2.1
Quality4.1
Difficulty4%
Would Retake86
Reviews4%
Would Retake
86
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
5
4
5
3
19
2
25
1
32
What Students Say
“Grading is extremely harsh and comes VERY late”
UN1025 - 1.0 rating“In this class, I studied more than any of my other courses”
UN1025 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
38%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.19 avg changeRatings by Course
SA2200
5.0
(1)SS2200
3.3
(7)HU0112
3.0
(1)SS3260
3.0
(2)UN1002
2.9
(17)Difficulty by Course
ARCH2200
5.0
UN1015
5.0
FW3225
5.0
SS3260
4.5
SS3320
4.5
Reviews (86)
Interesting lectures, but I can't take my eyes off the guy, so it doesn't matter what he says. Luckily the books have everything you need in them.
Lectures were interesting sometimes and other times painfully boring. Depends on your interest in the subject. If you do the assigned readins you'll do at least fairly well.
Dr. Sweitz is an interesting professor, though sometimes his lectures get boring. But his lectures about South America were very good, he had many pictures and slides, and obviously enjoyed teaching it. Also, he has a nice bum.
Grades tests and papers looking for specific phrases, so if you don't write it perfectly he rewards you with low B's. Lectures are filled with information and go beyond the book, so come to class.
Shoot me! I would have rather took a hit to the foot than having to bear his class... It was the worst experience ever. So boring, he talked about his own research too much, had TERRIBLE hair, ... take some other distribution course.
I didn't learn much, but I know ALL ABOUT that sugar hacienda Tabi that he did his dissertation on. Anything slightly related to Latin America or sugar will lead to him yapping bout the hacienda. Impossible to study for his exams.
His world cultures class is completely and utterly hopeless. Impossible to take notes on his lecture slides, not to mention what he actually says. PLEASE for the love of GOD take this class with a different professor. He has bad hair...and a soul-patch.
some lectures are boring, but some are interesting. watch a movie every week and the papers generally aren't that hard to write. make sure to read the book. tests are difficult because some questions are really specific, but he curves it to bring the average up to 75%. no final! and opportunities for extra credit
*sighs* -- what else can you say...very disapointed.
Completely useless
Pretty straight forward. Movie friday, paper due monday, 3 exams noncumulative, in class questions. My advice is read both books and bring paper to the writing center. It's a lot but gives you an easy A. Some people who didn't struggled. Lectures are boring but take good notes, it makes a lot of the exam. Strong curve at the end though.
It's a boring class, but he tries his best to make it as interesting as possible, I give him credit for that. Curves exams so that the class average is up to 70%. Lecture slides are somewhat hard to understand and go by, but if you listen, you should get them.
He knows how to talk for long periods of time, so if you like to listen than this is the teacher for you. Exams are a little extreme when it comes to specificness, so reading everything is a really good idea. Def a difficult class.
Hmmm, he's not a bad professor at all, there is just A LOT of information in his class. His exams are quite something also (just had one today) - they've got about 15% of really, really specific information from the book that's got too many words in it (seriously). Again, really nice guy though.
Sweitz is a newer professor, about 2 years of teaching. He teaches like most of his class are grad students and are extremely interested. Most people don't care about anthropology. His tests are completely irrelevant to what he talks about. They are extremely specific. Don't take this class if your looking for an A.
Exams are very hard. Have to put in A LOT of time to get a B in this class.
Let me begin by saying that the man never has his facts straight. His slides do not match the lecture. He has an obsession with Latin/South America, it focuses way to much on this region when the class is called WORLD cultures. His lectures are long winded, if you are not interested in the class then the risk of falling asleep is very high.
Good teacher.
Long lectures and hard exams. Every week you have to do a paper and about 60 pages of reading.
Sweitz is a good prof for this course, but he makes it unnecessarily tough for a 1st year class. All exam questions come from his class notes, which are pretty unorganized, and the book (50-60 pages for each region). Just take good notes on his lectures and try not to skip assignments because you'll probably need the e.c. at the end of the year.
His lectures are long, dry, and boring. There isn't that much writing, but he picks the due dates specifically so students won't be able to visit the writing center for assistance. The exams are rather difficult. Join a study group if you plan receiving a grade higher than a B.
