Very knowledgable in subject. Gives you terms you need to know and remember.

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organized professor with a great command of the subject he teaches; his knowledge is extraordinary. Getting an A requires SO MUCH effort because TA's can be picky and tough. However, going to TA's office hours helps immensely, especially before final exam

He can seem a bit cold at times, but his lectures are always interesting and he actually is pretty helpful with students, both inside and outside of class. His tests are pretty standard and fair.

good professor. easy class

Professor Smolenski is such a nice guy; organized professor who prepared us well for exams, and gave us our paper topics well in advance for us to do a solid job. I plan on taking his 170B American Revolution class or any other class he offers

He knows his material very well. He does a nice job in teahing it so that it's easily understandable.

His lectures, though very organized and well explained, are pretty boring. Definitely not the best history professor. Assignments are fair and straightforward, but he is a very unfair grader! He gave me a B on a paper and his ONLY comments were: "could have been more concise, otherwise good."

He's a good lecturer and is very approachable in office hours, though I heard he's harsh on late papers and midterms. He keeps the subject interesting, and I'd recommend him.

Ok - prof is AWESOME my T.A. sucked thou, which wrecked the class. I recommend Prof Smolenski though, he is very passionate about the subject and knows his stuff. His lectures are easy to follow and his exams are decent. Again, beware of evil graduate student T.A.'s

He's a nice guy and a pretty good lecturer. He was cool about the papers and came up with interesting prompts. He gives study guides for the exams and the exams were fair.

He's a good prof, but his tests are pretty demanding. your grade depends completly on the TA, who can be really picky.

one of the reasons i took this class is that previous students rated him easily. NOT anymore! i think he changed the class format or something. however, i did manage to pull an A- with a lot of work. beware the evil graduate TAs! hopefully you get an easier one...unlike me

Smolenski organizes his lectures around id terms and covers each id VERY thoroughly-a lot of history professors assign id terms they've barely covered. I had Robert Chester as a TA and found him to be pretty cool. Raters should NAME NAMES when they talk about "evil TAs" - it helps the rest of us ;-)

Smolesnki is awesome, i put in the same class as Spyrodakis, the class material was very interesting, and he always goes the extra effort to talk to student and give them help, he even told me he likes advising students better than anything else, a rarity in the UC system, id recommend him to anyone

Good teacher, very clear lectures and respectably hard while still enjoyable. I had to study alot for the tests just for all the essay questions, but over all if u get the notes and prepare the essay questions ahead of time it isn't too bad. Depends on TA though. Chester is good, smart guy. Loved it

a bit boring, but very very easy. go to Ta office hours and talk to them before papers and exams. the prof. is friendly too and is approachable. he appears to be cocky, but do not get that impression, he is easy to talk to and is one of the nicest teachers you will ever meet

For an upper division class about U.S. religion the class wasn't bad at all. The reading was a bit heavy though, but he is a good lecturer.

He talks really fast, and you are expected to write down all that he says. Some people only write down the things that are likely to be on the midterms (the IDs), but it doesn't matter. Listen carefully. Get a recorder, but don't tell him that you're recording him. Midterms are short, but he forces us to study more than what's covered.

He talks really fast, so be prepared to write quickly. Otherwise, just expect the typical one midterm and two term paper set up with the final exam. KNOW THE IDs and just pay attention to the big general themes of the class (westward expansion!, Jefferson's view of America!, the great compromise!, etc.)

If you attend all of his lectures and do your reading, this is an ETREMELY easy class. He gives IDs each day, and then picks 10 for the final (you only have to answer 6). Essays were easy if you read the books that they are on. I can't stress enough to attend class. His lectures are pretty cut and dry.

Awesome professor. He throws a lot of information at you and expects you to retain a lot, but his lecture style is actually entertaining, kind of funny and he makes what seems (to me, anyway) a dry subject interesting. I had to go to office hours once, when I missed a course, and he was really nice and helpful about it.

he expects a lot from his students and assigns a lot of reading. essays for the class were on the long side, but very reasonable and interesting to do. he's passionate about the subject and gives intersting lectures.

