Poll: Name your three favorite Rutgers courses
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can't choose 3 favorite courses but ill list the favorites with my 3 favorite professors:
Intro to Crim Justice, Prisons and Prisoners, Interrogation and Torture, Crime in Film- all with the great Prof. Michael Welch
Political Terrorism, Crimes Against Humanity, and Criminal Law theory and practice with the distinguished Dr. Lennox Hinds
Law Social Control and the War on Terror, Crime in the Big City- with Dr. Patrick Carr
Intro to Crim Justice, Prisons and Prisoners, Interrogation and Torture, Crime in Film- all with the great Prof. Michael Welch
Political Terrorism, Crimes Against Humanity, and Criminal Law theory and practice with the distinguished Dr. Lennox Hinds
Law Social Control and the War on Terror, Crime in the Big City- with Dr. Patrick Carr
Cary McWilliam's Civil War course. Bonus: one of the readings was Killer Angels which I had already read for my Military Science (ROTC) course. But I read it again anyway.
The WWI and WWII history overview courses with Bill O'Neil.
The ones I liked the most relative to my expectation going in would be 9 credits in Art History, Intro I & II and Intro to Architecture. To this day I can go into any new city and appreciate the buildings and visit the art museum and get something out of it I would not have without that background.
The WWI and WWII history overview courses with Bill O'Neil.
The ones I liked the most relative to my expectation going in would be 9 credits in Art History, Intro I & II and Intro to Architecture. To this day I can go into any new city and appreciate the buildings and visit the art museum and get something out of it I would not have without that background.
I remember Bishop House well. Dr McCormick was my senior advisor. I suspect I disappointed him when I decided to law school instead of history grad school.
Dinosaurs, went there because it sounded like an easy course and who doesn't like dinos - it was actually really interesting because it was taught by a legit paleontologist and covered a lot of evolutionary history. Just wish there were more in-depth courses to follow it.
Gillette was a really interesting guy -- I enjoyed his lectures but he's pretty biased. Frequently screamed "bull$hit" after a student commented on a lecture, and is a real liberal's liberal. He believes what he believes and you are not gonna convice that guy otherwise. In a lecture he once confidently said that Gettysburg was irrelevant to end game of the war -- that the north would have prevailed anyway. "OK, prof".
Anyway, I digress...My favorites:
Money and Banking - Raymond Stone (guy is a legit genius and his stories about the Fed and Volker are pretty captivating)
Economics of Capital Markets - Bruce Mizrach
Business Writing
Anyway, I digress...My favorites:
Money and Banking - Raymond Stone (guy is a legit genius and his stories about the Fed and Volker are pretty captivating)
Economics of Capital Markets - Bruce Mizrach
Business Writing
20th Century History with Michael Adas - great lecturer
Anthropology of Sex with the professor who disguised himself as a student and lived in the dorms for a year. - Basically porn for credit.
Criminal Procedure with Lennox Hinds - learned a lot of tips for how to act when stopped by a cop
Anthropology of Sex with the professor who disguised himself as a student and lived in the dorms for a year. - Basically porn for credit.
Criminal Procedure with Lennox Hinds - learned a lot of tips for how to act when stopped by a cop
History of American Law at Rutgers College, in spring 1981. Sadly I can't remember the name of the professor, but a friend said I should take it because the professor was so good (even though it wasn't within a mile of my major, and she was right.
I can't remember the actual name of the course because it was intentionally obscure, but it basically was a course in environmental public relations taught by Peter Sandman at Cook College in fall 1981 or spring 1982. In the first class, he had us writing commercials for environmental causes. Also, while the required text in the course was a book he wrote, he told us that if we'd bring him the receipt from the bookstore, he'd pay us back the royalty he would get for the sale because he didn't want to profit from using his own book.
I can't remember the actual name of the course because it was intentionally obscure, but it basically was a course in environmental public relations taught by Peter Sandman at Cook College in fall 1981 or spring 1982. In the first class, he had us writing commercials for environmental causes. Also, while the required text in the course was a book he wrote, he told us that if we'd bring him the receipt from the bookstore, he'd pay us back the royalty he would get for the sale because he didn't want to profit from using his own book.
In no particular order:
Causes of War - John Vasquez
Theories of War and Peace - Jack Levy
Legacy of the Vietnam War - D. Michael Shafer
History of the Cold War - Stephen Ambrose (while he was a visiting professor in the early 90's)
Most surprisingly interesting course:
Drug and Plant Hallucinogens - Sidney Auerbach
Causes of War - John Vasquez
Theories of War and Peace - Jack Levy
Legacy of the Vietnam War - D. Michael Shafer
History of the Cold War - Stephen Ambrose (while he was a visiting professor in the early 90's)
Most surprisingly interesting course:
Drug and Plant Hallucinogens - Sidney Auerbach
Silviculture with Dr Ben Stout. His advice and knowledge inspired me throughout my career. I was fortunate enough to tell him that a few years before he passed.
