David Freund

This professor has taught: ARHU158R, HIST201, HIST219E, HIST329R, HIST339F, HIST361, HIST395, HIST396, HIST398, HIST408B, HIST429Z, HIST607, HIST608B, HIST638A, LASC235, SPAN235

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David Freund HIST201 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/28/2024	Good professor with entertaining lectures, but the grading system is a little strange. There are only five graded assignments for the entire semester and he's a harsh grader, not a lot of room for error.
David Freund HIST395 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/27/2012	Would strongly advise against the history honors program at UMD. It's an easy A or B the first year, yes, but half the class did not receive honors the second year. If you don't already have an advisor picked out that will be a good one, you will suffer, as your grade and completion is almost totally dependent on the quality of your advisor. Prof. Freund is a good guy, but has very high standards for students. Freund does not live up to his own standards.
David Freund HIST428T Expecting an A jlarson2 10/21/2010	Dr. Freund emphasizes analysis over facts and dates, thus understanding the interaction of forces rather than simply the accumulation of events. The discussions can be unfocused at times, especially if you have classmates that think they know all the answers. However the lectures were informative and well structured. Exams were take home papers that required you to put into your own words and justify with sources a narrative that explained the events.
David Freund Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2009	Hist157 was something I took for my CORE but really expanded my thinking of how the US got to where it is today. This guy makes every lecture almost like a story where he connects everything and even gets the class going by telling us something he did or saw or asking us how we are. He's humorous and was my favorite professor of the semester. It can be difficult to try and grasp all of the big concepts but he explains them well and once you get them, the US today makes so much more sense. Yes, there are readings but the book itself is not that bad. It's all about looking at the big picture and that's much easier to remember then a lot of dates and names because you feel like you know what he's talking about if you grew up in the US. The TAs for my lecture seemed kind of uninterested but the professor could not have made history more exciting.
David Freund Expecting a B Anonymous 12/07/2009	Hist157 should have been called Racism in the US since 1865. Every assignment and test was an essay question regarding the underprivileged and marginalized groups at different points in American history. I also found the grading to be overly nit-picky--most students in my discussion section received C's and D's on every assignment and test. If you want to learn facts and dates, do not take this class. It is more geared towards how people (esp minorities and women) felt at different points in time.
David Freund Expecting a B pfiore 12/07/2009	Lectures are tolerable but I would bring a laptop so you do not fall asleep. He is very analytical so you do not have to read the text if you attend lecture but read the primary sources. He loves primary sources. Most people did not attend lecture and did fine; I did attend and did fine. 2 essays, a midterm, and a final. Hist 157 was pretty easy but Freund is a history major's kind of teacher
David Freund Expecting a B Anonymous 12/01/2009	Dr. Freund is very articulate and really does a good job of turning a lecture hall of 200 or so people into a discussion-based class. However, I feel that HIST157 shouldn't be overly analytical, which is the way he structures the class. Attending lectures is not mandatory but his PowerPoints are essential for his essays, and going to class really fleshes out the information. My problem with the course is that my TA's grading policies were rather harsh. It seems as though everyone in his sections received grades they did not expect. This is an entry-level course, yet the level of scrutiny toward the assignments is just plain unfair. Ruined my experience and hurt my GPA.
David Freund Expecting an A Anonymous 04/09/2009	Like other people have said, interesting class, but way too much reading and work for the Core credit. Take it with someone else if that's all you're going for.
David Freund Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/08/2009	Like ksmith1987 said, Fruend seems like a good professor to take for History Majors. For a core class, it wasn't the easy A. The TA determines how well you do on papers as well as exams.
David Freund Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/25/2008	Freund was a really cool guy. You don't have to memorize dates or facts, but concepts and major ideas. He gives the exam questions ahead of time, so if you work hard you can get a good grade. Also his lectures are very interesting and tend to be full. Though the grades may be lower, I still recommend him.
David Freund Expecting a B+ ksmith1987 01/05/2008	Dr. Freund was a funny man but I did not enjoy the class at all. It was two papers and two essay exams. I went into the class actually wanting to learn dates and people and events... but this never happened. It was more about how people felt or reacted to certain things (which is what historians think about because they already know the basics). I wanted the basics and never got it. If you're a history major then I would say definitely take the course with Dr. Freund, if its for core and you just want to get through it take it with someone else.