A great professor! Never skipped a class (and it was an early morning one at that) because he made it interesting and kept us awake. This class is a must-take

No Comments

Awesome teacher! interesting classes! only missed one because I had to pick someone up from the airport... very funny guy, and I love his seinfeld clips.

No Comments

awesome teacher; he makes his class fun, easy and something you want to attend!

I loved this class, Sommers is a great teacher and makes the class so enjoyable. He showed Seinfeld clips related to what we were learning about and his papers and projects were awesome. He really cares about his students. Take this class!!

Take this class! The subject is interesting and the prof makes it easy and fun. The workload is definitely doable. I can't recommend it highly enough!

best professor i've ever had. no matter what your major is, take this class. you'll learn quite a bit that you can apply to real life. he cares about his students and is a great lecturer.

Sommers is amazing. He's funny and entertaining and makes a seemingly boring subject (experimental psych) bearable and shows movie clips in class. Awesome, awesome man!!! I love him!!

Engaging and fun!

Best prof I've had here. 3:00pm is my nap time, but I've never missed one of his classes. Psych and Law is a lot of reading (at least compared to Psy31 or 32), but it is all interesting and worth your time - not a textbook, we read journal articles and court cases. Take this class!

I've taken two classes with him (psy13 and Psy133) and I wish I could take more. He's young, hilarious, and easy to relate to. makes everything interesting- guest speakers, experiments in class, lots of videos, etc. class isn't a joke but he is such a good teacher that it was so easy to do well. once you meet him you won't regret it!!

really nice professor. lots of jokes in class. relates all the theories to real life. shows lots of seinfeld clips and does other creative things that illustrate the phenomena we learn about. learns everyone's name in a lecture class of over 100. holds review sessions sundays before tests. also has coffee hours to get to know him better, just talk

Sam is an amazing professor; he makes class engaging, interesting, and funny. Even I had a serious crush on him and I'm a guy! Need I say more?

Sam Sommers is the best professor I have had at Tufts! He is engaging and knows how to give a good lecture that students want to go to. Seriously, take a class with him! You won't regret it!

An awesome professor, I think he just won Tufts Professor of the year this last year. I looked forward to class every day. Fun, entertaining, engaging, and genuinely a cool guy too. I'm taking another class with him soon

Professor Sommers is a great professor who makes social psychology very interesting and applicable to real-world settings. Work load is definitely doable but it is not a walk in the park either. Awesome guy, awesome class

psych and law is a great class. extremely interesting and sommers is hilarious.

i work in sommers' psych lab doing research, i'm only speaking on that aspect of his skill: he's a great advisor and a wonderful asset/ he helps with understanding research. <3 him. great professor, wonderful person.

Wonderful professor, such an interesting class. I look forward to it every week. He's humorous and manages to make everything extremely interesting. Try to take this class if any way possible, you won't regret it. Plus he's adorable.

This was easily one of the best classes I've taken at Tufts. He is fair, interesting, funny, and just overall what a really great professor should be. You should take this class, Psych major or not. You'll learn so much, and just generally enjoy the class.

he's great! everyone loves him.

Sommers' lectures are always a pleasure to listen to. The man is smart, genuinely interested in the material, and hilarious!

Sam Sommers is the best proffesor out of the three you have for this class. He makes the class interesting my using a variety of sources (videos, games) he is also very confident, and therefore clear when he speaks. GO SAM SOMMERS!

He is a pretty fantastic professor. The lectures are interesting and he clearly has a thorough knowledge of the topic and a sincere and lively interest in it. Tests follow the lecture and readings very closely. I had a TA grade my essays horrendously and he gave me the points back when I brought it to his office hours. Couldn't ask for better.

He is the best!!! You actually look forward to going to class. He gives great examples (especially with his Seinfeld clips). So passionate and excited about social psych. This class changes the way you view daily situations. Cannot recommend it highly enough!

Has an amazing reputation, but in PSY32 he's a nightmare. Interesting lecturer, but MC test is ridiculously hard in a very tricky way. A lot of people thought they did well on the test and ended up with a bad grade (like me, even though I studied my butt off). Also SUPER nitpicky about grading papers. Take it with the other prof if you can.

