4.3
Quality3.3
Difficulty75%
Would Retake93
Reviews75%
Would Retake
93
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
60
4
19
3
8
2
3
1
3
What Students Say
“He expects a lot from his students, he's a very tough grader”
HIST458 - 3.0 rating“Really cares about his students”
HIST252 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
67%
Textbook Required
90%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.21 avg changeRatings by Course
HST458
5.0
(1)HIST
5.0
(4)HISTORY25263
5.0
(1)HISTORY63
5.0
(1)HIST460
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
HIST498
5.0
HST252
4.0
HIST498HIST
4.0
HISTORY25263
4.0
HISTORY63
4.0
Reviews (93)
Great Proffessor, full of personality and jokes. Loved the class. Huge class but learns everyones name. Very knowledgeable on the subject. Good format of class. Would recommend him to anyone.
Ok, smart and sexy, how much better can a prof get, especially for a GE class? Love him, he's great.
Ok, yes he is dreamy. But prepare for a final constisting of memorizing almost a hundred events or people. He'll pick seven of them and you must name the place, the date, the point, i dont remember exactly but it was hard. He is a good teacher. Bad tester
Smart,sexy, and a great teacher! I got a ton out of his class!!
Cool teacher. You will read lots of novels which I like. Most classes are straight lectures. Includes multicultural events from history which was refreshing. Recommended.
definitly a hottie! A cute smart history buff. Sign me up! Funny and good lectures!
I loved this class, deffinatly a hottie, It was informative and interesting, but be prepared to do a lot of reading and take hard tests. I would sign up for his class any day.
Loved this class,you have one paper or presentation and a lot of reading.He gives easy short quizes on the readings but his final and mid term study guides give fifty terms and four essays to learn and he'll only ask you seven term and two essays on the test. Very hard grader on tests and papers.
Estes, you are so cute! Loved the class. Makes you want to go to class because it is so fun, not to mention you just want to look at him!
He's the hottest teacher I'ver ever had!- oh and the class was pretty cool also!
He calls out on certain students a lot, a lot more if you "stand out". He's an ass. Tends to keep you late.He picks the least obvious IDs.I don't see why he takes pictures of his students.He tells some kids attendence is important & others it isn't.
On of the best classes not to mention teachers i've had at Sonoma State. He can be an ass and is hard but i've learned alot and had fun doing it. I would recomend this class to anyone who is unsure or uneasy about history. It a great class and i enjoyed it alot steve dose a great job! two thunbs up!
the most articulate, well prepared teacher i've had so far. knows his stuff with a passion! he really wants students to learn. he makes it fun- isn't too much of a hard ass. he's a tough grader and calls on you when you don't raise your hand! AH! very scary, but the class is worth it. believe me!
He's a funny guy and that makes class fun. He's also super nice to look at... but he's married.
Steve made his class very fun yet, educational at the same time. I recommend you do a paprer rather than an oral report. He does give you a lot of reading but the books are interesting. He is young and funny, i enjoyed his class very much!
Steve is the bomb. His classes are always fun and interesting, and yes he does give a damn about teaching the student. Very intelligent, funny, challenging grader on papers, but makes it fun to go to class. Good books, and he will call on the people that dont talk.
Steve is a great teacher, if a little to fast. definatly use a laptop if you have one,he always makes things interesting, tells great stories, usually makes you sing at least onece, and makes the class fun even if your learning about tough topics. his exams are hard, but find a study group and you should be ok. make sure you read, and participate.
hot hot hot!! too bad his wife had to go and get pregnant
Estes is a cutie. He's smart as all get-out too so class is always interesting, though not easy for a slacker or anyone who isn't a history buf...
Poor teaching style, gives u a very skewed view of historical events. Fails to mention important topics that are relevant to history. Grading system is a bit strange -------> In class quizzes are worth just as much as the midterms and final? Assigns fiction as class reading.
No Comments
He's awesome. This is my second class with him and I am filled with information everyday. He's funny and extremely intelligent
I hated history till I took this class... I liked that he gave us the option- either do a short research paper or a short class presentation on a history subject- the only class I've ever taken that recognized differences between introverts and extroverts and actually did something about it. Great teacher- really makes the material that could be, and usually is, presented dry actually pretty interesting!
Knows his material well,always willing to go the extra mile for a student. Good lectures, highly organized, prompt about returning assignments. Required reading always an interesting mix of books. Show up, listen well, take detailed notes, utilize study guides and you will do well. May be a little tough and and intimidating for non history majors
Oral history class. Didn't know it was also a performance class. Hard being older than the teacher and discussing events I lived thru that he was a child for. Learned a lot. Nice guy. Do the work, get a good grade.
