Beware of taking this course, he cold calls in lecture. Also he really does not care about the students, your main connection to this course will be your TA. Not an easy A for your lit credit consider taking something else.

Easy class, lectures I found to be boring&unneccessary. Basically everything is graded by your TA so hope you get a good one. There were like a hundred pages of reading assigned every week but I never did any and got an A pretty easily. Quizzes/midterms are online, and for the written part you are given the questions so its just memorization

Grunewald is the best professor I have ever had. He is extremely knowledgable and passionate about the subject and lectures were super interesting. If you show up everyday, pay attention, and ask questions if needed, you will do fine. I highly recommend going to his office hours, he is a very intelligent person who is more than willing to talk!

Professor Grunewald's lectures are hard to beat -- he perfectly combines interactivity and commentary. He's fairly funny and is nice when approached, as well. His exams are very difficult, though -- just because they're open note does not AT ALL mean they're easy. Still one of the best profs I've had though.

Professor Grunewald is an absolutely amazing lecturer. His quizzes and exams are definitely specific to things he says in lecture, so you have to go, but the lectures are very engaging.

Grunewald is a good professor and is passionate about the subject. There are 3 exams and a final writing assignment that are relatively easy if you pay attention in class and do the readings. Expect the grading result to be significantly delayed since it often takes them roughly 1 month to grade everything.

Amazing class + professor. Don't let people scare you about the grading or the cold-calling, both were effective at making me pay more attention during class. Extremely interesting lectures. Multiple choice is a grade booster, but you'll definitely have to study loads for the writing, but as long as you study hard an A is definitely attainable.

Prof. Grunewald is my favorite professor. His personal story makes lectures engaging and interactive. He cold-calls, but moves on if you're unsure. Study hard for the detailed written exams. Overall, this class lets you form an informed view of the American justice system. I highly recommend it!

Prof. Grunewald is passionate but very unorganized. He used Canvas poorly, posted quizzes late, gave unclear due dates, and had hard-to-follow slides. His fast-paced lectures left little time for writing notes, and he often cold-called students. Nice person, but not an effective professor.

He is a very entertaining professor who clearly holds a passion for what he is teaching. Great funny guy, but the core of your grades is from the three exams, which are graded by TAs. This makes it tough to boost your grade, and the strict word count is very inhibiting for writing.

This was very hard for an intro level class. He is a nice & funny guy and tries to make lectures entertaining. The weekly quizzes are generally easy and help your grade. However, the exams are way too difficult. The TAs grade strictly and each exam is worth 15-20% of your grade. Its frustrating how there is no way to boost your grade besides tests.

Very specific wording for the written portions making it hard to do well. He's not very flexible, and his lectures sometimes have nothing to do with quizzes.

Prof Grunewald is SUPER passionate about this content. It makes his lectures super fun to attend and the coursework engaging. However, one of his TAs is awful and made the class horrible. This made discussions unhelpful and, honestly, made the course content more confusing. However, this does not reflect on Grunewald.

The class is very lecture heavy, but he is very engaging and responsive to student needs. It was definitely a difficult "introductory" level course, but it is manageable.

I love this guy! Very entertaining to listen to and talk to. the lectures are the best part of the class. However, the grading can sometimes be harsh and vary depending on your TA so look out for that! Additionally, there are textbook readings that don't add much because the same content is covered in the lecture. I would recommend the class.

Ralph is a great lecturer and very knowledgeable in the subject matter. Written exam grading can vary from TA to TA, but study well and read for class and the grade take care of itself.

SO awesome. MCQ tests are online and easy, short answer are harder but if you study what he says and write a lot (you must write the entire 75 min) you will do well. Content is super interesting and prof cares so much and is so knowledgable! Quizzes every week but they are a grade booster bc they are online. must take good lecture notes!

His lectures are interesting and he's a funny guy. He does cold call- so be ready for that but if you're paying attention, you should be fine. Blue book exams can be tough, and the grading can be very particular. I enjoyed his class though, would definitely recommend.

He is passionate about what he teaches, he will talk about the German legal system almost as much as he talks about the American legal system. Beware of cold calling (yes, even in large lectures)

He is such a fun professor and his lectures are super interesting. As long as you pay attention and go to lecture, the class is fairly straightforward. I really enjoyed the content and discussions.

The professor can be rude and dismissive, assuming questions reflect poor attendance. TAs and the professor are often not on the same page. The Bluebook portion of exams is tough, so students must prepare independently.

Talks for an hour and fifteen minutes straight. Only practice we get each lecture is the 2-3 tophat questions Mid jokes.

Such a great professor! Highly recommend! (his blue book exams are tricky though so make sure you come prepared!)

Ralph is VERY big on lecture attendance, but good news: his lectures are great! You would be shocked by how difficult a completely open note exam can be, and a lot of that is because he likes to test on super-specific lecture material.

