Loved Dr. Nolen and this class. Learned a lot of things more in depth than I had knowledge of. Class is graded based on 4 tests which are multiple choice. Tests are very easy and straightforward if you complete out of class readings. Typically 2-3 readings per week. Attendance is not mandatory but some exam questions are based on stuff said in lec.

One test per unit (4 total) that make up a majority of your final grade. Lecture topics sometimes go way more in depth, or not enough in depth as to what questions will be asked on the tests.

Learned a lot by taking this course and Prof. Nolen is passionate about sociology. However, the tests are weighted very heavily and there are daily readings.

This class should be an "easy one", however the grades are weighted incredibly test heavy and it is quite hard to get -1 or -2 on a 40 mcq test. The TA for my section also graded incredibly harshly. Overall, Professor Nolen was nice and pretty funny, the class is just ran a bit unfairly in my opinion.

I would recommend Jason to anyone interested in taking a sociology/ethnic studies class. His lectures never felt boring, and he was really able to express his passion for the subject. Your grade is very test heavy, but the class isn't too hard as long as you occasionally show up for lecture and do all the readings. Overall, good guy and good prof.

Dude gives great, clear lectures. The class is both interesting and fairly easy as your Ethnic Studies credit. Would recommend

Great professor, exams are very laid back, just make sure to do your readings and you will be fine

Good professor, cares lots about what he's teaching and it shows!

He's definitely a nice person, but I found his teaching skills a bit weak. The slides are kind of all over the place, and the exam sometimes asks about stuff that's only in the readings, not the lectures. Also, the discussions feel pretty unnecessary and not very helpful.

I would recommend Soc 134 with Nolen to everyone! Attendance isn't mandatory, but do yourself a favor and go to the lectures; he's funny and it makes the material much easier to remember. There were a lot of readings, but most were interesting. It's only graded on section participation and 4 exams.

AMAZING professor. If you go to office hours and get a chance to chat with him, you will meet one of the funniest, kindest, and smartest professors at Madison. Dr. Nolen is also a great lecturer.

The course itself is boring some topics are interesting but there's only tests so if you do bad on a single test your grade will be tanked pretty severely the course isn't worth taking

Dr. Nolen explained the content very well in his lectures, and he used lots of examples that made the material more engaging. I enjoyed this class a lot because of his lectures. I would definitely recommend taking this class with Dr. Nolen!

I would recommend you take this class with him! He is very knowledgeable, and backs things with evidence. Exams are easy if you study for them, I found the study guide helpful. Do you not have to go to lecture (he posts the slides), but I found it beneficial, and found the topics interesting. Exams were 20 multiple choice, and 1 written response.

Professor Nolen is really sweet. He really cares about students as well as animals. Super easy to communicate with and generally knowledgeable enough about the topic.

Lectures are just reading off of a slideshow; it is very easy to get notes directly from the slides. Half of the class is outside readings that are pretty boring. There are 4 tests that determine your whole grade, and doing poorly on one can basically tank your grade for the semester. Overall I thought the class was fine.

Very interesting class, and the professor makes it very clear what he wants you to focus on for exams. Interesting and engaging lectures, great professor.

Jason is a very kind and understanding person. He really does care about what he's teaching and makes sure to not teach with a bias. There's a good amount of reading each week and your grade mostly depends on the 4 exams. No final exam. Highly recommend Jason as a professor, attending lecture, and talking to him after lecture for any elaboration.

Great professor for a pretty simple course. The lectures were a little boring at times but they were brief and included interesting topics and videos. The outside reading material was usually pretty easy but he occasionally jump scares you with a 40 page chapter of book, but you don't really need to read it. Exams are incredibly easy if you read.

Jason is a great guy and very fair with material on exams. Not hard to get an A in this class if you study, especially with how helpful discussion sections are. However, Jason is a pretty boring lecturer and doesn't seem passionate about the topic matter, like you would expect of a professor in a 400 level class to be. Still, would recommend.

Professor Nolen was very accessible and open during and after lecture. I really appreciated how he approached difficult topics. You could tell that he actually wanted his students to learn and succeed. I would take another sociology class at UW Madison just because Professor Nolen was the professor.

