Not an easy class by any means, but I enjoyed it. She gets the students involved in discussion whenever possible.

I think Maria is awesome. I took her for the SOC series and Womens Studies 101. The classes were fairly easy, but she had us explore our relation to the issues, which I appreciated.

Hard grading but a good teacher

Took the whole Sociology series from her. Loved every second and wish I could take more. Some of the projects pushed me out of my comfort zone and honestly changed my life for the better.

Loved the application of these classes to life. The inclass discussions were very educational, especially with the diverse points of view.

great teacher! excellent class discussion. really pushes students to think outside the box. very liberal.

Maria is a great teacher. I took all of my sociology sequence from her. Her tests can be tricky but they are usually open book or take home and the answers are always well hiden. She gets you thinking!

teaches alot of stuff and preety easy to pass doesnt like students who dont participate. advice dont due book report last minute

Good teacher. Nice teaching style. Accepts all inputs and encourages class discussion. Tests are decent, can use notes, but better to have taken good ones and read chapters. Nice lady, fun class. Recommended.

I really have enjoyed Maria's classes. She is entergentic and passionate about sociology. You can get a good grade if you do your homework and show up and listen in class. If not, this is not the class for you. I have taken 3 classes from her and enjoyed them all!

I think Maria is an excelent teacher, and if I end up taking another Sociology class, I would probably take her again. I found her to be very helpful and good at explaning things. Her use of PowerPoint was a lot easier than having to read off the board. The Wellness Journal was a very interesting assigment, and all of her assigments make me think!

Maria was a great teacher-she really got us to thinking and to explore lots of avenues in class. If your prepared, take good notes and get clarification you're fine. Her class challenges you-her tests are hard-but fair. Do all work involved, participate in class. I would love and am planning on taking Maria again.

Very friendly teacher, I felt like she truly wanted me to do well in her class (which can be rare.) I didn't buy the book and still got an A, so save your money. The class was sometimes interesting, sometimes not, though her assignments and quizzes were very easy.

She's a nice person, but not my ideal teacher. I know a lot about soc., and this class was too easy and boring for me. I was not engaged or challenged. She had us read the text a lot, but never referenced it in class. Didn't always learn much in her lectures. But she's totally decent if you go up and talk to her one on one. Talking w/ her saved me.

I loved Maria's class! She is a great teacher. Her lectures are more of discussions. She lets us give our opinion and talk to each other. Her class is really interesting. The topics we covered we're relevant and a part of our lives. Maria is the nicest teacher and is always in such a good mood. She's the best teacher I've had at PCC.

Great teacher. . .our class spent a lot of time discussing how Sociology affects our personal lives.

I love Maria's classes. I have taken Soc 204 & 205 with her. She has a passion for what she teaches, a rare quality these days. She talks about interesting subjects, gets the class involved, and enjoys her students just as much as we enjoy her.

Maria is a fabulous instructor! She ranks in the top two professors of my personal experience. I have never had a teacher gave more engaging lectures. She is humorous, clever and always upbeat. After two courses with her I wish I could take another, but it's time to transfer to another school. She wrote me a great letter of recommendation.

She is a great professor.

Maria is the most amazing professor I've ever had. She is passionate about sociology and it really comes through in her teaching. Classes with Maria area always the highlight of my schoolyear.

Maria tries to engage every member of the class, and has people work together in small groups. She brings in lots of outside information and has the text be read out of class with discussion being student-question based. I have taken her twice and would totally take her again!

Maria is a nice lady. She is smart, knows a lot about the topic, and definitely engages the class. She's a stickler for attendance, arrival time, how many times you leave the class to go to the bathroom, and her tests are insane. Tries to have trick Q's based on grammar but English is not her first language, so it ends up incredibly confusing.

At first, I thought Maria was too easy and her class didn't have enough depth to it. However, later I realized she has an unique and balanced teaching method. I liked her balance of quizzes and textbook "reflections." Attendance counts a lot, so just show up and pay attention and you'll do OK. I'd take another Soc class from her if I needed to.

very animated instructor. extremely passionate with the subject. i enjoyed the class.