Interesting lectures, however they are applicable to only a small percent of the exam questions. Must take notes and DO THE READING (100+ pages per exam) to get an A.
bad bad bad teacher
His lectures drag soooooooooooo long. I can barely stay awake in his class. Also, he puts emphasis on things that aren't relavent to the class. None of what he talks about is relavent to anything, if u look at the slides through his hour and a half lecture you gain the same knowledge.
Terrible. Received D on paper and he couldn't even tell me why. Not a fan... stupid goatee..
Great teacher! Interesting lectures, gives helpful feedback.
This is the most boring lecture I have ever been in. No learning just him shoving his anthropology knowledge down your throat. Useless and boring
Absolutely horrible. Rambles through lecture, impossible to take in everything he says. Exams are extremely picky and reference single lines out of one of the 20 papers he has you read for each exam. Scheduled meeting with him and he talked to me the same as if he were talking to a lecture hall.
God awful class, all sections are supposed to be uniform and cover the same material but HA. His classes have to read 3-5 articles (some up to 60 pages) each week along with chapters in the "book". Exams are way to specific as well, he'll ask you questions about exact quotes or lines of text from things you read 3-4 weeks ago.
Terrible teacher. Makes you read several long, boring articles and expects you to be able to remember quotes from them and elaborate on the exams. Bases the exams on strictly readings and the book, yet has grueling lectures where you cannot stay awake and talks about irrelevant anthropology topics . Avoid if you can!
He's my favorite to listen to during a lecture because he stays enthusiastic the whole time which is hard for a boring topic. I'm impressed he tends to make us believe he's actually interested in what he lectures. I actually think he is. If he's not, that's makes him even better at lectures. He's fun to listen to but the material is boring.
Even though it is a mandatory class, there is no way I would take this again. The content seems like it could be interesting, but all he does is lecture the entire time. It is almost impossible to not fall asleep.
He makes the class interesting and encourages further discussion.
He himself is pretty good at explaining his topics and getting you prepared for the tests. His TA grades your papers and will tear you apart. Good luck!
His Lectures are very interesting and actually surprised me to be honest. I had really no interest in Latin American History, but his lectures and knowledge from work done there made class enjoyable. However there are a lot of dry and boring readings. He also does not provide a lot of feedback on essays and is a very tough grader because of it.
He knows what he's talking about due to his research in the area of Latin American Cultural History which is great. What's not great is that he expects you to know as much as he does when it comes times for papers and exams. Loads of dry readings, but he does assign movies too, which is different. He doesn't return papers in a timely fashion.
He's a nice guy, but the class isn't the best. The lectures are long and boring, and will have you struggling to stay awake. He assigns long readings but only cares about a few key points from each. The class was just a nuisance and I didn't take much away from it. Paper grading comments were some times conflicting with one another.
Global issues was very lecture heavy. The trick to exams is to study vocab, and look at only the reading he talks about in class and the main topics he focus on in the lectures. Book is not needed to pass. Make sure you meet with him to review your exams. He is very helpful and gives good tips to improve! Papers are not too bad, but take time.
He is not anything like Indiana Jones..... BUMMER
Every lecture is extremely long and extremely boring, he talks from the beginning of class to the end every day. Grading is extremely harsh and comes VERY late. We got our exam grades for exam 1 back less than a week before exam 2 and the earliest he would give me feedback on the first is the day before the second exam. BEWARE of Sam Sweitz.
Easily the worst prof I've ever had. If you have the option to not take him, do it. He makes you work harder than any other global issues teacher. we had to write 4 papers and do 4 discussions and all the other sections had two.
Honestly, one of the worst professors I have encountered. The workload is way higher than any other professors. And in his lectures, he talks about his own opinions instead of actually teaching the class.
DO NOT TAKE HIM! He is the worst professor I've ever had. The work load is insane and also way more than the other global issues professors give. The TA grades everything and she grades unbelievably hard. The lectures are so boring. 150+ pages of reading a week which is REQUIRED to pass the exams... TERRIBLE PROFESSOR
In this class, I studied more than any of my other courses. No matter how hard you try, he will only give you a low B on your paper. Also, the exams are impossible to study for and everyone got low C's on the papers. The only thing he says in lecture is "globalization" and asks questions about it. I got an A in chem and a low B in this class.
I'm going to be a 3rd year at Tech. I have a >3.6 GPA and I study very hard. But why am I telling you this? Because my worst grade I have received at Tech was Introduction to Archaeology. It is just ridiculously hard, w/ insanely specific exam Q's. Books were just nuisances and not really needed, never talked about them. Maybe one exam Q from book.