Professor Sommers was the most engaging lecturer I've had at Tufts. I was excited to attend his lecture each day, plus attendance is mandatory for understanding the material well for exams. The class is not easy and personally I'm happy I chose to take it pass-fail. To do well on the paper I recommend meeting with a TA for feedback first.

Great professor!!! Every tufts student should take social psych with him. Lectures are super interesting, tests are extremely fair (and easy, if you do the reading), and he's a very nice and approachable guy. I looked forward to class every day.

He's so funny and very engaging, but his tests are fairly difficult and can be very laborious and the grading can be very nitpicky for both papers and exams. He made learning research methods interesting, but I would recommend taking the class with a different instructor instead

Social psych is an awesome class to take. Three exams, MC and short answer, all pretty much easy A's. One research paper, just follow the guidelines and you'll do well. Hilarious guy, awesome lecturer, lots of music and activities in class. Sommers is practically a celebrity on campus because everyone loves him.

Psych 32 with Sommers was by far the most intense class I've taken yet. Not only are there exams, there are also multiple papers which can reach lengths of 30+ pages. Sommers is a very interesting professor who is very amicable and hillarious but if you can, I would take the class with a different professor since Sommers is fairly difficult

Sommers was the best out of the three professors I had for psych. He's very engaging and explains material in a thorough and fun way. would def recommend!

He is great! His lectures are very funny and entertaining while also teaching a lot of material in one lecture class. The way that he incorporates videos, real life examples and his power points to teach is amazing and makes for an engaging class. I would definitely take social psychology just to have him as a professor again!

sommers is the man. super engaging, does lots of little experiments in the middle of lectures which are usually hilarious, and explains things really well with examples and analogies. he might not be the visual learner's cup of tea (his slides are god-awful) but the textbook is a great supplement to the lectures, probably because he wrote it.

Great man, great class.

Sommers is wonderfully engaging and his lectures were interesting and funny. He's extremely approachable and makes psych enjoyable. The lectures sometimes cover the reading, but sometimes are about other topics, and are tested on, so go to class. You'll have to do reading outside of class, too.

Great all around.

Most entertaining lecturer I've had. Summers shows many videos and other anecdotes that are often entertaining and help understand the content. As long as you pay attention and study decently the tests are not difficult. Nice and funny as a person, and very approachable.

Sommers always makes his lectures funny, retable, and easy to digest for college students. Make sure to attend as many lectures as possible if not all, or have a friend give you their notes because what is in the lecture is directly included in the test (not necessarily mentioned in the textbook). Lots of reading outside of class, textbook quizzes

Love him

My favorite professor at Tufts so far. Makes big lectures seem smaller, teaches thoroughly and clearly, tests are challenging but not tricky or too difficult. Not too much homework, super manageable and fair tests and paper. Definitely take his class!!!!

This guy really cares about keeping his students engaged during lectures. He breaks down complex ideas into smaller chunks, and he repeatedly gives real-world examples for psychological concepts. Loved his class!!

Professor sommers made lectures engaging and funny. Hes a great guy who cares about students and makes the class far more interesting. Very funny, warm, laid-back guy.

Incredible lecturer. Very engaging, even in a large class. Clear explanations of concepts. Exams were very fair. Would love to take another one of his classes.

Great lectures.

Hilarious and answers questions really well. One of the few professors that has kept me awake in class.

Prof Sommers is an absolute gem. Take any class you can with him. Interesting lectures and very funny. You can do well as long as you read the textbook and study for the tests.

Great Prof. Got me interested in psych and he's a super nice guy. Class isn't too hard as long as you do all the reading. Definitely recommend him.

Sam Sommers is one the best professors at Tufts. Lectures are super engaging, he's super nice, and will help you out with anything you need. Make sure you take one of his classes before you graduate.

Sommers lives up to the hype of being one of the best at Tufts. Genuinely great guy who gives intriguing and personable lectures. Intro to psych isn't hard if you do the readings and look stuff over before the exams. Paper graded pretty easily. Attendance isn't mandatory but tests have questions about lecture content that isn't in the textbook

Sommers is a great lecturer. He makes psych seem really fun and engaging, and sometimes he does short experiments with the class. I found that sometimes he didn't explain topics in as much detail as I would have liked, and he and Prof. Shin (they teach the class together) relied on the textbook a lot to supplement things they don't teach in class.