Meteorology, almost majored in it. Always relevant.
My English Comp 101 instructor focused on critique of media and it has helped me develop my critical thinking skills.
Thanks RU!
Meteorology, almost majored in it. Always relevant.
My English Comp 101 instructor focused on critique of media and it has helped me develop my critical thinking skills.
Thanks RU!
You'll recognize my avatar, then. Was a History major in the "old" Rutgers College. Lots of great instruction in the Bishop House. The focus was always on independent critical thinking and primary research. Neat atmosphere, too, in that old mansion. The old reading room/library was my favorite. Had a few "classes" in there, maybe ten students, tops, each time. Also the setting of my "Junior Honors Seminar." My focus was American History with an emphasis on military history and the South. Also collected lots of credits in English (in nearby Scott Hall) with an emphasis on American literature, and ended up with a "double major." The English department was really strong, as well, in those days.
American Folklore - Angus Gillespie
Jerseyana - Michael Rockland
American Economic History and Financial & Monetary History of the US - Hugh Rockoff
Jerseyana - Michael Rockland
American Economic History and Financial & Monetary History of the US - Hugh Rockoff
Other than numerous engineering hands on design courses (which by the hands on nature of the courses makes them my favorite) these were probably my favorite from a theory perspective.
Psychology 101
Cognition
Advanced Neurobiology
Robotics and Computer Vision
Digital Electronics
Control Systems
Biofluid Mechanics
Pattern Recognition
Most hated course:
EASILY expository writing and some other lame english department course (I forget the exact name of it, 19th century lit or something) that I had to take to satisfy graduation requirements. Intro to Logic also.
Psychology 101
Cognition
Advanced Neurobiology
Robotics and Computer Vision
Digital Electronics
Control Systems
Biofluid Mechanics
Pattern Recognition
Most hated course:
EASILY expository writing and some other lame english department course (I forget the exact name of it, 19th century lit or something) that I had to take to satisfy graduation requirements. Intro to Logic also.
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Oh, and Jazz Workshop at Livingston with bassist Larry Ridley, who played with Stanley Turrentine among others. What a treat!
Death and Afterlife. I forget the professor's name, but he was a little old Asian guy, he was hysterical and the class was great.
Money and Banking, because of all the courses I took, especially in Eco, that one stuck with me the most.
Sex in Lit because it, and Professor Charney, were Rutgers traditions at the time. It seemed like everybody took that course.
I'll go one more and add Introduction to Astronomy and Cosmology, which I took because I needed a science elective and thought it would be easy. Which was probably because I was high. I dunno. What I do know is that the course was taught by Gordon Thomson, who was a genuine serious professor of astrophysics and on the first day of the class he walked up to the whiteboard and scribbled what appeared to be hieroglyphics for 15 minutes before turning around and saying, "We'll start here. This is the equation for stellar equilibrium."
I think I actually cried.
But it turned out to be an awesome course and the physics department grad students had the best parties, ever.
Money and Banking, because of all the courses I took, especially in Eco, that one stuck with me the most.
Sex in Lit because it, and Professor Charney, were Rutgers traditions at the time. It seemed like everybody took that course.
I'll go one more and add Introduction to Astronomy and Cosmology, which I took because I needed a science elective and thought it would be easy. Which was probably because I was high. I dunno. What I do know is that the course was taught by Gordon Thomson, who was a genuine serious professor of astrophysics and on the first day of the class he walked up to the whiteboard and scribbled what appeared to be hieroglyphics for 15 minutes before turning around and saying, "We'll start here. This is the equation for stellar equilibrium."
I think I actually cried.
But it turned out to be an awesome course and the physics department grad students had the best parties, ever.
Engineering Law....IE dept. class but mostly dealt with product liability, construction claims/disputes, etc.
Managerial Economics
Construction Project Management with Balaguru
Intro to Geography
Least fav: Chem 1 & 2, Mechanical Properties of Materials, Environmental Engineering
Enjoyed the Econ minor just as much, if not moreso, than the Civil Eng major.
Managerial Economics
Construction Project Management with Balaguru
Intro to Geography
Least fav: Chem 1 & 2, Mechanical Properties of Materials, Environmental Engineering
Enjoyed the Econ minor just as much, if not moreso, than the Civil Eng major.
You bet! Great history program and English too. I couldn't agree with you more on your comment about the focus on critical thinking and primary research. In my high school the focus was on facts and memorization---totally different from what I did as an undergrad history major at Rutgers. When I hear people say "what are you going to do with history other than teach," well let's just say we have different opinions. History at RU at that time, and perhaps now, was a great foundation dorm business school and law school.
Not sure I had a favorite.. but my most remembered was an intermediate philosophy/logic course with a Muckenhoupt in the basement of Murray or Millerdoeller on Voorhees Mall. Just going to class was like you were in an Indiana Jones movie... ivy covered halls and all that.
