Robert Friedel

This professor has taught: AMST856, AMST857, HIST141, HIST189B, HIST204, HIST206, HIST289B, HIST405, HIST406, HIST407, HIST408A, HIST810, HIST811

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Robert Friedel HIST405 followfletcher 06/04/2014	I'll try to be nice... I honestly think Robert Friedel has a tremendous grasp of the subjects he teaches (HIST206, HIST405, HIST406, HIST408) and also wants all of his students to have the same depth of knowledge. The only thing hampering him is his utter contempt for students. He doesn't seem to understand that criticism should always be constructive but not always negative. Watching him attempt to interact with the class was more of a lesson in terrorism than a lesson in history. He repeatedly lured students in with some tough, open-ended questions then would promptly savage them rhetorically after receiving their responses. "Raise your hand if you think that..?", then SMASH! Raising your hand is ill-advised, not that it will help you if you avoid doing so. He's been known to hold up the entire class for a few minutes until he finally gets an answer. He really can be a great lecturer but a bit difficult to understand sometimes because of his hearing impairment. He does not post lecture notes online (but if you know where to look, you can find them ;-)), so take your butt to class or feel the wrath. Please arrive on time! His epic take downs of late-comers has garnered him the legendary moniker of "Deaf Hitler" by some students in private. He follows the syllabus and generally stays on schedule but his grading practices are notoriously capricious and need more specificity. For instance, on one assignment, we were expected to critique the work of a fellow classmate. Our grade depended on whether or not it was "ruthless" enough for his taste. Misanthrope? Most of the time, people had no clue what the topic was for that week's assignment. On one particular week, at least three of us wrote a paper on the same topic, all roughly the same length (about one paragraph), and supported it with the same source. No collaboration was involved nor was it ever alleged by anyone. You guessed it, we all received very different grades. You will scratch your head trying to figure out why he takes off points. I hope I wasn't too hard on him. He's not a bad professor and, to be fair, this is supposed to be a tough class. Trust me, he is "Ivy-League" smart but his personality is more of a caricature of an Ivy League professor's. He loves books, hates people. On the other hand, he has a right to be annoyed by some students that don't have any appreciation for History or for the time and energy he has spent delivering such a qualitatively rich course. The course itself would be perfect, if not for him, but what the heck is a perfect course anyway? Are you a perfect student? Go on, take his class!
Robert Friedel GEMS104 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/05/2010	this class requires a lot of work, for little in return. in fact, the only thing you get in return is a tarnished transcipt, even for a gemstone student.
Robert Friedel GEMS104 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/22/2010	It has been said that this class is one of the hardest freshman class umd has to offer and, like the other reviewer said, is a weedout course for gems students. It is true that this is a very stressful class. The TAs have near-complete control of the direction of the course, so pray for a good TA. There is a decent amount of readings due each week as well as routine journals. The 50-page research paper was just ridiculous. On the bright side, the lectures were actually not bad. Not many show up though because there are no exams. Additionally, fellow gems students tend to be quite capable, so the research paper will be manageable....barely. Not many people like this class, but the high rating from me is because it is not difficult to earn an A...as long as you carry your weight, of course.
Robert Friedel GEMS104 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2010	Like the other reviewers said, DROP if you're unsure you want to do Gems. This class is not worth the time commitment! Personally, I never went to a single lecture save the first two. Just show up for discussion and you're fine since your TA has your grade in your hands. Some of the TAs are REALLY evil and unfortunately, you won't be able to pick up how tough they are until after the sched adjustment period. In general, this class is pointless and totally irrelevant to the Gemstone program. You have mandatory "team" meetings twice every week and you must write a ~50 page paper by the end. If you want to continue in Gems, don't let it scare you too much. It's not TOO difficult, it's just time-consuming. It's like hazing for Gemstone kids. Bear it, get through it, and enjoy the next three years.
