Historical instructor

GAY SEIDMAN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.68/5 from 28 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

C&ESOC/SOC 630
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Seidman is very approachable and wants you to succeed. At the same time, she teaches from a very limited perspective and doesn't really introduce alternative viewpoints and perspectives. Powerpoints are a jumble of article summaries and pictures without clear progression. Often goes on tangents and is generally just hard to follow.
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C&ESOC/SOC 630
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Seidman is very intelligent and has a genuine passion for teaching. It was one of the bests classes I've ever taken. I always left the class with so much knowledge. If you do not go to class it is hard to catch up since her class is mostly discussion-based.
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C&ESOC/SOC 630
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Seidman was super nice and always in a good mood to teach. You can tell she is very knowledgeable and loves what she does. However, the lectures seemed a little disorganized at times and she downgraded me for not knowing things/"reflecting completely" on things that weren't discussed in class.
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C&ESOC/SOC 630
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
This class was definitely different compared to other sociology courses I have taken. Dr. Seidman was very clear on her grading rubric and very flexible as well as responsive to questions on clarifications. Lectures are heavily discussion based and there were lots of readings for class assignments.
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C&ESOC/SOC 630
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Right from the beginning, it is clear that she knows much about the subject. She values student input and encourages participation. The class atmosphere was very relaxed, and the majority of the weekly work was to complete online readings. Grades were determined by written exams and papers, all of which had generally loose prompts and good feedback
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C&ESOC/SOC 630
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Prof Seidman was very exciting, lively, and passionate about the topics. She clearly cares about her students and wants them to succeed. She even brought snacks for us to the midterm and final exams! Lectures are interesting. overall pretty good class and experience.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with GAY SEIDMAN

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2026C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2025C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2025SOC 236Bascom Course
Fall 2024SOC 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2024ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas
Spring 2024C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2024LACIS 699Directed Study
Spring 2024SOC 236Bascom Course
Spring 2024SOC 691Senior Thesis
Spring 2024SOC 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2023C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2023C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2023C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2023SOC 691Senior Thesis
Spring 2023ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas
Spring 2023C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2023LACIS 699Directed Study
Spring 2023SOC 496Topics in Sociology
Fall 2022C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2022C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2022C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2022ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas
Spring 2022C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2022INTLST 699Directed Study
Spring 2022SOC 496Topics in Sociology
Spring 2022SOC 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2021C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2021C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2021INTLST 699Directed Study
Fall 2020C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2020C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2020SOC 236Bascom Course
Spring 2020C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2020C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Spring 2020C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2020SOC 320Research Practicum in Sociology
Spring 2020SOC 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2019C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2019C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2019C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2019SOC 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2019C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2019C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Spring 2019C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2019SOC 699Directed Study
Fall 2018C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2018C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2018SOC 236Bascom Course
Fall 2018SOC 699Directed Study
Spring 2018C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2018C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Spring 2018C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2018SOC 699Directed Study
Fall 2017C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2017C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2017C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2017SOC 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2017SOC 699Directed Study
Spring 2016C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2016C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Spring 2016C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2016SOC 699Directed Study
Fall 2015C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2015C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2015SOC 236Bascom Course
Spring 2015C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2015C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2015SOC 236Bascom Course
Spring 2015SOC 699Directed Study
Fall 2014C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2014C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2014C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2014ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas
Spring 2014C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2014C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2014SOC 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2014SOC 698Directed Study
Fall 2013C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2013C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2013C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2013SOC 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2013SOC 698Directed Study
Spring 2013ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas
Spring 2013C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2013C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2013SOC 698Directed Study
Fall 2012C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Fall 2012C&ESOC/SOC 940Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
Fall 2012C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2012SOC 199Directed Study
Fall 2012SOC 698Directed Study
Spring 2012C&ESOC/SOC 630Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
Spring 2012C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Spring 2012SOC 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2012SOC 699Directed Study
Fall 2011ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas
Fall 2011C&ESOC/SOC 993Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
Fall 2011SOC 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2011ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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