Steve is an amazing teacher. He makes material interesting and has a genuine desire to see his students succeed. He was the first professor I have had since middle school that saw through a BS paper and failed me for it, which is really an amazing thing. Be ready for it: facts talk, **** walks. And just because he asked, he gets a pepper.
great class, he make the lectures interesting (but they are all powerpoint). he is willing to help you out and wants you to learn. i could tell that he knows the info, and expects you to also. not an easy class but not hard either. i would definitly take his class again. one of the best teachers at SSU, and a just a good guy.
Like most have said before me - great teacher. Makes an otherwise rather boring subject come alive. Not particularly hard class either..very fun. Would definitely recommend Prof. Estes..
great teacher, very fun class, he makes you learning by actively participating. I have always liked history and someone like steve just makes the class and subject matter come to life. I highly recomend him for anyone needing to take history. But just make sure you do the work because there is a ton of work for his class. But its a fun class.
Very Down to earth and Easy to Relate too. Does a GREAT job at presenting material. Expects alot, but With him as your professor you really dont have an excuse not to do well.
if u have the opportunity to take one of his classes i highly recommend it. his class consisted of two test (which are super easy if you just make fashcards for) and a paper. i loved his lecture style and organization. i am by no means a person who likes history, but he makes it interesting. this is not a hard class and you will learn a ton
Boring, but not horrible. Tests are ok. Not too difficult, but a **** to study/memorize. He gives 6 quizzes which are very easy if you read the books. Although none of the books were really all that interesting. You also have a 4 page paper or class presentation (your choice).
so can i just say right now that i love this teacher!!at the beggining he scared the crap out of me with his requirements, but then when i came to him concerned with my grade he had a genuine want to help me!!you have to read. 6 quizes 2 test but like people said make flashcards and if u have a choice do the presentation..i got an A-!!
Has a clear way of communicating info to the students through lectures. Gives a lot of info though, and you will be madly typing or writing notes for the entire class period (which can be exhausting). Tough grader. Even grades extra credit. Can be confusing about where you are on the timeline because he skips around.
Awesome teacher!! He made me love history for the first time in my life. I actually looked forward to his class. He is HARD in grading tho. I am a straight A student and i had to struggle for the grade. Do the presentation for sure. Its super easy. He is an extreme liberal, and i am not so that was weird but overall it was a great class.
pretty much my favorite teacher ive had in college.
currently making me hate life as i study for this midterm. have to memorize 50 ID's but we are only tested on 7.... cool. you have to listen in class because that's the only way to get the facts rarely writes anything down. lot's of reading! i don't understand why he got such great ratings. seems like a cool guy but the class is a lot of work.
Amazing professor. Not the easiest, but you know you are actually learning. I recommend him.
Great professor - interesting readings, clear lectures. If you have a problem with the amount of work for 252, you have no business being in college.
Estes is AWESOME. Yeah, yeah his class is a lot of work... DUH! you're in college. He is a good teacher and always willing to help in any way he can. Funny and interesting during lectures! Very approachable and nice. His power-points are clear and concise. He is also a very fair grader. He is worth taking, especially for a GE.
he is a great teacher and the class is really easy just study for the midterm and final and you will be ok. AND go to class
Go to class and you'll be all good. Lots of memorizing for his midterms, just make flashcards. Quizzes were super easy.
Good teacher, a little bit of a task master and liberal for his own good however his teaching is very clear and its obvious he actually enjoys teaching students, unlike half of the professors here in the school.
Challenging GE class! I am hating him as I study for his midterm right now! 50 ID's to memorize and 4 essay questions to prepare for. Quizzes are easy if you READ THE BOOKS. He doesn't use a textbook and lectures are fast and not in cron. order. But, he does put PP outline online. I wish I had used the textbook he put on reserve.
GREAT teacher. Yes, the class is a lot of work, but um...you're in college. You MUST go to class and you MUST do at least some of the reading to get a good grade. If you need help just talk to him...he'll explain things to you over and over until you get it. Midterm and Final are kinda hard, but if you went to class you'll be fine.
Steve is absolutely my favorite professor at Sonoma State. I have taken two classes with him so far and am planning on taking his senior seminar next semester. He requires a lot of reading and writing but his love of teaching and his style of teaching makes me want to work hard all semester. Dont pass up taking any of his classes!
Estes is a great teacher. His seminars are easy to follow if you do the readings. There is no right or wrong answer in his class; he just wants you to state your opinion and be able to provide examples. He is very helpful; go to his office hours if you need help w/ anything. I thoroughly enjoy his class and his enthusiasm for teaching. Awesome guy!
Steve is a great guy and teacher. He makes his class interesting which made me want to actually come to class. The books are interesting and the paper was not hard at all. Put effort into his class and he will reward you. He is also super helpful and easy to talk too. Wish I was a history major to take another class with him.