Lectures are extremely dull; it's like paying for an hour long nap.. Gives more work than the other Global Issues professors. Grades harder than any teacher I've had. I put more effort into this class than any other, but still doubt that I will pass.
Feedback on assignments was minimal at best, and he required us to do much more work than other UN1025 classes.
The grading by this professor and/or T.A. for this class was nonsensical. After writing three papers I realized that the professor had a very clear idea of what his "perfect paper" would look like. I found it difficult to meet this idea of a perfect paper he had in mind, despite writing thorough and clear papers that were well written. Good luck.
He basically rambles on and on, for the hour. Then expects you to give him a perfect essays. Any thing less than perfection is a B or less. would not recommend.
The class was terrible, no real direction in the lectures and what was being talked about wasn't really relevant. There was no point in going. The essays are extremely difficult. What he requires is unrealistic and there is little way to get an A; in 1200 words, use 6 plus sources to answer 5 vague questions. formatted like a normal essay.
This class is nothing but group projects and essays. With very broad questions, you will never get a %100 as nothing is good enough for him. If you have to take his class try to find someone else who teaches the same material. The lectures are like watching paint dry, terrible slides, he'll up the questions on the slide then talk very fast.
He clearly has a very specific idea of what he wants from group projects and papers but doesn't really tell you what he wants. His comments are unhelpful and the grading is rough. Do not take this class with him.
He's a very nice guy, but grading is strict for his assignments.
Sam is an amazing character and fun to talk to, but he teaches a very dry and disinteresting lecture. This is due to his fanatic love of statistics and analyzations. Be prepared to answer many questions at a time on all assignments, and make your answers deeply detailed with supporting sources. Midterms are essays.
Remember affirmative action? It does not apply in his class. One of his first lectures was on the idea of ethnocentrism, and how we all subconsciously believe that our ethnicity is superior. It was all about how much influence Eastern Europe has on the world. Also hinted that people of color are a different species.
one of his first lectures was on ethnocentrism. most of the course is about how much influence Eastern Europe has on the world. He has hinted that people of color are a different species during lecture.
I'm honestly so conflicted. He's very engaging and clearly loves the material. I loved the actual class, but his grading is ridiculous. Insane amounts of work. No way to get an A on a paper.
As a third year student having to take global issues, just do yourself a favor and pick another professor even if you have to rearrange your schedule. He is one of THE WORST professors I've ever had. He grades very harshly and dishes out readings like crazy. Don't hate yourself for an entire semester. Just pick another professor.
Absolutely terrible, super boring and is extremely tough on grading writing assignments that are all too often. The lectures cover barely anything a d just a big loop
He is precise about what he wants on each exam but lacks to inform you what that would be. He only grades the exams and leaves the discussions and quizzes to the TA. If you are lucky, you'll have a great TA who grades very lightly, so you only have to worry about the exams. Overall, I should have dropped the class when I had the chance.
Hands down the hardest grader at Michigan Tech. Thankfully my TA was decent, and they graded quizzes and discussions. But he graded the exams, and wouldn't give me anything higher than a low B no matter how hard I tried. Will give out multiple readings and videos per week. Gives out way more work than necessary. Avoid any classes with Sweitz.
Talks real pretty without saying much. Assignments are mainly written essays both long and short. Assignments are graded based on a checklist of every single topic that could come up and docks you points if you don't bring every single thing from class into the assignments. Impossible to get a great grade without tripling the word count.
He assigns only one assignment a week for this class, but grades it extremely harshly and does not give productive feedback on how to do better. His lectures are just reading off of text filled slides that engage his class. I would not take this class from him again but I've heard his other classes are better and would consider those if I had to.
worst global issue professor, he gives out way more work than other section while grading harder with all the papers we write for the class.
Good guy, okay lectures, absolutely terrible assignments. We have the same number of assignments as other sections, but his essay prompts make them far harder. The prompts are both extremely broad and extremely abstract, yet it seems he downgrades you for not including EVERY concept in detail. The feedback that you do get is also largely unhelpful
The lectures were interesting, and I understand the importance of the class, but almost all of the assignments of consequence were writing. In these assignments, the prompts were ambiguous and the grading tended to be strict in excess. This class would've been phenomenal without such a vigorous workload and such perplexing grading standards.