This woman is a genius!Her male students always try to challenge her ideas about feminism and privilege and act like she isn't smart because she wasn't born in this country. Hey boys - that's why you're in community college and your teacher is a published professor with a PHd in the subject! I loved her classes and wish I could take more.

I love this woman! The class has a lot of group discussions that take on relavent and controversial topics. I love how even though everyone had different opinions the class was always respectful.

Maria can be somewhat difficult to follow at first but paying attention will pay off! She very knowledgable!

I really liked Maria's class, the flow was very outgoing while informative.

Maria was very great! very smart, helpful, and always kept class interesting.

i think that she is a great teacher and if students just paid attension to her direction they would have their questions answered. i think that she brings real passion to the subject and to teaching.

THE BEST SOCIOLOGY TEACHER! She's extremely intelligent, passionate about teaching, and makes the class very interesting. She loves to include every single student in the discussions. Just attend each class and read the assigned readings and you'll do great!

M.W.F. is amazing. I love her classes (taking 2). She is SMART and is very current on social issues happening locally AND globally. I have a lot of respect for her, coming from a poor rural family in Chile, and now holding a Doctorate in Sociology. She is legit. Her clothing gets an A+, too. Not a ton of work, mainly in class discussions.

I agree with much of what the others said below. Maria's class did tend to get a little off track at times but if you're just looking to memorize facts, they're in the book and she does test on it. Class discussions are a safe place to discover your passions and cover current events. I enjoyed Maria's story and passion. She truly appreciates people

This teacher rocks! She is an easy grader, talks about fun topics and always wears pretty shoes!

Maria is a really great teacher, i look forward to going to her class everyday and have learned so much from her. I feel really grateful for having her as a teacher.

Amazing class. Dr. WF is incredibly smart and knows her stuff. Took no crap from the jerk in class (and there's always at least one) who was convinced that he knew more than she did and tried to take over her lectures. Will definitely take more classes with her. Very helpful and accommodating.

Also took SOC205/206 and WS101 with Maria. I think she is great! If you show up to class, participate in discussions, respect her and fellow classmates by not texting and talking in class, and turn in your homework you will get an A and also learn a lot! Plus, she is adorable and super easy to approach. Take her classes!

Maria Wilson Figuroa is an awesome instructor. She bridges the reading materials with current events and fosters insightful dialogue. It can be a little difficult to understand her sometimes because of her accent. But, do not let that deter you.

LOVE her. Very interesting class! She is fascinated with what students have to contribute to discussion, and is very passionate about the topic. Tests were EASY take-home, open book; questions were word for word out of the text. HIGHLY recommended.

She is amazing! I want to take all of her classes. She does an amazing job of keeping everything interesting and class discussions are really fun. Mid-term and final were take home and as long as you keep up during the term an A is easy to get.

Maria is not the most organized, and she can be vague. But, she is a really great teacher. She has immense fire about the subject, and as a queer person, I find her to have extensive knowledge of the LGBTQI comm., prison system, education system, current politics, womens rights, and on and on... She wears great outfits, too!

Nice teacher. Thick accent. Class was fun and had lots of in class discussions. 2 books you have to read and attendance is mandatory. No final for my class because everyone had an A or B. Would recommend.

When I 1st started this term it was hard to understand. 1 reason: her accent, 2nd she tended to jump from one subject to another without indicating changing subjects. After a few week of learning how she teaches I realized I learned how to learn from her. After that she was great, fun, interactive, helpful, and enjoyable to be around.

Maria FIGUEROA was wonderful! Lectures were entertaining, sometimes she would lack hard facts in her explanations, and told us to refer to the book. A LOT of reading, but textbook wasnt too boring. Come prepared with questions/comments and you will learn a lot. Don't expect her to warn you about upcoming assignments, pay attention to syllabus!