Estes is funny and he is a great professor. He sincerely wants to help all of his students and doesn't mind giving advice. His class isn't easy, but he makes it very interesting and is passionate about his profession. I definitely recommend taking this class. I learned so much.
Steve is awesome! I recommend him to anyone who asks me, regardless of major. This class was interesting and organized well, do your reading and you'll be fine! Great professor and great person in general!
Great teacher all around. Somewhat difficult class, but if you study you will do well. Grades based on multiple choice quizes and everything else is writing essays or short answers. Show up and don't leave in the middle of his class or he will be angry with you. Very liberal, but actively takes as many 'sides' as he can. Passionate about history.
Steve is the best history professor at this school. If you love modern american history, he knows everything there is to know. He doesn't use text books, just reading books that have 10 question quizzes for every class, you can pass them without reading half the time. Tests are tough, and he grades tough on his papers, his enthusiasm is awesome.
Awesome professor!! Extremely interested in explaining his lectures and he uses current day media in classes. Super fun but detailed power points. Doesnt use a text book for class. Tests and quizzes are pretty straight forward.
Steve is the best teacher Ive ever had. I would definitely recommend taking him to anyone. He is amazing. I want to go to class and Im always interested in learning more even though I dont like history too much. He is the best teacher ever. take him! you wont regret it!
Take his class. I hated history before I had him. Best teacher I have had in my college career thus far.
Awesome teacher! He's a pretty funny guy and actually makes history interesting. I would definitely recommend him! Attendance isn't required, but it's important to go to class to get good notes. Expect to work hard to get an A
Great professor, makes the class interesting and information is clearly stated, class isn't mandatory but if you go to class and pay attention you won't have to study much. 2 tests, some quizzes and either an essay or presentation
This class is very difficult if you don't come every day or do the readings. There is no textbook, just real reading books, which aren't terrible. The midterm and final are hard but he gives out a study guide that is extremely helpful if you do it well.
Good: grades papers in a timely manner (love him for this) humorous and entertaining. He is also very reliable, he wants his students to succeed and he is always in his office during scheduled hours Bad:will embarrass students, liberal but not over the top. A ton of reading. Also super hot, can be distracting at times. :-/
Great Professor! I was really struggling in the class and he helped me and encouraged me so much and that I managed to pull off a C+. He really cares about his students and you can tell he is passionate about the subject. Just make sure to read the books and take notes.
Steve is a great teacher! He is funny and passionate about history; makes the class more interesting. He gives interesting facts and perspectives that are not taught in most high school history classes. His midterm and final are written so it's a lot of memorization. Make sure you take good notes. Don't expect an easy A, but a solid B is doable.
Love this teacher, probably one of the best here, so take him if you can! Tests are a bit hard since they have essay and "definitions" but just study. Has easy quizzes on cool novels. Research Paper is easy, its about learning history by doing an interview with someone about a historical event, 5-7 pages.
Great professor! I have taken his class for three semesters in a row. He makes the class very engaging and motivates us to really participate in class discussion. He's very understanding and easy to approach. I promise if you take any of his classes, you learn a lot and will not be disappointed. He's very funny and easy going.
He expects a lot from his students, he's a very tough grader. I've never had to study so much, be prepared to be asked about the color of X's underwear. Every single detail of the course feels like it has to be known. Loses himself in those details, so much that you don't really understand anything, you don't learn you memorize.
He is a great professor. I have taken a class with him every semester and enjoyed every one. There is a lot of work but it's useful for learning and growing in the major and as a person
Great Guy! Really cares about his students. Be ready to read.
Love Steve! He is super funny and can be very sarcastic towards the class. He grades very hard!! Don't expect more than 90 on any papers. No tests, few quizzes on reading. Many little responses ( usually 1 page ). Takes attendance and it goes towards your grade.
Super funny guy. Assigns books, if you don't read them then you wont do good on the quizzes. Talks a little fast, but is happy to repeat anything if you ask. Interesting(ish) class.
Professor Estes is such a cool guy! Really makes you want to show up to class. He assigns books to read to provide studies with a micro-history of whatever topic he was discussing during lecture.
Steve bases a huge amount of the class off of readings, which even if you score 100% on the tests for them, he will still assume you did not read. This problem, along with the fact that he does not have clear instructions for his essays, results in students becoming confused and having trouble. This professor is not one that I can recommend.
Steve is truly great professor. Yes there is a lot of reading for the class and the midterm and final are a little challenging, but he's the kind of professor that actually makes you want to do the work. He's very funny and he keeps it real with his students, and is always happy to help if you go to office hours.
Oh man, this guy does not give any sort of clear instructions when it comes to work. There is way to much reading and the book reports are just arbitrarily graded. Steve comes off as a cool, nice, and funny guy in class. However, he grades horribly and can really do a lot of damage to your GPA. Honest I would not expect anything higher than a +C -B
Professor Estes was easily one of the best professors I have had. All his lectures were very interesting especially for someone who does not usually like going to class. He rarely takes attendance but it is easy to want to go to that class. During his lectures he draws the room to be super intrigued the entire time, and is extremely knowledgable!