This instructor knows his stuff and expects you to know it as well. He does not have slides for his lectures and does not put the id terms online so it is necessary to attend all of the lectures, other than that it is a pretty easy class if you do the reading and go to class.

Hey does key points so you have to go to lecture or have a buddy in class. He makes you read ridiculous books followed by ridiculous paper prompts. Tests are easy if you study for them. For the essay parts of the exam, he gives you five prompts to study for and then chooses one of them for the actual exam, which is really helpful.

Great professor who truly knows what he's talking about. Has a cool sense of humor, moves at a steady pace, TAs were helpful, makes the subject matter interesting. Highly recommended

Great Professor. Midterm/final are very fair as he provides you with all the tested material beforehand. Lectures were informative and interesting.

Generally, the readings are more interesting than the lectures. He gives possible essay questions and IDs prior to the exams, but still a lot to prepare for before midterm and final. His grading style is relatively fair.

lots of reading which is hit or miss, but nice guy and interesting topic.

Excellent teacher... used seminar discussion to make us understand the reading without spoonfeeding... taking another class from him next quarter!

here's the skinny - 1 midterm, 1 final, 2 papers. u dont need to do the readings, BUT there are key terms due online everyday (one or two that you pick out of one reading, it takes ten minutes). his lectures are GREAT and entirely relevant to the tests and papers. his an easy greader and he gives great study guides for the test. take this class

Contrary to my classmate's claim below, you actually DO need to do the reading, unless you're okay with getting a C. The essays and exams are graded rigorously, but if you put in the time and effort, you will learn a lot. The lectures can be a bit dry at times, but he is very helpful, approachable, and good humored. I highly recommend the course.

Tough, but fair, with grading. Do the reading, go to class, engage in lecture and you'll be fine. Really knows the field and clearly brings his passion into the classroom.

U HAVE TO GO TO CLASS. take GOOD notes or make friends w/someone who does. readings are not necessary. i read nothing until the the wk b4 the essays were due to know what to write on. the midterm and final were fair, and he grades the essays EASY. dont buy the txtbks. go to the reserves if u need them, ull only need a few quotes for the essays

He gave good insight into the frequently unheard stories in History.

Senior seminar on "Race and Religion in America." 8 books, about 1 per week (reading is required), weekly summaries, two papers, and discussion. Smolenski is a great prof--he leads the discussion in the right direction, gives helpful feedback in papers, and knows a lot about the subject. I would highly recommend this class to any history major.

Professor Smolenski is a great teacher. He knows his stuff! Although, every now and then his lecture can be a bit dry. His is very clear on his expectations. Like all history classes, this does require quite a bit of reading, but it's interesting. There is a midterm, 2 papers, and a final. Read and attend lecture and you should be fine!

For a GE class, this class is very easy. Although lectures tend to be dull and boring, his midterms and finals are pretty easy. He gives out the prompts ahead of time and a list of the vocabulary words he will use on the tests. There's no excuse to not get a good grade.

He knows what he is talking about and is very knowledgeable about the subject but this is NOT AN EASY CLASS. Section is mandatory and is a big chunk of your grade and you must participate to get a decent grade. Grading is harsh and ridiculously specific.

Pretty clear on how he lectures. Just make sure that you are ready to write down notes as many as possible because he likes to give tests with one or two essay questions and IDs that you have to identify and show the significance. He wants you to correlate many things, even some that may seem minuscule at first but important later. A lot of readin

If you actually care about the material: he's a great teacher and the class if pretty enjoyable. If you're looking for an easy A: anyone can get an A in this class as long as you put time into it.

The more of a history buff you are, the better Smolenski is, and vice versa. His lecture style definitely caters to history majors, as do the assignments. Tough on the essays, little less on the exams (need a 3.5 here lol). Helpful in office hours if you don't go in with the expectation that he'll give you all the answers. Overall solid professor.

