AAAS100 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Shane Walsh AAAS100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/28/2025	Dr. Walsh is an amazing person, as well as an amazing teacher, but his lectures were just a snooze fest. I respect his love for the material and his passion for black rights. I have never seen a professor so passionate about history as him. At first, I would go to lectures, but soon it just felt so repetitive; it didn't help that the room was hot most of the time, and his voice would just fade into the ambience. The video he showed was interesting at least. It was "required" to purchase the $110 class textbook, but I didn't and still passed the class. All his assignments and quizzes were easy. The Midterm and Final were graded lightly, and the only reason why I didn't pass with an A was because of my own laziness. It was actually ridiculous the amount of reading this guy wanted us to do before every class. I just didn't have the time to read them with engineering courses all over me. I swear I only remembered reading a total of 20 pages the whole semester, and still passed. This is an easy Gen-ED. EASY A. Understand, it was my fault I didn't get an A. I admit, but I had to make sure I passed more important classes for my major.
Shane Walsh AAAS100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2025	AAAS100: Dr. Walsh is a great professor. Super nice guy and he has a passion for African American Studies. The content of this class is very interesting. However, he goes through the slides very fast and there is a lot of information covered. I just take pictures of the slides and fill them in later. The tests in the class are not bad as long as you study and keep up with the content. There are no extreme questions that I have encountered and he isn’t a harsh grader. Filling in notes took time for me but was worth it for the assessments. Assignments were relatively easy and this is not a hard gen ed class and would highly recommend you take it.
Shane Walsh AAAS100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2025	very good for a Gen ED. Took the class for an easy A. Lowkey learned a lot of stuff along the way. This is how a gen ed should be. would recommend.
Jason Nichols AAAS100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2025	Pros: - basically zero workload, only a few online "quizzes", a final paper, and a couple other online assignments. you can expect that an average week wouldn't have any assignments/work - lecture is enjoyable, passionable, encourages different perspectives from students. his lectures make choosing to attend this very, very skippable class rewarding Cons: - class lectures don't exactly prepare you for the actual assignments/exams/quizzes that are assigned, since he often goes on tangents on his own choice of topics ( which I dont think anyone minds) - no online lecture notes, so if you missed class you would have no clue what happened ( honestly dont think this even matters)
Jason Nichols AAAS100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2025	Not a bad prof. I enjoyed the content and it's a pretty easy class. Not sure if he's teaching the course again but here's some tips: If you have good class attendance, there would be nothing wrong with you not showing up if I'm being honest. Just beware of the class response assignments. He only gives those if there isn't a lot of people present. There's a debate assignment where he assigns a topic and a side for you to argue. There's also a final paper which has to be around 1200 words, this is probably the most work you'll have to do. Midterms are online.
Jason Nichols AAAS100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2025	Goes on rants almost every class. Easy A if you show up, listen, and complete assignments. I'll be back after the final to let you know how everything went!
Jason Nichols AAAS100 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/20/2025	Pros: - Keeps the class engaging and fun for the most part, he's a great lecturer. Very open to any discussions students want to have and keeps it light for the most part. - The coursework is very light since all the exams are online & done outside of class on your own time. We got 4 assignments the whole semester (1 group debate, 1 discussion post, 1 reading reflection, 1 research paper) which were all relatively short except for the final paper which was 4-6 pages. - He's a fair grader; don't expect 100% on every assignment but if you put in effort and pay attention to the syllabus/directions, an 85% or higher is feasible. - It's easy to tell he genuinely wants students to do well in the course and is willing to offer help via zoom or in-person if you need it. - He values diversity in opinions which I found really refreshing. Yes, he is very vocal about his own views but also vocal that he respects others' views. He's always open to hearing people out/having a genuine discussion instead of trying to prove a point. Cons: - 75 minutes can feel long at times since he kinda just yaps away so I do zone out a lot. - The exams are the one thing I would say are a downside of this class. Some questions are pretty difficult despite being multiple choice but keep in mind that you can take them from home... Yes, his lectures can go off topic sometimes but he definitely covers the content on the exams during class. You just really have to pay attention and take thorough notes in case he speeds past them. He has a tendency to talk about what he personally enjoys discussing more than the exam content (but will still cover it). - Attendance is mandatory since his slides aren't posted on ELMS so you need to be in class taking notes if you want to know what's being covered in class. - He takes a while to grade assignments and has typos in his directions or slideshows which can come off as disorganized. Miscellaneous: - Don't buy any textbooks he might mention on the first day of class or syllabus week, it's completely pointless and never brought up again. The only thing you might need is WEB DuBois' book which you can find online for free. - I would recommend this class to anyone interested in fulfilling their DSHS and DVUP requirement, and recommend Dr. Nichols as a professor in general. - You walk away feeling like you learned a lot but you basically get out of this class what you put into it.

