SOCY463 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Jeffrey Parsells-johnson SOCY463 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2025	This is one of the kindest and down-to-earth professors you'll ever have. He is very passionate about the topics in class, and he is super helpful if you are confused about a topic. I genuinely loved this professor's vibe and the environment of the class. He is also very understanding of students lives' and willing to adjust deadlines for assignments, etc. This has been one of my favorite classes at UMD so far. Also, the classes are usually pretty small, so everyone has to talk. He doesn't post lecture slides, so I am not sure how someone would pass this class if they didn't attend. I say all of this with a warning: this class will make you WORK. You have to read 8-15 pages before every class, but the readings are genuinely interesting if you care about the topic. If you are taking the class just to get a 400-level socy credit...do not take it. There are 4 exams (each with 1 essay at the end), 3 papers, and weekly quizzes. Also, peace and love to this professor, but bro writes the most confusing exam questions. The questions are rarely straightforward. He also does not check over the exams once they are published and frequently added questions from different classes/semesters onto our quizzes/tests without giving back the points that many people lost. I say all this with love for this class and professor, but if you take this class, consider yourself warned.
Jeffrey Parsells-johnson SOCY463 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/22/2025	Super nice, receptive guy Our class was small and we had a lot of interesting discussions, plus the textbook was surprisingly engaging He was a bit unorganized but I didn't find it to be an issue Seems like he's a lot better for an upper level class honestly
Jeffrey Parsells-johnson SOCY463 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/19/2024	Cool guy but the way he does things is a little bit backward. The workload in this class just seems to be a bit much with quizzes papers and 4 exams. I wish he would pick one assignment type to focus on rather than including a plethora of them all. I also wish he communicated with us through elms more through announcements so that we could go back and look at what he said in class that day. To me, it seems like he is trying to encourage participation but it backfires a bit and makes the class a little more difficult than it has to be.
Jeffrey Parsells-johnson SOCY463 Anonymous 02/21/2024	Very nice professor, lenient on turning things in essentially giving you a week to turn something in. However, I would say that some of the class content can be quite confusing to understand at times which kinda comes with classes in sociology. He doesn't post slides or record his lectures so you can't go back and reflect on what was taught during class. The reading quizzes can be a bit difficult if you don't extensively read everything that he assigns for that week. In this class, there are 4 exams, Multiple Reading Quizzes, Research Memos, and a final research paper. If you are looking more for a laid-back class that takes low-medium effort this may not be the class for you but if you are ready for a higher level of effort class Id take it.
Jeffrey Parsells-johnson SOCY463 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/13/2023	nice professor, do the readings, lenient with deadlines, really helpful in office hours

Jeffrey Parsells-johnson
SOCY463

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/20/2025

This is one of the kindest and down-to-earth professors you'll ever have. He is very passionate about the topics in class, and he is super helpful if you are confused about a topic. I genuinely loved this professor's vibe and the environment of the class. He is also very understanding of students lives' and willing to adjust deadlines for assignments, etc. This has been one of my favorite classes at UMD so far. Also, the classes are usually pretty small, so everyone has to talk. He doesn't post lecture slides, so I am not sure how someone would pass this class if they didn't attend. I say all of this with a warning: this class will make you WORK. You have to read 8-15 pages before every class, but the readings are genuinely interesting if you care about the topic. If you are taking the class just to get a 400-level socy credit...do not take it. There are 4 exams (each with 1 essay at the end), 3 papers, and weekly quizzes. Also, peace and love to this professor, but bro writes the most confusing exam questions. The questions are rarely straightforward. He also does not check over the exams once they are published and frequently added questions from different classes/semesters onto our quizzes/tests without giving back the points that many people lost. I say all this with love for this class and professor, but if you take this class, consider yourself warned.

Jeffrey Parsells-johnson
SOCY463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/22/2025

Super nice, receptive guy Our class was small and we had a lot of interesting discussions, plus the textbook was surprisingly engaging He was a bit unorganized but I didn't find it to be an issue Seems like he's a lot better for an upper level class honestly

Jeffrey Parsells-johnson
SOCY463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/19/2024

Cool guy but the way he does things is a little bit backward. The workload in this class just seems to be a bit much with quizzes papers and 4 exams. I wish he would pick one assignment type to focus on rather than including a plethora of them all. I also wish he communicated with us through elms more through announcements so that we could go back and look at what he said in class that day. To me, it seems like he is trying to encourage participation but it backfires a bit and makes the class a little more difficult than it has to be.

Jeffrey Parsells-johnson
SOCY463

Anonymous
02/21/2024

Very nice professor, lenient on turning things in essentially giving you a week to turn something in. However, I would say that some of the class content can be quite confusing to understand at times which kinda comes with classes in sociology. He doesn't post slides or record his lectures so you can't go back and reflect on what was taught during class. The reading quizzes can be a bit difficult if you don't extensively read everything that he assigns for that week. In this class, there are 4 exams, Multiple Reading Quizzes, Research Memos, and a final research paper. If you are looking more for a laid-back class that takes low-medium effort this may not be the class for you but if you are ready for a higher level of effort class Id take it.

Jeffrey Parsells-johnson
SOCY463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/13/2023

nice professor, do the readings, lenient with deadlines, really helpful in office hours

Reviews for SOCY463