Jessica Fields

I found Jessica Fields to be one of the most challenging and therefore amazing professors Ive had at SFSU. Her class is tough. But the sheer amount of knowledge I gained about sociological research made the experience worthwhile. She was always available to talk. In fact, part of our grade involved meeting with her at least twice during the semester. The midterm was extremely fair, both in what she asked and the preparation time given. Her lectures were engaging and pertinent to what we were studying. Also, the way she had you focus your homework toward the goal of a whole research proposal, instead of random disconnected assignments, gave the course a very organic quality. In all, Jessica Fields 392 class should be considered ESSENTIAL to all sociology majors who seriously want to learn what it takes to do research. She is an incredible teacher, and anyone who takes her class will benefit from her passion, experience, and knowledge.

i'm happy to say that i ended my academic year with one of the best sociology professors around. sfsu is definitely previliged to have received such a talented academic thinker who creates a safe space for students to have dialogue with any subject matter at hand. although i found an abundance of homework assigned, i later recognized at the end of the semester that she was helping us cultivate our final research proposal. without those 13 quizzes and non-stop writing assignments, i would not have finished my research paper. kudos to a wonderful woman who, i believe, deeply cares about her students work and cares about the worth sociology has with respect to the world.

Jessica definitely knows her subject matter and does a good job of presenting the material in her lectures. However, her personality can be somewhat deceiving because you can get the subtle sense that she doesn't really like you and you wonder if she's grading your work down. She makes herself available to students and tries to be personable, but it doesn't seem very genuine. Most of the other teachers in the dept. show a REAL interest and care in their students. Jessica seems to size you up and treat you accordingly. You will work hard and learn alot in this class, but don't bother trying to establish a rapport with her.

I throughly enjoyed Jessica as a teacher and a person. She helped me out with issues about graduate schools and really pointed me in the right direction. Jessica wasn't only a great teacher she was a great mentor. I wish there was another class I could take with her.

Jessica made me feel bad about being me. I find this really ironic, being as that she presents herself as understanding and tolerant. Rather than embracing views that may have been different than her own, I found that she abhorred any person that may have fallen into "mainstream" culture. Grading in her class was intense, as was the curriculum. The curriculum I didn't mind. In fact, it challenged and stimulated me. Her views, and her judgements, however, I did not appreciate---nor, will I forget. No one person can change their own "personal" circumstances. I would have hoped she, of all people, would have better understood that.

I definitely had a problem with the favoritism in the class, though outside the classroom I found Prof. Fields to be very kind and receptive. She is heavy on the technical criticism in papers, even those that are supposed to be off-the-cuff. My biggest issue with Fields was that the class I took was supposed to be a forum for "gender" issues, but she focused on only women. She also spent a lot of time preaching about her political views about prisons, which didn't really satisfy my expectations of a "gender" class. Prof. Fields definitely doesn't respect political views that differ from her own, though she claims to repeatedly over the semester. I am a liberal female feminist, as is she, but I felt that she oversimplified issues and excluded many of the students in the class by dismissing their ideas and opinions.

I have mixed feelings about this professor. I would not have written a review of her if not for the previous review. I don't feel that a D is a fair grade for her. In many ways Jessica is a fine and dynamic teacher. Soc 392 would be difficult for even the most experienced teachers to make interesting in lectures. It's up to the students to make the class interesting in their choice of a subject to research. Students who are more interested in A's than in learning will have a hard time in this class. But if you are serious about doing professional, ethical research someday, Jessica will provide a good foundation. That said, I did find her difficult to speak with at times, and couldn't help but feel that she didn't like me. Some other students in my class felt similarly. Others got along with her fine. So maybe that is favoritism on Jessica's part or maybe thick skin on that of the get-along students. Also, she is a little light on the encouragement and heavy on the criticism, at least she was with my work ? left me wondering why she?d given me an A.