The class itself.. wow.. if I absorbed 20% of that it would have been a lot. Acing the philosophy intro to logic course and logic courses in business and comp sci and ee and getting through math theory of probability I thought I could ace this one.. WRONG. I think there were 8 people in the class. 1 person was right there with the prof. Another was close to following it all. and 6 of us mainly gathered after class to figure out what just happened. I think we all managed to pass by taking the open-book exam together in the library.
I still have the book somewhere.. meta and modal logic.. just as a reminder of my limitations.
The class itself.. wow.. if I absorbed 20% of that it would have been a lot. Acing the philosophy intro to logic course and logic courses in business and comp sci and ee and getting through math theory of probability I thought I could ace this one.. WRONG. I think there were 8 people in the class. 1 person was right there with the prof. Another was close to following it all. and 6 of us mainly gathered after class to figure out what just happened. I think we all managed to pass by taking the open-book exam together in the library.
I still have the book somewhere.. meta and modal logic.. just as a reminder of my limitations.
Honors Calc I and II with Professor Lyons. We actually applauded him when he got to the end of showing us his proof of the fundamental theorem of calculus.
Creative Writing - can't recall the prof's name, but she was very cool, as was the class.
Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics with Dr. Ahlert, who eventually became my PhD advisor. He was a d-bag to people he didn't like, but he was awesome for people he liked and for some reason he liked me. Tough, tough course, but I really enjoyed his lectures on energy and entropy and, of course Gibbs Free Energy and fugacity. We had a test where the average was a 12 and I got a 29, which was an A-, lol. He was a bit sadistic that way - liked showing students how little they really knew.
Honorable Mention: A Non-Mathematical Approach to Quantum Mechanics (was an honors course for non-math/science folks), Pollution Microbiology, and the Senior Chem E Design Course.
Creative Writing - can't recall the prof's name, but she was very cool, as was the class.
Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics with Dr. Ahlert, who eventually became my PhD advisor. He was a d-bag to people he didn't like, but he was awesome for people he liked and for some reason he liked me. Tough, tough course, but I really enjoyed his lectures on energy and entropy and, of course Gibbs Free Energy and fugacity. We had a test where the average was a 12 and I got a 29, which was an A-, lol. He was a bit sadistic that way - liked showing students how little they really knew.
Honorable Mention: A Non-Mathematical Approach to Quantum Mechanics (was an honors course for non-math/science folks), Pollution Microbiology, and the Senior Chem E Design Course.
Sex and Lit was great.
There was another similar English class called the Comic with DeLaurentis (Yes that family). The class consisted of students passing notes with jokes on them to the prfessor in the Scott Hall lecture hallto be read in class. At least the classes where we didn't watch classic comedy movies. A lot of reading and writing otherwise but well worth it.
a/k/a Transport Phenomena I & II? My ChemE major friends used to talk about this class like it was 80 minutes of pain & suffering...probably top 2-3 toughest classes in all of Rutgers engineering.
Shakespeare, absolutely!
Also "the history of the print" and Dutch Painting, both art history courses , Professor Mariette Westermann
I'll go with my most hated course as I don't recall any favorites:
electromagnetic fields and waves - Dr. Fitch. He flunked 90 percent of the class and we had to endure torture for a second time in summer school.
electromagnetic fields and waves - Dr. Fitch. He flunked 90 percent of the class and we had to endure torture for a second time in summer school.
I was waiting for someone to mention Italian Cinema. I had Prof Laggini who said in the very first class that if anyone spells his name like the food that they would automatically fail the semester.
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American History of the 1960s with Markowitz
Islamic Jurisprudence with Hany Mawla
Change in Latin America with Kaufman
I also really enjoyed my Spanish literature courses, and Portuguese for Spanish Speakers, which years later, was a life saver in Brazil. I also really liked the one semester of German I took, which came in handy in Europe.
Also agree Gilette was the man, I had him for my history seminar and he was so blunt and smart. Great class. Is he still there?
Islamic Jurisprudence with Hany Mawla
Change in Latin America with Kaufman
I also really enjoyed my Spanish literature courses, and Portuguese for Spanish Speakers, which years later, was a life saver in Brazil. I also really liked the one semester of German I took, which came in handy in Europe.
Also agree Gilette was the man, I had him for my history seminar and he was so blunt and smart. Great class. Is he still there?
Remember taking it in 05 or 06. The sections were still split. I would get there with 1/2 hour to go for the class preceding Orgo, just so I could get a seat in the front 3 rows I needed a letter of recommendation). People from the other sections would be sitting in the stairways. More than once Oconnor's class was stopped by the fire dept.
Actually Thermo is not the same as Transport - very different classes actually, but both are usually considered difficult classes. Thermo is more theoretical, with a lot of focus on equilibrium states and energy-entropy relationships, while transport is a more practical science (don't get me wrong, there's plenty of theory) aimed at understanding transport of mass, momentum and heat, usually with an eye towards understanding more practical things like fluid (liquid or gas) flow.
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