I LOVE Jason. He genuinely one of the nicest professors around. This class was super interesting and honestly not difficult so I would 100% recommend. 4 exams throughout sem was nice, discussion was super fun too (Avery was awesome). Jason is def a prof that you can talk to, so don't hesitate to ask him Qs or just talk about life.

Jason was a very kind professor. I found the class pretty easy as the lectures were pretty straightforward. Some of the assigned readings were a little lengthy but nothing too bad. Your grade is mostly composed of 4 noncumulative with no real final so that was great.

Easy to understand readings and lectures with no final just 4 non-cumulative tests throughout the semester.

Soc 441 with Nolen was pretty easy for a high-level class in my opinion. There are four exams throughout the semester but they're not bad. A lot of the content is memorization. Nolen creates the class to not be too difficult so I had a good time. I would recommend Nolen for this course, he made it an easy A and interesting material.

Loved this class, loved this professor—great lecturer with well-written slides that are always available.

Jason was a great teacher and his lectures were very interesting. Attendance wasn't mandatory, but his exams heavily focused on lecture material which was sometimes not included on the posted slides. The assigned readings for the course were sometimes lengthy, but overall the workload for the course was manageable.

Professor Nolen was a great professor!! Not only is the class interesting but it was also pretty easy. It takes maybe an exam or two to get used to the questions that he asks but the exams are generally easy. Shoutout to the TA David too. Him and Jason were like Shaq and Kobe

Very passionate about the class and incredibly helpful during office hours. No quizzes or tests, just three exams. Content easy if you pay attention in class and do readings. Says things in lecture that are not in slides, discussion section only useful for peer review. Flexible with due dates if you're respectful and communicate ahead of time.

Professor Nolen usually explainex concepts very clearly and even when a topic was confusing, he would often be available after lecture to briefly explain in an understandable way. I also like that exams emphasized understanding of the concepts rather than specific names or statistics.

The lectures for this class are clear, but it can sometimes be difficult to predict what exactly is going to show up on the exam. You can tell he cares a lot about the subject. He also makes all of his slides and materials available online.

Professor Nolen is a very clear instructor. He gives review "cheat sheets" before the exams that are extremely helpful. There are only 4 exams and no papers. This class is a good transition into college for freshmen. The lectures were straight-forward and attending them really locked in my understanding. 10/10 would take Professor Nolen again.

Jason was a great lecturer. Some people thought he was really monotonous, but overall you can tell he really cares about the material. If you go to lecture, the tests are SUPER easy.

Discussions are mandatory and generally helpful, depending on how the collective feels that week. Lectures are optional but very much recommended since some material is added to the shared slideshow that can show up in exams.

Took both sociology 134 and 441 with Dr. Nolen. The material is all interesting, the tests are straightforward and not very hard, and Dr. Nolen seems like a great guy. The only thing is his lectures are very dry and he sounds like he's bored while teaching-- it's hard not to zone out after a while.

Jason is really nice - he has kind of a monotone voice. Lectures are not mandatory and he posts the slides but I'd still recommend going. Grades are 72% test scores so make sure to do the readings and study. The material isn't hard and is mostly common sense if you know anything about soc. Overall good, interesting, easy class!

This class is very heavy on test scores since they are the only thing graded from the lecture portion of the class. The discussions are very helpful and the TA's are wonderful. There is no homework for this class but you do have to complete the assigned readings to understand the class concepts. Attendance is not mandatory but is strongly suggested

Jason is such a caring and understanding person. Additionally, the class material was very interesting and important to our everyday lives. I really enjoyed this course and I learned a lot. The exams were no bad and it was very helpful to go to the review sessions! Overall, great class with a great professor and TAs.

Take sociology with Professor Nolen! He's a great guy and his lectures are good. If you go to lectures and discussions you will pass with an A. Three papers and three exams. Exams were 50% from the readings and 50% from the lectures. He posts the slides and lecture attendance is not mandatory. Great ethnic studies class!!!

Lectures were interesting, and tests were very straightforward. If you pay attention in class and have an idea of the main points of the readings, it is very doable. Very nice demeanor with students.