Once you've taken one Sam Sommers class, you've taken them all (I've had 3). He's super entertaining and easy to follow. He and Shin work well together for this class, but it is almost sad it's so easy. Don't take if you've ever taken a psych class before, you'll be bored to tears.

Could've been a comedian in another life. Great, kind man who does his best to make everyone feel included, respected, and integral to the class, even online.

Lots of reading and entire grade is basically based on exams, but the exams aren't very difficult. Overall, not a very difficult class and super interesting and engaging lectures every class.

Really makes an effort to explain things in a way that is easy to grasp, including video clips and pop culture references in lecture. Funny and engaging. Textbook is great because you can tell he wrote it haha, also it has an option for the info to be read at you at any speed (lifesaver!)

Structured class

I cant say enough good things about Sommers and Shin; they know the material - and how to teach the class - absolutely inside and out. The textbook (which they wrote) and the lectures perfectly complemented each other, lectures were unfailingly engaging, and I cannot recommend PSY 1 highly enough, no matter what you study or major in.

Professor Sommers is an incredible teacher. I took the class because I heard he was a good teacher and I was not disappointed! The course has three exams making 75% of your grade but they are open note and pretty easy. I would definitely recommend this class.

Amazing professor and clearly expert in the field. His lectures were some of my favorite and taught in a fun way. PSY1 wasn't a class I was planning on taking but was one of the only classes still open. I am so glad I took it, and highly recommend it to everyone- especially freshmen. Class is an easy A as long as you take notes- open notes tests.

Professor Sommers is a hilarious lecturer. His PSY1 class involves lots of reading, but his lectures are very engaging. Word to the wise: if you take this class, do the sona studies so you don't have to do the busywork research assignments.

I LOVE SOMMERS! Took Psych 13 with him too before I matriculated. This man cares so much about his students, even though the lectures are huge! Going to classes is definitely not required to get a good grade, as the homework assignments are just textbook chapter readings, but they're actually interesting too. One short paper, 3 exams.

Professor Sommers is a great lecturer and made content really engaging. He's also super knowledgeable and cares about teaching, and you can tell he's taught this course many times before and loves to do it.

great and easy class! sommers is one of the best professors at tufts because of how interested he is in his material and how good of a communicator he is. tests weren't that hard but ~required~ that you read the textbook. overall a pretty funny and self-aware prof

Sam sommers is cool fr

What is to be said that hasn't been said about this man? Very intelligent, hilarious, highly engaging lectures. I look forward to Psych every day.

If you have the opportunity to take PSY-0001 with Sommers, I would 100% recommend it. His lectures are structured well, and he definitely knows what he is talking about. He is also a very funny guy, and I always looked forward to going to lectures. The course itself was very manageable, but be prepared to do some reading.

I love Prof. Sommers! He made a class full of 300 students super engaging and fun! He is also just such a wonderful person in general. IMO though - do the readings! Not everything is covered in lecture!

He was an awesome professor and brought fun into his lectures. I enjoyed coming to class when he was teaching. For the class, make sure to do the readings and take good notes on the highlighted terms (this will ensure that you do well on the exams).

He was funny, and there was never a dull moment in class with him. I would recommend going to the lectures because he tends to add more info than is shown on the class assignments.

Very engaging professor with a great sense of humor! The exams cover A LOT of information (not always included in the lectures), so I recommend doing all the reading.

Psych 1 was fun and super easy (no HW and 3 tests which are most the grade weren't bad), but info was most of the time obvious/stuff I already knew. Only take this if you have 0 psych knowledge. Sommers and Shin are great lecturers and I always looked forward to class. Take diligent notes & at least skim the textbook to do well! ~2 shus of work.

We love Sam Sommers. He is a funny guy and amazing professor. Overall, course is amazing and easy to achieve in, but engaging still. Shin and Sommers definitely know their stuff.

sam was hilarious-one of the only lectures i would attend just to see what jokes he would make. although i would stop attending the lectures halfway through because i didnt think it was necessary to do well on the tests. its all open book and open note so not much work is needed to succeed in the class. still worth to take for the experience + crdt

If you read the textbook and take notes you're probably gonna get an A. I read most of the textbook and went to like half the lectures and got an A-. The grading is mostly based on three online and open-note exams that are mostly multiple-choice. The content is really interesting too and both professors are great

Great teacher. Made the lectures enjoyable to sit through. Class was graded based on 3 open note exams and 1 essay. Would definitely take again.