If you have the option to switch professors I would highly recommend doing so. Essays have very open ended questions but when he grades them there are specific things unknown to you before hand that you must have or you get marked down, also no matter how much you reference course material and lectures in your essays he will say that you need more.
He just talks forever about nothing that makes any sense. The questions he asks for exams and discussion posts don't make any sense and are so unnecessarily long and wordy. They grade so harshly I'm barely above a C trying my best. Please chose another section and professor if you can. Save yourself.
Expect a lot of writing. Grades as if there is a checklist of things you need to mention but doesn't tell or hint at what they are. Docks points for smallest details. Very little feedback makes it extremely difficult to have any idea what is being looked for on the essays.
Lecture is an absolute snoozefest. All he does is ramble off the slides in over scholarly language without actually saying anything meaningful. Getting feedback is just a restatement of the prompt and he'll just tell you to reference the materials. Automatic B or lower.
Incredibly difficult grader who assigns more work then he can grade. I received my first midterm (a 65) the day before my second one was due. Hope Santa brings my final grade.
His lectures are very long and boring. His essay question are broad and difficult to answer. He is very slow on grading the essays as well. You won't know if you passed the course until the end of the semester. I would not recommend this professor.
Bro sweats global issues so much. The homework is not proportional to how important the course really is.
Will assign essays during student breaks. Also does not post lectures.
He takes forever to grade assignments. Grades are super harsh and don't give you relevant feedback to fix your mistakes for next time. He'll add things that you "should've" responded to that were nowhere in the rubric or prompt (just expects you to answer it ig?). Find a different professor for this class
He is a pretty interesting lecturer and clearly cares about what he is talking about but he is pretty bad at writing essay questions and grades relatively harshly with unhelpful feedback. Assignments also come in bursts and the exams are each 4 essays which sucks.
He makes you do so much writing/reading for a class that nobody cares about
Meh is truly the word to sum up Professor Sweitz. You can tell he's incredibly knowledgeable on the topics he teaches but he's really bad at actually teaching the topic itself. He's a tough grader and his feedback is usually not helpful. The only thing that I enjoyed was the TA. I do like him as a person though just wish the teaching was different.
He is very knowledgeable about what he's talking about, but grades way to hard for something that is supposed to be up to interpretation. No matter what you do, it's never good enough. You're expected to write about anything and everything mentioned in class, and if you forget one thing you might as well have not even tried writing the paper.
His lectures are relatively interesting and he clearly cares about what he's talking about, but the grading criteria is very unclear, and trying to follow his limited feedback is unhelpful. There's not as much homework as some Global Issues Classes, but you have to write 4 separate essays for each exam, which is a pain.
He really does care about what he teaches, but he does not teach it well. He is knowledgeable about the subject and shows genuine interest in it. But over half the grades you will get for the class will be essays and for someone like me who struggles with writing, that just made me happy to pass the class, the feedback wasn't great and didn't help.
Grades way too harshly considering he is a social sciences professor at an engineering school. Super awesome professor in terms of knowing his stuff, but come on. Compared to the other Global Issues classes, his is 100x harder. Do not take his course.
Professor Sweitz is genuinely one of the coolest professors at Michigan Tech. He is extremely knowledgeable in his field and expresses that passion through his lectures. Be prepared for ESSAYS (more than other sections) & very up-to-interpretation prompts. If you're not the best writer, though, his section may not be for you.
Dr. Sweitz is very knowledgeable on archaeology, but his class is way harder than it has to be. As someone who just took this class for HASS credit and thought this was the most interesting option, I did not get what I wanted to out of this class at all. He never puts in grades and exams are worth 50% of your grade. Please avoid him is possible.
First half was alright, but by the second half, the class went very downhill. Boring and complex lectures & subjects, there were weekly readings that spanned up to ~30 small text pages that also had to be used on essays/exams, and fairly strict grading as well. He's very passionate about the subject, but his conveying of it is not good.
I would never take a class from him unless Archaeology is your major. Ridiculously difficult grading standards that doesn't allow for a single grade above an 85 regardless of how much effort you or your group put into any given assignment. Only grades based off a handful of group assignments and a couple of exams.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
38%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.19 avg changeRatings by Course
SA2200
5.0
(1)SS2200
3.3
(7)HU0112
3.0
(1)SS3260
3.0
(2)UN1002
2.9
(17)Difficulty by Course
ARCH2200
5.0
UN1015
5.0
FW3225
5.0
SS3260
4.5
SS3320
4.5