Prof Nolen was an engaging lecturer. The class was easy and not difficult to follow. 3 essays, 3 tests, no final. The tests are easy, multiple-choice, pretty much flashcard questions. The essays are graded pretty leniently, depending on which TA you have. I'd recommend it to fill an ethnic studies credit or to learn more about sociology.

Definitely recommend taking this class with Prof. Nolen. His lectures were usually pretty interesting and the grading system was very fair. Grade is based on three exams and three papers. Class material is all very applicable and relevant to today's society.

This class is easy, but you learn a lot and discussion sections are great. Tests are directly connected to lectures and reading material so there's no surprises. Nolen and the TAs are laid back and approachable, and are usually available outside of class if you need help.

Lectures can be very long and boring. 3 tests and 3 essays. You will do well on essays if you have an easy TA. Exams can be difficult but if you go to lectures and study you will do fine. He posts lecture slides but go to class bc he says important things in person.

Despite not being very passionate about the content of the class, I was always excited to go to Professor Nolen's lectures. He made them very engaging and easy to follow as well as connected topics to pop culture in order to make them easier to understand. He was always very funny and willing to give assistance when it was needed.

Prof. Nolen is the absolute BEST. He is so funny and always puts in so much effort to make lectures engaging. This class is very eye-opening and I have learned so much. Whether you take this class for credit or not, I would recommend it to anyone! He is Amazing.

Prof. Nolen is absolutely amazing, and so is this class. Nolen does a great job explaining the course and concepts. Lectures are very rewarding and interesting, but sometimes can be a bit drug on. All lecture slides are posted online, which is really nice if you are sick. I have learned so much, and if you take SOC 134, take it with Nolen!!

I took SOC 134 over summer as my first class at UW-Madison. The class was very interesting and Professor Nolen was a fantastic professor. I would highly recommend him. Grade based on two papers (but there three opportunities; you could drop one), reading quizzes, attendance, and participation (he gave accommodations for shyer students).

Jason is very approachable. He is a very solid lecturer who tries to make them interesting and funny. If you have not taken soc 134, a lot of these concepts will be very insightful.

loved this class very easy and insightful.

Jason was great and very professional. He covered many current topics in America today and posts all his slides online. His tests can be a bit harder than they seem because he pulls questions off the readings.

Jason is an amazing teacher! I never wanted to miss his class because it was so interesting and I always learned something new. He really cares about sociology and his students. If you read the articles and go to class, you will do well on the test. Go into office hours for your papers and enjoy his amazing teaching. 100% my favorite class so far!

Jason is THEE best. He's so casual with his lectures and a cool person in general. He likes to make jokes in class and is always open for questions. Reading are the one downfall, but that's the only homework outside class and they can be interesting. His exams were fair. Overall such a nice guy and id love to take another class with him.

Professor Nolen is professional and gives great lectures. The purpose of a sociology class is to raise awareness on controversial issues and encourage conversation about them, and he does just that. Definitely recommend taking this course with him. 3 exams, 3 papers, do the readings and go to lecture and you will become a better person of society

He is professional but still approachable. His exams are very fair and are not too challenging. The material is interesting and important. I feel like a better member of society and a more informed person on the implications of race in this country. Highly would recommend to anyone, especially anyone interested in politics or social justice.

Professor Nolen is an interactive teacher, engaging his students in the lectures through his cat pictures and clear knowledge/interest in the subject.

Jason is great, funny guy and his class is fun. Learn a lot during the class but also easy, which was great. Would recommend this class or Jason to anyone.

I absolutely LOVED this class. It should be required for everyone. Jason is one of the most caring people you'll ever meet, and loves to talks to students outside of class. If you go to lecture and read the readings you'll pass with flying colors. His tests are very fair, and what the students think of him/the class is very important to him.

Jason is great! He presents tough issues in a balanced and interesting way; if you're looking for Ethnic studies, take this class! It was very enlightening on the past and current condition of race in America. Don't fall behind on the readings, and pay attention to the news for potential paper topics. No cumulative final. He loves his cats.