Professor Sommer's Psych13 was one of my favorite classes! He shows you just how useful social psych is to the world, and overall is just a gem. Highly respected here at Tufts, and for good reason. DEF a must take professor before you graduate.

I love him!!!!!!! He just wants his students to learn and is amazing and fantastic!

prof. sommers gives amazing lectures and i always look forward to his class. quizzes are virtual and open note. there is a textbook for Social Psych; however, i was able to find an online pdf pretty easily online.

super funny, go to lectures to learn. important to do readings for quizzes but whole grade is based on one paper, and 4 quizzes (he drops the lowest score). he also offered us extra credit which was nice :)

Professor Sommers inspired me to major in Psychology. All of his lectures are engaging. You will pass this class if you try to do the work.

Sommers is easily the best and most respected prof at Tufts. Hilarious in-class demonstrations and even though lectures weren't mandatory they were always the highlight of my week. There is a major paper, and grading for it is strict. 4 tests, lowest one dropped and open note.

Just the best and super easy. Beware of the three tests dont fail em but its also open note

Great professor, co-lectures with Prof. Shin. He is a funny prof and teaches clearly. There are 4 set quiz times and a research paper for your grade. Class is generally easy as long as you take notes and study. For the quizzes, I wish there was more time as they give you just the right amount of time to finish every question and then submit.

y first psychology class ever, and I loved it! Very funny professor who makes material easy to understand. Lectures are amazing, but the class is test heavy. Not the greatest test-taker but understood the material well. Just know that there is no more extra credit offered in this course. Nonetheless, I would definitely take this course again!

So funny. Love Sam Sommers. He is so passionate and really engaging!

Such a funny guy. Incredibly engaging lectures, I'm never bored. Highly recommend!

Super funny and makes class very entertaining so the mandatory attendance isn't so bad. U can miss class, but lecture recordings & slides aren't published so I don't advise. No opportunities for extra credit and grade is solely made up of 4 quizzes that aren't too difficult but include trivial details from the textbook that arent covered in class.

thinks he's funny with all those clips from the office but i just had to endure 1 hour and 15 minutes of cringe

Sommers is awesome. Lectures are super engaging and he's hilarious. If he and Shin aren't teaching PSY01, wait to take it if you can. As long as you show up to lecture and take decent notes you'll do fine. Only one short paper and quizzes are easy.

brings energy and personality to his lectures. i learned a lot from his part of the course.

Sommers is easily the best for Intro Psych, take it with him and Shin in the fall! The class is very easy, just 4 online, open-note exams, 1 paper, and a research requirement - very easy to get an A. Sommers is extremely funny and is very good at lecturing. He does cover the easier topics of the course but does so in a very engaging manner.

His lectures are outstanding, and I found myself questioning human nature after lecture more often than I expected. He is really careful and responsible when discussing sensitive topics. A tip for quizzes: you do not need to read all the wordy textbook. Just skimming to know where each thing not covered in lecture is was enough for me to get an A+.

The most entertaining and engaging professor I have had this past semester. Incorporates humor into his lectures and is very understanding about the paper assignment. I enjoyed when he talked about the work he does in the racial equity & diversity lab.

intro to psy only has 4 quizzes (you can drop the lowest one) and a paper assignment of 600 words. as long as you attend lectures you don't even have to do the readings to get an A. his lectures are very engaging and you'll never be bored. even if you don't plan on majoring in psy, he will make you want to.

He is truly amazing at what he does, and cares profoundly about his students and advisees. I have been consistently impressed by his knowledge, how engaging he is, how responsive he is, how kind he is, and how helpful he is. He will make you fall in love with psychology. Time spent with Prof Sommers is a pleasure and privilege. He's the GOAT, easy.

Super engaging, great introduction to psychology department!

Prof. Shin & Sommers lectures are always so interesting and hilarious. Only homework is reading the textbook. Most of the material covered on the quizzes are covered in lectures. Lowest quiz grade is dropped.