Robert Friedel GEMS104 Expecting a B+ a778999 05/18/2010	I took HIST175 and GEMS104 with him and the lectures were exact replicas of each other. In HIST175, your grading is determined on the testing of the material. In GEMS104, the lectures don't matter at all as your grade is determined by a project. HIST175: Your grade is 100% determined by the TA. Even though Friedel writes the tests the TA grades them. My TA was really picky. For example, we were asked to describe the Newcomen steam engine and the TA looked for the phrase "self-acting" specifically. If it wasn't there, you didn't get credit no matter how many other correct things you wrote. GEMS104: Attending lectures will have no effect on your grade since you won't be tested on the material. Readings and assignments are pointless. TAs are not helpful at all and don't know what they're doing. You should probably only take this class if you plan to stick with Gemstone. Otherwise, there are many better options for CORE. It is NOT an easy A.
Robert Friedel Anonymous 05/16/2010	Overall, this course was not as bad as I thought it would be. Professor Freidel is not a bad lecturer, although it is hard to get used to his impediment because he is pretty much deaf. He goes quickly through the material, so I suggest bringing a computer to class to take notes. Discussion was pretty boring because no one ever spoke up even when the TA tried to facilitate discussion. Each week you were supposed to do an online activity where you would go on the internet and research a topic and write about a page on it. This was a pretty big part of the grade. There were 3 exams consisting of IDs where you had to identify different places or people or things, and then there were usually 2 essays. The exams were somewhat difficult, but easy to bs because they were very general.
Robert Friedel GEMS104 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/08/2010	im pretty sure this course will mirror the I-series course on carbon. for gems, no tests or quizzes were given, and no attendance was taken, so a class of 80 went down to 15 attendees, and then he made the journals (which were graded) based off lecture. goes through ppt slides way too fast to write by hand, and sometimes even with a laptop. somehow he manages to attract the most evil TA's known to man. his speech impediment is probably a result of partial deafness, but his english is good, all things considered. it was hard to understand him at first. gems104 is a weedout class with a paper that sucks. if you aren't sure you want to stay in, drop gems before taking this class.
Robert Friedel Expecting a B+ terp2013 01/25/2010	This guy really knows his stuff. Class structure was powerpoints in lectures, one chapter of reading (which I didn't always do) and ~1 page of writing a week, 2-3 exams, and a cumulative final. Majority of powerpoint slides are available on notes.bookholders.com. This class definitely isn't just an easy A core class, but isn't too demanding either. Last history class I took was World History AP in high school (3 on AP test) and I found it to be around the same difficulty. Being an engineering student/someone who is fascinated by technology, I found this class extremely interesting.
Robert Friedel Expecting an A- anthazar 03/31/2009	Friedel is an interesting character. Take this class if the description sounds generally interesting to you, but be warned that you could video tape him lecturing to an empty hall and him lecturing one of his classes and there would be no difference. On the bright side he presents the history of science and technology with themes that helped me relate and understand many historical events. The TA makes or breaks this class, so if you don't like your TA try switching discussion sections before giving up.
Robert Friedel GEMS104 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/14/2009	Too bad he got stuck teaching one of the most useless classes the university has to offer. He definitely knows his stuff, but he was teaching it to a group of students who knew they wouldn't find any use for the material in later courses. Plus, he was pretty arrogant and made the lectures extremely boring. The discussions were just as useless and almost completely unrelated to the lectures. There were random reflection assignments at the end of some lectures, but if you were in the later section, you could find out whether or not an assignment was going to be given. The 40-page history paper was a pain to research for and to write (even as a group). Just keep telling yourself that you'll land on a good Gemstone project in the end and you'll get through it.
Robert Friedel HIST406 Expecting an A warthog 12/24/2008	Don't let him intimidate you. Show half an ounce of interest in the material of the course and he'll love you. My class was full of stupid bros who didn't even know when the fucking French Revolution took place, and this obviously got Dr. Friedel pissed. I can't blame him at all. Also, read his syllabus to the letter.