One of the best teachers I have ever had!!! Her class is amazing and her lectures are great. I do agree with some of the posts that if your opinions are different from hers it would be hard to have an actual good conversation about it but to me shes great and has got me really thinking about continuing soc for the rest of college.

I loved the participation and we also heard international students' opinions about different sociological situations. Expect participating a lot and her latina accent. Really good teacher! I would take her class again

My first soc class and absolutely loved it. Coming to class is vital a lot of the tests are take home or open note so show up and listen cause its super interesting. You can tell how invested she is in what she teaches. Everything is clear in her expectations and extra credit opportunities are given all the time.

A great and enthusiastic professor, very knowledgeable in her field. Sometimes uses confusing/ambiguous wording on quizzes/tests however, is willing to give back points if you are able to explain yourself. A pretty easy grader especially if you work in direct vocabulary words from the textbook into your homework.

Maria is an interesting & fun instructor, dresses very fashionably. Explains the material well & understands technology enough so that she will upload power points to the course hub for you to look at, & responds to email quickly. Only neg thing I would say is the group presentations- I hate being in groups b/c I always end up being the leader. :/

Great at what she does. take good notes on what she says and download her power points that she projects on class later at home. Also get ready to read! The biggest regret is that I did not speak up enough when she would ask "what do you think". WITH This class expect to have great discussions.

Easily my favorite professor this term. Come to class, engage in the lectures and you'll do great. Had three exams, all of which were take home tests. Gives extra credit opportunities, and has powerpoints posted online. Very understanding about missing class or needing to leave early. Super recommend!

Wow, talk about an awesome teacher! She was super sweet and would help you in any possible way that she could. There were three tests all together and she's open to take-home tests which is a huge plus! She was very caring and had all of her powerpoints available online and they were exactly what would be on the tests, so YOU NEED TO TAKE HER!! :)

Maria is a wonderful instructor! Very organized - gets really into Sociology. Sometimes she gets very energetic in her lectures which can be funny. She's from Chile and has an accent but it's not hard to understand her. She also does take home tests! Big plus! And take good notes on what she writes on the board - not in the PPT's. Take her class!!

Maria is a wonderful instructor, very passionate about teaching. Her background is a plus for teaching sociology.

Maria is a wonderful instructor. This is my second class with her which was much different from her Sociology classes but it was very interesting. She expects you to participate or she will call on you. Make sure to pay attention to what's due. She sometimes isn't clear about that. She does take home tests/quizzes 90% of time which is a huge plus!

This is my 3rd class with Maria. She's an amazing instructor; very passionate about Sociology and get's enthusiastic in her lectures. Her tests are generally take home and aren't hard if you have the book and take good notes. She's often vague about when things are due - gets numbers/dates mixed up a lot; just clarify it with her. Take her class!!

Maria is a wonderful instructor!! To the person who said her tests are hard, they're not if you try. Show up, take good notes, participate, and the test will be cake! She does do take home tests. Her lectures are interesting and entertaining; participate or she'll make you. Super fun class and I'd highly recommend taking one of Maria's classes!!!

Maria is a great instructor. This class is structured the same as her SOC classes. She does do take-home tests which is a huge plus! She often gets confused when it comes to organization of the term calendar and assignment due dates. If she doesn't make sense, always ask her to clarify and she will. Very nice lady and understanding. Easy A!!

Best professor I've ever had - in any subject. She's so passionate about what she teaches and makes every class intriguing. I'm never bored & always want to participate because of her. She does take home tests/tests with notes and answers any questions you have in depth until you understand. I'm lucky to have taken her class!

Dr. Wilson is such an incredible human being and professor. She really cares about her students and she will make you question everything that you THINK you know about the world. This class seriously changed my life! I always knew I was passionate about social justice, but this class really amped up my intensity. I am taking another class w/her :)

I took the Intro to International Studies class with Dr. Wilson-Figuroa and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. She does not supply huge workloads-- weekly discussions, 2 exams, and one paper-- and created a safe, interesting, and mutually beneficial academic environment. I highly suggest taking her class and plan on taking her again later on.