Prof. Sommers made me switch my major to include Psychology. He is an amazing professor and makes me want to go to every single class. I am taking more of his courses and couldn't recommend him enough.

Sommers really understands what makes a lecture engaging: he's funny, breaks up content with videos, and has a great perspective on the world. On top of that, he just seems like a really down-to-earth guy. The class is quite easy if you do some studying for the quizzes (there are four open book/note ones).

Really good intro class for psych. As long as you do the readings and go to class, the tests will be a breeze. Open notes and open book so if you have good timing, it's easy to get As, not to mention you drop the lowest grade. Have to write a paper and participate in studies, but all manageable. Lectures are engaging and funny.

super funny and chill- good at keeping you engaged and is overall great

Both Prof. Sommers and Shin did a great job with engaging lectures, but they can sometimes be repetitive (bc they wrote the textbook we use in the class). Relatively easy class, you'll be fine if you go to the lectures and skim the readings. Take notes tho, they're useful on the quizzes.

I don't think Professor Sommers needs another 5.0 rating, but here it is. Take him for Psych 1, I'm in no way pursuing Psych after this class, but he made it fun for me nonetheless. He's super funny and just a charismatic guy. He's at the same time extremely knowledgeable and easy to understand, his positive attitude is infectious.

Prof. Sommers is a great lecturer. He always has good jokes and really eye-opening demonstrations. Psy 1 is super easy as long as you take good notes during lectures, and reading the textbook helps too.

Class itself was very easy graded from 3 of 4 open textbook quizzes and a short paper. Amazing lecturer he is very funny and good at conveying information.

Amazing class with Prof. Sommers. He is incredibly engaging and is able to keep your attention throughout the entire lecture. However, he does go a bit fast, and not everything presented in class is on the lecture outline. Reading is also important as some quiz material is not mentioned in lectures. Overall really good class and would take again!

Prof. Sommers was a fantastic and engaging lecturer. He showed family videos since he taught a lot about developmental psych. You can tell he is passionate about the content and I would definitely take another class with him. 4 open-note quizzes are rather easy, one short paper, and a few online research questionnaire studies to do.

while Prof Sommers teaches an energetic class, some of the videos he shows feel a bit long for something that could be explained in 2 minutes instead of 10. His lectures would fit better in a 50min format, not 75min, so, despite his energy, the class can become boring, even if you are interested in the field of psychology.

I absolutely love him he's such a great teacher and lecturer that clearly cares about his students. So kind and will always make time for people who have questions. I found the class to be super easy and fair and really interesting - would HIGHLY recommend.

Absolutely fantastic professor. Grading structure is very clearly laid out and professors are aware they're teaching a bunch of freshmen. Attendance in lectures isn't mandatory but you should go anyway -- it'll be a lot better than the textbook. Four open-note quizzes where the lowest gets dropped, and one short paper. Could not recommend more.

Rest in peace Professor

Professor Sommers' students will always miss him. What an amazing, caring, energetic person. He taught me things I will use for the rest of my life, and inspired me to use social psych to be a better person. I think of him every time I think about the bystander effect and act proactively instead of letting an issue pass by. Thank you, Sam.

Tufts will never be the same without Professor Sommers. He was an integral part of my interest in psychology, but beyond that, he was an admirable human being. He embodied integrity, humility, open-mindedness, and empathy. An angel gone too soon. Today and every day, the world shines a little less brightly without him. I'll always remember him.

I'm honored to have taken his classes each year so far, and inspired to be a truly good person.

Sam Sommers was my all-time favorite professor at Tufts. He was extremely passionate, brilliant, and engaging as a professor. I took his Intro to Psych course my first semester freshman year and he inspired me to major in psychology. He was such a kind soul. He will be dearly missed.

RIP Professor Sommers. Best Professor you could ever ask for.

Rest in Peace, Professor Sommers. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful and caring person to help me through my freshman year from PSY-1 to PSY-13. Never wanted to miss a lecture as they were always amazing and engaging. Learned so much that I will always carry with me now. I'm so grateful to have known him and will always miss him.

I was always excited when it was a Sommers lecture, they always were fun and engaging, he always made it relatable and entertaining. He was clearly very caring if you were having any struggles, and also very accessible if you were having any difficulties. Wonderful prof and person, you will be missed.