and easy to pay attention to.

I loved his class. He is a formal lecturer, which I appreciated. He is brilliant and knows what he is talking about. The class itself was simple so long as you attended. Essays were straightforward and forward, and you can submit early for feedback. The bad reviews for him are for those who did not try or took this as an easy A.

I really liked his Intro to Soc class. Didn't take notes but recitation does a good job reinforcing the info(I had de Andrade as a recitation TI). He's knowledgeable and does a good job presenting the info. Tough conceptual tests but far from impossible if you understand the material. Got an A.

Extremely knowledgeable guy and captivating lecturer. Tough grader/exams but as long as you study even minimally, most of the exams are really just common sense. I never did a single reading and was asleep a lot of the lectures but as long as I went over concepts I was fine. I recommend you do read though, makes it easier. Soc is not impossible! 🙏