He's a great professor! He is so passionate about the material that it makes you want to learn it better. Lectures were always interesting and overall, the course was pretty easy. The midterm and final were both very straightforward - he gives out a study guide with questions beforehand and all of the questions come straight off of that study guide. So as long as you have answers for all of them, you'll be set! Definitely take the class with Brubaker if you need Soc 1!

This professor has so much PASSION for his subject, its endearing! He cares a lot about his students and even offers to go on lunches with a group of students to get to know them better! Thats how awesome he is!

He postponed the paper deadline because it was not suitable for a lot of students and earlier due just a week after the midterm.

For SOC 1, he's the BEST professor

Professor Brubaker is an AMAZING AMAZING professor! He's by far the best professor I've come across at UCLA! His class Soc1 is not going to be easy and he claims it himself so do not expect an easy A. You HAVE to work to get a good grade.

There are weekly readings which are really interesting and not too long about 20-30 pages. He asks quiz questions in every lecture which are very straightforward and directly from the readings. There is a midterm, a paper and a final. For the midterm and final he posts a study quide which is very helpful because questions come ONLY from there! so you know the questions in advance already! how awesome is that!

The course teaches you a lot of interesting things and is very helpful even for a general understanding of society and its several aspects. He makes students use an iclicker during class for polls he conducts and the results are very interesting and help contribute to a sociological study done in class for us to better understand the readings and lecture slides.

He explains the readings in detail in lecture so make sure you GO to class which is half the battle won! The paper is on a topic of your choice and is open ended giving you a lot of freedom!

The professor is very concerned about his students and is very very enthusiastic about sociology. You can sense this in his tone which is very emphatic and pronounced, instead of the usual monotone most professors employ.

I would highly recommend this class to those of you who REALLY want to learn something useful for general knowledge in life. You have to work for this class but it is worth it and the professor employs media clips etc making the class my favorite!

GREAT CLASS! THE BEST EVER

He's easily the meanest professor I've ever had. I didn't learn a single thing that will help me in life. I actually wanted to be a sociology major, until I took his class.

It's pretty unfortunate; he's ridiculously smart, and I usually love professors here, but I just couldn't bring myself to like him or his class.

I want to preface this with Professor Brubaker tells you in the beginning that his class is going to be difficult, so if you're looking for an Easy A, this is not the class to take.

There are 3 Pop Quizzes and you don't really have any warning as to when they may be. The Midterm and Final were only 8 questions, five short answer, and 3 essays. He does give you a list of what information will be on the tests, but you need to make sure you thoroughly understand all of it.

He requires you to read both online articles which can be anywhere from 20 up to 50 pages, and a book. The book he requires you to read, isn't necessarily needed, but if you can understand what it says, it will help. My problem with the book, is that it is almost entirely written in Jargon (semi-made up but huge words). The book is very confusing, repetitive, and filled with half-paragraph long sentences.

The professor himself is not very approachable. He's open for questions, but if you don't already understand the information he talks down to you. He holds himself in very high regard, and treats most of his students like they should have a graduate knowledge of the material.

The TA's are not very helpful either (i've gone to several of them for help). When you ask them specific questions, they don't break it down for you, but merely repeat to you what the professor said and exactly how he said it.

My personal experience with Brubaker was really enlightening. Yes, it is true that you have to read all the readings to get a good understand and def. show up to class in case of pop quizzes. However, he is extremely straightforward in all of his examinations, (they are found in the reading questions he gives at the beginning of the quarter) and if you pay attention to those you will 95% know everything that is going to be on the examinations. Even for the midterm and final, as long as you study his study guide- which is quite simple- you will be fine. His lectures are also interesting, he incorporates media clips, current events, and overall just interesting concept that apply to broader knowledge. I believe if you are willing to put in the work, then this class will be awesome- you learn a lot of cool thing! Also, if you get the chance, be in his honors section.

If you value education at a higher level than that of high school, do not take this class. The content of this class is very interesting. However, lecture after lecture, Brubaker finds a way to take everything interesting about sociology and melt it down into extremely boring slideshows. He reads these slideshows, mere summarizations of the readings, word for word in a monotonous, coma inducing way. However, lectures are a painful must if you want to make it to all of the pop quizzes. The key to this class is reading each article clearly, memorizing facts and completing reading responses. To succeed on the exams, all you have to do is read articles and go over slideshows which are conveniently posted online. Podcasts are also online if you miss a class. Stick to the study guides he gives and you will do fine. As far as being clear on and supplying information, Brubaker does an excellent job. However, he absolutely ruined sociology for me. Having Brubaker as a professor is by far one of the worst educational experiences I have had at UCLA. I must say that his class was a poor intro to sociology and ironically serves as one of the major causes for my exit from the field.

I have taken other sociology classes and am happy to say that Brubaker is not representative of what actual sociology professors are like.

Brubaker is a good professor, and is enthusiastic about the material but if you want to do well in the class you have to do the readings!

WARNING!!!!! Most of the positive comments here are total fraud. I took his class and it was yet another horriblwe experience at UCLA. Though I am an A minus average student, he made the exams very difficult in the sense that the essay and short responses had to be answered almost exactly as the textbook you read and other pdf files he wishes you to read. I agree that he is a very intelligent and has good lectures, but he can get boring. He is welcoming to his office hours, but will treat you as "duh, I said that and obviously you should know that by now" kind of discussion. If you really are a scanner and memorize word for word the textbook and his lecture, then you'll do great, if not please take PROFESSOR KIM anytime during the summer or academic year. She is wayyyyyyyy easssieeerrrr than him in the sense that you have simple defenition questions and you cant miss points. No need to copy and paste that info from the book like Brubaker wants. Especially in the essay prompts he gives you are clear, but once you write it, like 10 percent of the students gets an A. No rubric and his expectations are a mystery. Besides from that many grad students say he is hard because he is a COMPLETE nerd and wants everyone to be the same. Besides, he is teaching the course as if it were a grad level class. If you really want to be a soc major or take it as a ge, please consider professor kim. Sweet lady, talks on the down low, supportive, and easier grading. If you decide to take Brubaker, all I can say is "Gluck or I TOLD YOU SO"!!!!!

Prof. Brubaker did a wonderful job teaching Soc 1. In fact, this class is the reason why I switched my major to Sociology! I would not recommend this class if you are looking for an easy A, because there is a LOT of reading which you MUST do in order to do well on the midterm/essay/final and they grade fairly hard. For the midterm, I thought I walked out of there with 100%, because I replicated exactly what the readings were talking about. I ended up with a B, because they really expect you to go above and beyond. For the final, I tried a lot harder and got an A, pulling an A in the class overall. The subject matter is really interesting, in my opinion, so I didn't mind doing the readings. I actually loved going to lecture because Brubaker was always to involved with the audience, so it was easy to pay attention. He was very friendly and concerned about student learning (he would always stop during lecture to ask if anybody had any questions, and if they did he would explain them fully). I really enjoyed the class, and I recommended it to my friends. It's not an easy A, but if you are interested in Sociology and if you want a great lecturer, take this class!