Great teacher who knows a lot about American history. There were 3 papers (I believe, or maybe two?), two midterms, and a final. This class is enjoyable when you desire to learn more about American history. There is an extensive amount of reading, so do not sign up for an "easy A". This professor is great, even though he might seem dry at times.

Smolenski was a great professor. His lectures are clear and helpful for the exams. He does provide his students with readings however, they're not necessarily mandatory except for the discussion readings. He informs his students about what kind of information will be on exams which helped a lot, and I do urge you to attend his lectures for terms!

Smolenski taught very clear about the US history till 1860 Civil War. You don't necessarily need to read the textbook, but read through them can give you better understandings. The papers based on the two books and graded by TAs. And the exams included IDs given in class and essay questions; he would give you the essay questions beforehand. The discussion sections are crucial for the understandings of the history development, so please attend and participate.

Class definitely caters to History majors, and Smolenski can go on tangents that feel pointless. I was often confused in lec. That said this class gave me a better understanding of American politics and an appreciation for our country's roots. Also, Smolenski is pretty funny in his subtle jokes. He also told us he reads all his reviews so hello

Smolenski is really funny in lecture, and provides unique perspectives from marginalized groups. I really enjoyed the readings (though a lot) and his lectures. He cares about his students and will strike up conversation before class. I really enjoyed this class and would take him again.

Professor Smolenski is fantastic. I can tell he really cares about his lectures and went above and beyond to help students like me who needed it.I found him to be funny and extremely well versed on the topics we were studying. His help has made me consider changing my major to History that is how good a class this was. Thank you Prof Smolenski

I think I just had a very nice TA because he helped out alot. You don't necessarily have to do all the reading from the textbook, readings from Voices of Freedom help with quizzes during discussion but not mandatory either. Overall, very easy going class.

Smolenski gave interesting lectures that paired with two textbooks to fill out what could not be covered in the fifty minute classes. The class also consisted of two essays based on books, in which he offered more than enough guidance.

The online lectures were not too useful, but the readings and discussions helped a lot with the essays. He is a very passionate professor and as long as you do the assigned readings, you should be good.

Smolenski is a pretty solid professor. Weekly response papers and a final project, not too bad. Ended with a 96% and I learned something new :)

Despite the poor grade in the class (it was the Winter quarter COVID came), he was still an awesome teacher and human. I learned so much new stuff I did not before, and he even did different activities other than lecturing which was cool. This man loves IHOP as well and definitely made sure we knew about it. Love him.

His TA graded everything but gave solid feedback. Graded on two papers, take home final, 5 short essays where lowest two were dropped. Hardest part of class was how disorganized he was about due dates/lectures but he was very understanding and willing to give extensions due to own mistakes. Very responsive to feedback but did not respond to emails

Lots of reading. He's always late with publishing stuff on Canvas, so I recommend going to class in person to stay on top of things. He's compassionate and willing to admit his flaws as a professor. After we expressed our concerns, he made changes to make it easier for the class.

You will have to read a lot. Weekly discussions were easy, fair paper topics, and he does not grade harshly as long as you stick to his criteria and use lots of references from the primary sources if he asks for it (very important).

He may be a bit disorganized with posting readings and assignments but was highly self-aware and open to student questions and feedback. His lectures were informative and gave a great overall view of the Atlantic colonial world. Assignments included 2-3 papers, weekly discussion posts based on the assigned reading, and a take home final exam.

Smolenski gives really great lectures about colonial-American history, in which we learn the stories of all kinds of people who lived in the region. He has so much knowledge about all of this history. However, we often didn't cover enough during the class time and we had to watch some lecture recordings outside of class. Otherwise, it was great!

Solid professor and class. Lots of readings (you don't technically need to read all of them, but know them so you can reference them as primary sources for your papers). 1 midterm and a final, both are in-class essays, and the prompts are handed out beforehand. 2 papers. Lectures recorded. Discussion participation was mandatory. Graded by your TA

Wonderful teacher, taught very well, bad TA luck of the draw be prepared to speak in every discussion or your grade WILL tank. When I say talk you must participate in every single question asked, not everyone in my section even got full points for every week.