Jon Sumida

This professor has taught: HIST224, HIST225, HIST419J, HIST428J, HIST433, HIST619Q

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Jon Sumida Expecting an A Anonymous 08/21/2015	Sumida is hands down one of the greatest professors at this school. His courses are excellent, well taught, and fascinating... Yet be warned, if you want an 'A' you will need to put in the work. This review is for Clausewitz's strategic military theory however I recommend everyone take one of his 224/225 military history classes. Lecture based classes, attendance is mandatory. Readings are essential
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting an A+ ksong 12/21/2012	An amazing professor that goes really in-depth into alternative ways to analyze military history. He takes a lot of effort into stressing important concepts or terms that you can expect to be on the quiz (since TAs like asking anything that he stressed in lectures) or it'll be on the midterm/final. Going to his lectures is absolutely necessary and so is actually reading through the text. Going to his Friday sessions is very helpful if you have any questions. He shows various interesting things such as movie clips and one time he brought a replica of a centuries old trombone that had no slides and played a couple songs with it. There are 12 quizzes (pass/fail) with 2 failed quizzes dropped so 10 count. Each one you pass is +1 on the final so you can be up an entire letter grade for the final. If you get a higher grade on the final than the midterm which Dr. Sumida says is highly likely your grade will just be the final. If you're interested in the military or history then this is definitely a class to take.
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/12/2012	Everyone here says he's a great teacher but he just reads notes from his notebook in a drowsy monotoned voice. He goes through important material quickly and can not say 3 works without saying uh. If you are a history major, maybe take this, if not, do not even consider taking it! It's way too much work for a humanities credit. There's so much useless reading tat you're quizzed on every friday in discussion. Discussion classes don't go over hardly anything learned in lecture that you need for the exam but instead focus on the 100 pages of reading you have to do every week. And if you don't pass at least 10 of these ridiculously hard and tedious quizzes, you receive a 10 pt deduction on your final exam grade that basically determines your grade for the semester. Class is such a gpa killer.
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting an A skinter 05/21/2012	An absolutely brilliant scholar and fantastic lecturer. His voice is faint and weak but you will want to strain your ears to catch every word. Knows his subject backward and forward, is very willing to answer every possible question, asks for excellence and thorough knowledge from his students. There may not be a better professor at UMD.
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting an A bjp2011 12/14/2011	Sumida is great. Some stuttering in his lectures, and his voice is very faint, but he does use a microphone most of the time. Has complete mastery of the material and presents it very well. Grade was entirely the final with up to a single letter grade modification based on the quizzes. Short weekly readings (~100 pages), should be easy to handle. Course and professor are strongly recommended to everyone.
Jon Sumida HIST224 yzhao 12/05/2011	A challenging course, but also very interesting for those who are trully interested in pre-industrial millitary. Not many battles are refered, nor are specific characters or weapons, but certain turning point concepts are required to understand if you want to get a good grade. Weekly readings and quiz, a little time consuming but enlightening. Usually there are Friday reviews, in which Sumida will show some scenes of movies about pre-industrial combat, really interesting for a review session. In conclusion, it is not very difficult to get an A if you want to get it right, but more importantly, you will have a clear grasp of the most distinct questions of this course: who fight, how and why? Who pay, how much and why?
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting a B nmedina 12/12/2010	really knows his stuff about anything early military history. Excellent teacher, lectures the whole class without slides and writes ID's, Key Dates/Battles on the board. I'd recommend using a laptop to actually write down everything. Midterm is designed to be almost impossible to get an A on. Reading the books assigned is a must to pass the reading quizzes in discussion which depending on how many you pass can hurt/help your grade on the final. Final overrides Midterm if final is higher grade.
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting an A Jacob Harrer 11/29/2010	Professor Sumida's class isn't particularly challenging as he describes. He just expects what every professor should-- that you read the books and attend lecture. If you want to skip class, borrow notes, and read powerpoints, this class is not for you. If you want to learn interesting and useful history that will help you be a better citizen, then take this class. Professor Sumida is engaging and his lecturing top notch. The grading is in your favor. You don't have to write papers; you only have a midterm and a final, and a higher grade on the final cancels you previous grade on the midterm. There are weekly quizzes based on the reading, which takes about an hour or two each week. The knowledge you gain in the class is gold. I will take as many of his courses as I can.
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/12/2010	Professor Sumida redefined my approach to learning in a college environment. He is an excellent professor who truly cares about his students but at the same time, motivates them to succeed and work hard. His lectures are critical to performance in the class as there is no online aspects or recordings/slides. If you do the reading, the discussion quizzes can boost your final grade. Often, since he values improvement, he'll use your final grade for the class without calculating the midterm if you did poorly. The class is worth every second.
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/03/2010	A very interesting class. It is not an easy A at all, but if you're willing to put in the effort, it's worth it. Lectures are mostly verbal, occasionally he will write important words or diagrams on the board. Quizzes in discussion (based on readings) gives you points for the final if you pass them. The final is your only real grade in the class. The mid-term exists, but it is graded harshly and if you improve on the final, than it is dropped. He had optional lectures where he either showed neat movie clips or gave very valuable hints on the final. If you want to do well in this class, you have to go to lectures (and be able to pick out the important points), do most of the readings, and be able to write all this information into essays on the final.
Jon Sumida HIST225 stealingsheep 09/01/2009	solidly voice based lecture. he is impressive with his knowledge on the subject matter. You must come to class as there is no online material and he covers alot, quickly. He is generous with final grades although the exams can be a bit tricky. However, if he wants you to remember something, he WILL emphasize it.
Jon Sumida HIST225 Expecting an A joepenn1 05/01/2009	Dr. Sumida is very knowledgeable about his subject matter. Class consists of a Midterm and a Final and 10 quizzes which add to your final grade. The readings are imperative because they not only add to the lectures but cover details that he is going to make sure you know. Lectures are IMPERATIVE because there is no visual aids or power points, he simply lectures. Take home message: Go to lectures, do the readings and the tests, although intimidating, are extremely doable. Came out of this class learning more then I ever thought I would about military history.
Jon Sumida HIST225 Expecting an A aliasyko 04/08/2008	Great professor, very smart and really wants you to get the info and understand the connections. He has experience and gives real life examples of what he or others have done and thus interesting. Read the books, go to discussion as it can help your final grade, and def go to class. Tests are a little long... but if you understand the material you will be okay.
Jon Sumida HIST224 Expecting a B Ketone 11/21/2007	Voice-based lecture, which means no slides or little visual aids for this professor. Highly disapproves of recordings of his lectures, so attention is required for this professor as the only visual things you will see is terms and basic topics of the day's lecture on the blackboard. However I found his lectures to be highly informative and well done, and feels that he really wants to educate and have his students understand the material. Tests are rather detailed based, and since there is no online material, coming to class is imperative. Overall, a good professor.