Took this class over C sesh. All lectures were recorded and could easily be sped up. The material is very engaging and the professor uses relevant examples. Weekly quizzes that were open note with no time limit and a final paper. Very easy and self explanatory class.

(this review is for C sesh)

this is the PERFECT intro class to sociology! Prof. Calderon-Martinez really made this class his own and it was so fun to have discussions with him during Q&A or just listen to him during lecture, where there were rarely dull moments.

I think it's almost impossible not to find the material interesting, because everything is so pertinent to what we as young adults are coming to understand about the adult world, whether its politics, culture, etc.

I was nervous entering this class because I wasn't really sure what sociology was and I'm not the best essay writer. This class allowed me to think at my own pace, and it focused less on being a good writer and more on my message, so that was great. The topics don't go super in-depth, so you can get a sense of what you're supposed to know by watching the lectures and you don't need to do a lot of extra reading or have tons of prior knowledge.

Prof Calderon-Martinez made the class and the topic of sociology unique by keeping each lecture engaging and relevant. I mean, he opened the first lecture with Trevor Noah to talk about the idea of society and the "contract", and opened the immigration lecture playing the Hamilton mixtape music video of "Immigrants (We Get The Job Done". *chef's kiss*

From corporations to mass surveillance, this class will make you question everything you think you already know about the United States and our society.

Logistics:
All lectures were pre-recorded and uploaded. 2 lectures a week, each about 1.5 hours, give or take.
Each week you can attend a Q&A session with fellow classmates to ask about the material or to just have a fun discussion. There's also formal office hours you can schedule if you want help on other things.
For the first 5 weeks, you take a 10-question multiple choice quiz and write a reflection paper (which is not hard, it's more of an introspective reflection typa thing).
The way the class is set up, each question/point on the quizzes equals a point of your grade. The questions weren't hard at all, but you definitely want to pay attention during lecture and read the readings because you don't want to keep losing points each week.
The reflection assignment is basically just for participation, and you're pretty much guaranteed a 10/10 points if you answer the question properly. There's no midterm, just a final essay at the end, which for us had a fairly easy prompt on how our social location affected our attitudes and what that said about society. The prompt was released a week before it was due so we had plenty of time to write it.

Of course, this review is from a summer session, so I don't know how the format changes as the class is taught during a regular 10-week quarter. Nevertheless, this class with Calderon was sooooo chill and I actually looked forward to attending. My friends taking the same class with the other professor definitely wrote more papers and just didn't seem as excited about the material as I was. I attribute this to my prof actually making the material bearable and relevant.

bottom line: if Calderon is teaching Socio 1, TAKE IT.

Dr. Calderon has been one of the most considerate professors I've come across. He made all his lectures asynchronous and recorded (for all the international students to be able to follow). He gave us the links to all the course material so that we didn't have to buy a textbook. He did not give any midterm exams -- instead, there were weekly quizzes, weekly reflections and a final paper. The final paper too was due the Monday AFTER week 6. This really helped since students who were taking other classes could use their week 6 to prepare for the other finals and not worry about this class. Dr. Calderon also gave us extra credit opportunities. Overall, the class was very relevant to what is happening in the society right now, and gave us a broader perspective on a lot of social issues. I would definitely take a course with Dr. Calderon again!

(Note: He talked a little slowly, but he was self aware about that, and himself asked to watch his lectures at 1.5 times the speed!)

Professor Calderon is one of the chillest professors I have ever encountered. He is really receptive to accommodation requests and goes above and beyond to make sure students are not swamped with work and learn the information. Because he is more concerned about students learning, the course is not that hard. I took this class during quarantine and the work was this:

Weekly Reflection Paper ~ 1.5 pages graded fairly easily as long as you write more than 1 page
Weekly Quizzes 6MC / 2SA~ Very easy if you watch lecture, some readings are needed on the quizzes
Final: 3-5 page paper on determining your own social location

Professor Calderon offered extra credit which was very easy to finish. Honestly very easy class which made it very easy to focus on actually learning the material. His lectures were really interesting and actually covered things that were directly applicable to the world right now. If you have the chance to take this class with this professor, DO IT.