Jason made Sociology 134 really interesting. He was very engaged with students during lecture, so I wanted to come to lecture, even though he posted the powerpoints online. Also, he will wait for students to finish taking notes on each slide. Exams were easy and non- cumulative. This class made me feel like a more informed member of society.

Jason Nolen was by far my favorite professor last semester. He makes his lectures incredibly interesting through riveting material as well as lots of cat pictures to spice up the information and statistics. Although you could probably get away with not going to lecture, I highly recommend it. LOVED THIS CLASS.

Class lectures are not mandatory because all lectures are posted online; however, the lectures are never boring and he expands on needed information for tests. As long as you read the tests are not hard! Nolen always has his students interested and laughing and is always willing to help. The worst part of the class was the papers-hard grading TA's.

Jason is one of the best professors I've had! He is so personable and funny! He does a great job making sense of his material and putting it on a level students can understand. The class is only three exams and three papers. Allow time to do the papers well or your grade won't look so good. This class is a MUST TAKE course, with Jason of course.

LOVED Nolen. Cannot say enough good things about this man. Easy going, funny, and thorough in his lectures. Cute too. He teaches a tough subject really well and goes over everything in detail. & he shows animal pictures

Very funny and personable. Lightened heavy subjects and really changed the way I see the world. The class content is very easy to absorb and readings aren't bad (about 30-60 pages of text a week). 3 tests (non-cumulative) and 3 essays (3 pages long, each). Very doable, very enjoyable. Highly recommended for ethnic studies credit.

Jason is my favorite professor I have had! He is young and super relatable to students (pretty sure our entire class follows him on Instagram). He makes class enjoyable and you are guaranteed to laugh at least once during class. If you are taking this class, definitely take it with Jason!

Jason is my favorite professor I have had so far. His lectures include interesting content and also can make the class laugh. He is younger so it easier to relate him. I am a big fan of his teaching style and his cats Stu & Lu. This class does require participation in discussion though and papers are not graded at a college level. Take this class.

Jason is very relatable and he makes his students feel comfortable. He presents the information in a very entertaining and easy to understand manner. Plus, he adds a lot of videos in! It's a very interesting class and the material is very interesting as well!

Makes the material understandable and interesting. He finds awesome videos! Professor Nolen is in general very likeable and interesting! I've really been liking his class and his class structure (not discussions)

You can basically pick between reading and lecture, but both will ensure you the A. Reminiscent of a high school class in how you can study. Lectures were engaging, interesting, and informative. Would recommend to everyone and their mother for an ethnic studies class.

Soc 134 was a blast with Jason! I loved going to lecture because he was so funny and informative about the topic. In order to succeed in this class, one must attend discussion and be active in participating to truly understand the material.

I loved Jason as a lecturer, he's laid back and relatable, I had a lot of respect for him and they way he was able to provide perspective on a controversial subject matter. 3 papers and 3 exams which are very doable but certainly not easy A's. Readings can get long, but honestly I didn't do many of them and still did alright. Highly recommend!

Jason was pretty clear about what was expected and what we needed to know. There aren't many grades throughout the semester, so skipping lectures and not doing the readings can really hurt you. The readings aren't too long, so set aside a long afternoon at the start of the week and get them all done, and be sure to take good notes on them!

Jason made lectures interesting and straight-forward. Exams were 5050 lectures and readings. The class really makes you think a different way about the world and how you shape your views of race. Highly recommend taking it!!

Jason was great. His humor and overall personality made the class that much more enjoyable. Only 3 tests and 3 papers to do all semester long, difficult but do able. The only downside were the weekly readings that could get heavy, but hey, you had all week to do them.

Jason is awesome. He makes lectures interesting. Only negative about the class is the readings each week can get kind of long. Other than that, he's awesome, and the class is super interesting.

He has a lot of reading to the course. Not really known what will be on the exams.

Just a laid back guy, funny enough to make lecture worth going to

He's a really good lecturer, engaging and funny. His slides are clear and he is very open to helping students and clarifying. There are 3-4 papers throughout the semester and 3 exams, no final. The exams are pretty straight forward if you go to class, take good notes and do the readings.