Shane Walsh
AAAS100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/28/2025

Dr. Walsh is an amazing person, as well as an amazing teacher, but his lectures were just a snooze fest. I respect his love for the material and his passion for black rights. I have never seen a professor so passionate about history as him. At first, I would go to lectures, but soon it just felt so repetitive; it didn't help that the room was hot most of the time, and his voice would just fade into the ambience. The video he showed was interesting at least. It was "required" to purchase the $110 class textbook, but I didn't and still passed the class. All his assignments and quizzes were easy. The Midterm and Final were graded lightly, and the only reason why I didn't pass with an A was because of my own laziness. It was actually ridiculous the amount of reading this guy wanted us to do before every class. I just didn't have the time to read them with engineering courses all over me. I swear I only remembered reading a total of 20 pages the whole semester, and still passed. This is an easy Gen-ED. EASY A. Understand, it was my fault I didn't get an A. I admit, but I had to make sure I passed more important classes for my major.

Shane Walsh
AAAS100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2025

AAAS100: Dr. Walsh is a great professor. Super nice guy and he has a passion for African American Studies. The content of this class is very interesting. However, he goes through the slides very fast and there is a lot of information covered. I just take pictures of the slides and fill them in later. The tests in the class are not bad as long as you study and keep up with the content. There are no extreme questions that I have encountered and he isn’t a harsh grader. Filling in notes took time for me but was worth it for the assessments. Assignments were relatively easy and this is not a hard gen ed class and would highly recommend you take it.

Shane Walsh
AAAS100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2025

very good for a Gen ED. Took the class for an easy A. Lowkey learned a lot of stuff along the way. This is how a gen ed should be. would recommend.

Jason Nichols
AAAS100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2025

Pros: - basically zero workload, only a few online "quizzes", a final paper, and a couple other online assignments. you can expect that an average week wouldn't have any assignments/work - lecture is enjoyable, passionable, encourages different perspectives from students. his lectures make choosing to attend this very, very skippable class rewarding Cons: - class lectures don't exactly prepare you for the actual assignments/exams/quizzes that are assigned, since he often goes on tangents on his own choice of topics ( which I dont think anyone minds) - no online lecture notes, so if you missed class you would have no clue what happened ( honestly dont think this even matters)

Jason Nichols
AAAS100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/08/2025

Not a bad prof. I enjoyed the content and it's a pretty easy class. Not sure if he's teaching the course again but here's some tips: If you have good class attendance, there would be nothing wrong with you not showing up if I'm being honest. Just beware of the class response assignments. He only gives those if there isn't a lot of people present. There's a debate assignment where he assigns a topic and a side for you to argue. There's also a final paper which has to be around 1200 words, this is probably the most work you'll have to do. Midterms are online.

Jason Nichols
AAAS100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/01/2025

Goes on rants almost every class. Easy A if you show up, listen, and complete assignments. I'll be back after the final to let you know how everything went!

Jason Nichols
AAAS100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/20/2025

Pros: - Keeps the class engaging and fun for the most part, he's a great lecturer. Very open to any discussions students want to have and keeps it light for the most part. - The coursework is very light since all the exams are online & done outside of class on your own time. We got 4 assignments the whole semester (1 group debate, 1 discussion post, 1 reading reflection, 1 research paper) which were all relatively short except for the final paper which was 4-6 pages. - He's a fair grader; don't expect 100% on every assignment but if you put in effort and pay attention to the syllabus/directions, an 85% or higher is feasible. - It's easy to tell he genuinely wants students to do well in the course and is willing to offer help via zoom or in-person if you need it. - He values diversity in opinions which I found really refreshing. Yes, he is very vocal about his own views but also vocal that he respects others' views. He's always open to hearing people out/having a genuine discussion instead of trying to prove a point. Cons: - 75 minutes can feel long at times since he kinda just yaps away so I do zone out a lot. - The exams are the one thing I would say are a downside of this class. Some questions are pretty difficult despite being multiple choice but keep in mind that you can take them from home... Yes, his lectures can go off topic sometimes but he definitely covers the content on the exams during class. You just really have to pay attention and take *thorough notes* in case he speeds past them. He has a tendency to talk about what he personally enjoys discussing more than the exam content (but will still cover it). - Attendance is mandatory since his slides aren't posted on ELMS so you need to be in class taking notes if you want to know what's being covered in class. - He takes a while to grade assignments and has typos in his directions or slideshows which can come off as disorganized. Miscellaneous: - Don't buy any textbooks he might mention on the first day of class or syllabus week, it's completely pointless and never brought up again. The only thing you might need is WEB DuBois' book which you can find online for free. - I would recommend this class to anyone interested in fulfilling their DSHS and DVUP requirement, and recommend Dr. Nichols as a professor in general. - You walk away feeling like you learned a lot but you basically get out of this class what you put into it.

Reviews for AAAS100