Prof. Grunewald cares about his students very much. He constantly asks for feedback, and loves to converse with students. My advice is to sit in the first few rows, pay attention, and try and talk as often as possible. He is very good at making feel comfortable even when you say the wrong answer. You NEED to come to lecture.

Good Professor overall, however some of his content was not relevant to the tests. Discussion section is mandatory, and there are readings due every week (textbook/related articles). Some of the content that was presented on the midterms/final was not covered heavily in class but rather brushed over at times.

He was the best professor I have ever had, he cares so much about his students and this topic. He was so incredibly helpful in helping students understand the content. If you go to lectures, stay engaged, and pay attention, then you will easily get an A. 10/10 class, would take again!!!

He's lecture heavy and his class is definitely a lift. I'd recommend it if you are someone who can stay focused for extended periods of time and never misses a lecture. Grading for tests was always pretty harsh and even some of the smartest people I know were failing. Not a bad class, Grunewald is great, but it's intense for an elementary class

I thought that the grading criteria for a couple of the written exams and assignments were very unclear, and some of the questions, in my opinion, were designed precisely to make you mess up. This course is one of the harder courses i've taken in this field, which is interesting as it is an intro level course.

You definitely have to go to lecture to understand whats going on. This class was tough only in the aspect that vocab words/concepts were basically made up so you can't google things when confused. Ralph was very passionate and lectures were always interesting. Test questions were given in advance so if you study you can easily do well.

*ENGL 457. Quite literally such a hard grader, the only AB I've received ever in my college career. Extremely hard grader with no rubric.

While he was a good teacher, his grading criteria for written exams were harsh. Lecture quizzes and exams sometimes asked questions you would only know if you paid close attention in lecture, and all relevant information was not always on the slides posted. Communication between TAs and prof seemed limited so each section got different information.

Professor Grunewald is a good and passionate lecturer, but an incredibly difficult grader. Grading rubrics are unclear, and he doesn't seem to communicate with his TAs, because they are rarely on the same page.

His essay questions are graded incredibly strictly and the criteria were very clear. His lectures were fine but nothing to write home about. Also has some annoying technology policies (Can only use computers in the first couple rows of the classroom). While these policies are only occasionally enforced, its still annoying

The written exams were graded on a pretty tough criteria that isn't very clear to the students. Other than that, as long as you keep updated with the readings and participate in discussion, its a fun class. Ralph is very passionate about the subject which makes him very enjoyable.

You will need to read a lot for this class. I would suggest using a Quizlet for all of the legal terms, along with the types of landmark cases you will need to define. Professor Grunewald is a GREAT lecturer and very entertaining. I never felt bored during lecture, but you also will be taking a lot of notes, so you need to stay engaged.

Professor Grunewald was a very entertaining lecturer. He is very passionate and also well-respected. The class was graded by 4 exams, the final was not cumulative, weekly quizzes, discussion attendance/participation.

This class has a lot of interesting material, but can get boring. Professor Grunewald is very well established and knowlegable but you can get easily lost in what he is saying during lecture. Discussion sections were very easy in this class, and overall a great class with a good prof.

Although this class was interesting, and Professor Grunewald was quite engaging and gave great lectures, it was quite demanding and heavily based on tests and quizzes that are graded hard. In my opinion, the discussion was not helpful at all, and the only reason you should go is to receive participation points or if you have specific questions.

Professor Grunewald is an exceptional professor. He cares about his students and is very passionate about the material. He wants to make sure we learn and is very engaging during lecture. The discussions would sometimes be helpful when we went over the readings but very strict on participation. Overall, would take this class again.

Overall, good man - he knows what he's talking about. However, the lecture preparation is heavy, we're talking full-books, hour long podcasts, and several movies/tv series. It can be very easy to fall behind, and once you're behind, you may as well drop. Good man tho.

He is very unapproachable, and stern. His test questions are very specific to lecture so make sure you pay attention to those and what he says, some of the information is not on the slides and is based off of what he says in lecture. The written portions are much harder than the multiple choice.

Professor Grunewald is very engaging and funny, and is also knowledgeable about what he teaches. Lectures are super important to go to because even though he posts the slides, he talks about a lot of information that isn't on the slides. There are a lot of readings but they are often pretty short and interesting so it's not bad. Would recommend!

Professor Grunewald is my favorite professor. He truly cares about his students and wants them to succeed. Not to mention he is very funny and always cracks jokes during lecture. At the start of the year I thought about dropping the class because it is difficult, but it was worth it to stay in the class as it is now my favorite.

One of my absolute favorite professors! He makes lectures engaging and fun to come to. He genuinely cares about his students and is passionate about course material. Tests are pretty difficult, so make sure to do the readings and pay attention in lecture!

He is so kind and so fun in lecture. I would take the class again!

Grunewald took pride in having low exam scores and "engaging" lectures. He spent a good chunk of lecture time having individual discussions with a few students regarding their opinions, instead of finishing the lecture. Often we did not get through all the lecture slides. Despite this, he was accommodating with testing.