Prof Estes is very good, had him for Zoom lecture. not sure how he is in person but he always had a powerpoint and stuck to the scheduled on the syllabus. I wish more instructors were like this
Professor Estes was an awesome teacher. I took the class on zoom and while each class is a lecture they are very enjoyable. He is really fun and there is a lot of interaction between him and students. You have to go to the lectures to do well on the finals. No homework but there are books to read and quizzes on them along with written finals.
Steve is a really cool person. His midterm and finals are essays but he gives the questions out in advance to prepare. HIs lectures can be quite heavy but if you ask him to clarify, will be more than happy to clarify. Can be really funny to. Just don't call him a boomer or he will get real pissed
Fun class but your grade really depends on the quizzes, on the group project or oral project and on your midterm and final. Not many assignments but make sure to do well on the few assignments you do get. No extra credit options!!!
He's has a good personality; great lecturer too. The midterm and final are brutal because of the format & their weight on your grade (50%). There's 40 terms to memorize yet only 4 are graded, along with 4 essay prompts to prepare for yet only 1 is graded. Felt like no matter how hard I prepared, there was just way too much information to remember.
This professor assigns WAY too much reading for a GE course. All the class is graded on are quizzes and midterm and finals so if you dont like reading be ready to fail. Also, he grades extremely hard yet does not seem to put much effort into teaching or helping students learn. His lectures can be scattered and don't give much information on test.
He assigned us multiple full length books to read and it was too time consuming. Prepare to dedicate MUCH more of your time than just two lectures a week. It would've been more appropriate for an upper division class but not GE. Def would be too scared to take another class with him.
Professor Estes is knowledgeable and fosters excellent discussions. He works with you if something arises, but attendance and participation are important. He is a tough grader and you will have a decent amount of reading each week. Show up, participate, and be very thorough on your assignments.
He assigns a bunch of books to read that the quizzes are on. He is an extremely tough grader. Classes are short and two times a week
One of my favorite professors I've had. He is very knowledgeable & goes off topic easily but is very entertaining. He assigns 6 books & there are quizzes on all of them. Midterm & final are the same format...lots of material to memorize. Signature assignment was either a presentation or an oral history paper. Overall, I recommend him!
loved this class and professor estes, hes super nice and engages with the class lots
For sure one of my favorite professors here at ssu. I was having issues with a partner for a project and he was very understanding and accommodating of that. He occasionally went off topic but that made his lectures more engaging. There is quite a bit of reading, but he gives you a two weeks notice before the quiz on it.
Professor Estes is about as fun as history lectures get, good information, jokes and a few tangents. He's easy to reach outside of class and is pretty understanding if something's out of your control. There's 5-6 books you required for the quizzes in class which aren't worth getting through the bundle. The Midterm and Final tests were handwritten
One of the worst professors I have ever had at Sonoma State. The amount of studying and information is insane. If you want to cry on finals and midterm week then take this class. The exams are in person essays that need to be 7-10 paragraphs and you have to memorize 40 names just to answer 3 on the test. So much useless memorization!!!
Prof Estes is amazing! Class is reading heavy, but the books are very interesting. The first part of class is student-led lectures followed by an Estes lecture. There are reading journals about each book due, and one essay for the final. Overall fun class and fun professor.
Professor Estes made it so easy to understand the material. His format makes it so you actually retain the information. The midterm and final is a handwritten essay. He does require you to read different books. I have seen some people complain about the readings and the exam formats but why go to college if you don't want to read?
Estes made this class super enjoyable! there is a lot of reading with a multiple question quiz about each book. Midterm and final are IDs and an essay. Overall Estes made lectures entertaining and fun. Definitely would recommend taking any class with him!
Steve genuinely cares about his students and he wants you to take something away from his class. As long as you try, you will pass with flying colors.
A great guy and lecturer, but a very tough professor, asks way too much of students for a lower division, entry level course, this class had more work than my upper division classes for my major. Makes you memorize way too many things that you'll never end up applying. He does make the topics understandable though.
Very engaging and fun lectures. He integrates music/movies into the lectures as well as pop culture and he makes jokes during them. He is very good at explaining complicated concepts and patient with questions. The tests are hard but as long as you put in an effort you will do well. I genuinely looked forward to this class.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
67%
Textbook Required
90%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.21 avg changeRatings by Course
HST458
5.0
(1)HIST
5.0
(4)HISTORY25263
5.0
(1)HISTORY63
5.0
(1)HIST460
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
HIST498
5.0
HST252
4.0
HIST498HIST
4.0
HISTORY25263
4.0
HISTORY63
4.0