Alex Gerould

The topics that he teaches is interesting to begin with but Gerould really draws you in. He has a certain enthusiasm that a lot of professors lack and is genuinely passionate about what he teaches. He keeps the material real with life examples and also adds a lot of humor to it. Attendance is extremely important and so is being on time. I think that one of his personal pet peeves is tardiness and students disrespect for interrupting class. He is very approachable outside of class and very helpful if you have any questions. The work is fair and the weekly quizzes are a breeze..given that you attend class. The exams are straightforward and a study sheet with very specifics are given out a week before the exam. There is really no mystery to how he grades as you can pretty much know where you stand throughout the semester by calculating the quizzes, exams and depending on what class you're taking, short papers (weekly 1 page single page) papers. To wrap it up, I would definitely recommend taking this professor-the lectures are entertaining, the work is fair and straightforward and you will end a semester learning a lot.

Prof. Gerould is a new Sociology professor at State, so you're likely to see him teaching in upcoming semesters. Much of this 3 ½ hour class consisted of a lecture for the first half - break - a short "easy ass" quiz (haha) and a film for the last half. There were a few times that class went till the ungodly hour of 9:50 p.m., but most of the time, class ended early (sometimes, before 9). The lectures are very informative and are based on the chapter assigned from the previous week.

The class had a good mix of lecture and discussion. He was always willing to hear what other students had to say, and welcomed different points of view. The midterm and final wasn't terribly hard--the fact that he passes out a study sheet of where the questions will come from helps greatly.

I find him to be fairly approachable during his office hour when I needed clarification on something discussed in class. Getting help through email was also an option, which may even be more preferable, as he was only available one hour before class.

Overall, a decent professor - I would highly recommend taking any of his courses.