He is obviously passionate about the content and it was genuinely interesting, but the amount of info that you need to cram before each lecture made it hard to enjoy and retain. 5 exams including final and quizzes ever weekend which are technically open note, but are based on lecture. A lot of work as both lecture and readings were necessary.

Professor Grunewald's experience at practicing law in Germany gives his lectures a unique perspective, and the textbooks are easily accessible from a beginner perspective. The written portions of exams are challenging- they're graded based on the inclusion of certain components, and whether you get a heads up on what those are depends on the TA.

This class was extremely eye-opening and one of the best classes I have taken. Professor Grunewald makes this class extremely interesting and recommends if you are going into anything relating to social sciences. There is a LOT of reading and really need to go to lectures, however, I find the information learned more important. Really recommend!!

He is super knowledgeable and interesting, but he grades way too tough and many test questions don't match lectures/readings. He's super engaging during lectures and constantly asks questions which I liked. Just be prepared for a difficult course and a lot of reading, and if you miss a quiz you will not be able to retake it/turn it in late.

I absolutely love professor Grunewald. He is engaging, a little intense, and very smart. I would say I probably enjoyed this class extra because its in my major but I still think its a great class and he teaches it so well. It's not necessarily easy intro class though.

This professor makes exams very difficult and not only expects, but aims for a low average on exams. There are lots of trick questions on exams and quizzes. I accidentally missed a quiz once and emailed him to see if there was anything I could do, all he did was continuously accuse me of trying to cheat until I gave up on trying to make up for it.

The class itself is super interesting, especially if you are interested in law. Professor Grunewald gives good lectures and he always makes the class laugh. The tests and quizzes often do not reflect the information given in lecture. Personally, I didn't find there to be a lot of homework.

Ralph Grunewald is a good Prof. The content is heavy, and it comes at you at a rapid pace. The exams sometimes don't match what you learn in class and the grading of a subjective portion of the exams is graded objectively. The homework is tedious and excessive. The class is doable if you are willing to place it above your other courses.

Lectures are very engaging and he loves to get students involved. Sometimes will maintain eye contact with you for over 10 seconds and its awk but if this is a topic you are interested in take his class. Multiple choice were sometimes out of pocket and difficult but you get through it. DO THE READINGS and the textbook is long but it is very helpful

Professor G. is an amazing, smart professor. This class is relatively easy if you do the readings and actually show up to lecture. His lectures can be boring sometimes, but he tries his best to add humor. The comparative perspective (German to American) that he brings to criminal justice is extremely valuable. He does make eye contact too much.

Professor Grunewald was amazing: I don't think I've ever had a 75 minute class feel shorter! Super engaging lectures. There was quite a bit of reading and the exam questions were sometimes too specific, but not unmanageable, just make sure to pay attention in lecture.

The lectures were engaging and interesting but the exams were absolutely terrible (all take home, incredibly long and unclear rubrics). I learned a lot from this class but the assignments were overall way more difficult than they needed to be.

Loved this class, but was frustrated how detail specific the quizzes and tests are. The format for tests depends if kids cheat or not, so you can go from being an open note test to an in person one. No curve, but I generally liked the subject matter. Professor Grunewald is caring but tough on students.

Passionate, intelligent, funny lectures. Readings aren't bad at all. Lecture is engaging, but he is very strict about no phones, cheating, paying attention etc. Open-note weekly quizzes that help you get your grade up. Occasionally test questions can be weirdly specific but are usually fair. Take good notes. I totally recommend RG and this class.

RG is an interactive, knowledgable, and entertaining professor. He offers unique insight on criminal justice due to his real life and international experience within the law and innocence project. Paying attention to small details in this class can make a difference, graded only on exams and weekly quizzes which are not terribly difficult.

I really enjoyed his lectures and teaching style. He has engaging format and cares about his students. He is approachable and likes to get to know his students. Even in a lecture hall of 250 people, he made the most class time. The material was interesting and fun to learn about. I looked forward to attending class and discussion.

Professor Grunewald is an incredibly knowledgeable, respected, caring, invested, passionate, relatable guy. He cares about his students and he knows his material inside and out. But, he doesnt budge on certain things (no phones, strict deadlines, etc). Though his lectures can be long, theyre fun cause hes just a dork who cares abt crim justice.

He's a cool professor, he loves what he talks about and does a pretty good job explaining things. It can get a bit boring during certain lectures, especially if you don't care for the specific topic. 3 midterms. 2 are 1/2 essay. Final not cumulative. Discussions are really interesting as well.

Weekly Quizzes are pretty straightforward, exams aren't super super difficult, but can be challenging. Very informative guy, super fun to talk to, very well educated, not overly serious, likes to joke around. I really liked him!

Ralph was awesome. Super funny and engaging. His class was really interesting but challenging. He said he didn't want to create any "weak lawyers". He is very renowned in his field and has had some very cool life experiences. I definitely recommend his class if you are pre-law, but it is challenging. He is definitely worth it though!