Robert Friedel GEMS104 umdisbest 05/21/2008	This professor/course combination sucked. Lectures were a waste of life, and he seemed so full of himself. He would occasionally interrupt class to single out students who had better things to do than listen to him rant about biofuels and such. My advice: resist the urge to drop gemstone while in this class, but bring other work to do during lectures
Robert Friedel GEMS104 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/27/2008	His lectures, while thoroughly researched, are seemingly pointless and extremely boring. Although he is well informed on his subject, I have no real idea how this information will help with the upcoming research project or any other class. Also, the lecture and the discussions have almost nothing to do with each other. Basically, the class requires a lot of patience and attendance is key considering that reflections are due at the end of randomly chosen classes.
Robert Friedel Expecting a B Anonymous 11/30/2007	Absolutely fascinating class. As someone who's never been particularly fond of history, Friedel's lectures were surprisingly engrossing, the textbook interesting (not to mention amusing), and the discussions well-led. The workload isn't too heavy and the material is interesting. I was highly impressed with this course, and would recommend it to anyone, whether they have an interest in history or not. Good way to fill SH and learn some history while you're at it.
Robert Friedel UMDMWS11 11/25/2007	After the first couple of weeks, I thought I was going to have a tough time with this class, but after the first exam, I was pleasantly surprised with an A (and the same for the second one!). I also did not know what to expect from the class since I was taking it because 1) it's a requirement and 2) out of the requirements, it sounded the most interesting. The last history class I took was AP US History two years ago and I got a 3 on the AP exam (to create a comparison to other people out there who want to take this class) Dr. Friedel definitely understands the material he lectures on and doesn't just present it as facts/dates, but more of a cause and effect "history." He uses a powerpoint as a reference guide during lectures and at the end of each lecture he always asks an important, relevant question that students answer on a note card and hand in to be read by their TA's (this is helpful in determining understanding of the material). His workload isn't very demanding (and is helpful!) and a good portion of the class grade is participation and the portfolio. Homework is basically reading the textbook (which is definitely recommended!) and the portfolio, which consists of doing some reading online (the websites are given on the syllabus) and answering some questions/statements based on the reading (and/or printing out articles). These are collected at the end of the semester. Attendance at discussion sections is definitely helpful and the TA's are pretty reasonable (in terms of the requirements and grading). The great thing about the homework/portfolio is that you can basically do it on your own time, its not like you have to hand something in every week, only when it's collected for a grade (or unless your TA announces he/she is going to collect it). The tests are reasonable, with the grading consisting of 40% short answer and 60% essay. The essay usually consists of three different questions (choose 1!!), and the short answer consists of choices, too, which gives the student more flexibility and allows them to choose the questions that they are better able to answer and get a better grade on. If you pay attention and understand the material (not just memorize!) you should be able to do well. The only thing to be careful of in the class is that it is very easy to lose concentration during the lectures and a student has to resist the temptation not to just copy down the powerpoint slides, because important information is sometimes not mentioned on the slides (aka...sometimes the slides aren't always the most effective way to take notes). Also, be prepared, because occasionally Dr. Friedel will rush through some slides at the end and a student will not be to read all of what's on it. On a personal note, three things that made it hard to concentrate in the class were 1)sometimes his voice sounds monotonous, 2)the class was in the middle of the afternoon, and 3) the room its located in makes me feel sleepy... so, those last three reasons aren't really great reasons to review a teacher and/or a class, but I just wanted to add them... And don't be afraid to ask questions if you are confused about anything. Hope this helps. Good luck :)
Robert Friedel Expecting a B Ketone 11/21/2007	Powerpoint-based lecture, supplemented with online exploration. I liked how the professor explained the consequences and changes that each concept and invention made on its respective time period, giving witty and insightful comments here and there. Tests are not difficult as long the importance of each concept is explained throughly, therefore simple regurgitaiton of material will not suffice. Coming to class is also important, as there are no online lecture posts, and the explorations will not be enough to make up for not going. Overall, good professor.