TL;DR Concept definition + example is good to cover lots of material. Do well on the midterm and paper so the final isn't that stressful.

Class is hard only because there's so many readings and memorizing to do. Concepts are not hard and Suman is a great lecturer (you won't be bored). I had Comandon as a TA and he will do his job well (covering the necessary parts of the books).

Here's how you do well in this class:
-Go to discussion (goes over readings and stuff you def need to know for exam)
-Do the readings on time, otherwise you're in for a bad time
-Def go to lecture (lectures are so jampacked full of material that copying someone else's notes could lead to missing something)
-For the first half of class (before midterm) it's a good tip to only write down the concept and then one example (he gives a lot of unnecessary info you don't need for tests) but in general just write enough to understand the concept fully and explain it
-He says the underlined portions in readings are fair game for the test, but honestly some of them are so long, and so much crap underlined (literally only like 5 questions at max on test usually) that you HAVE to skim, otherwise you just waste studying time.
-For tests, just make flashcards with concept definition and example. It's ALL MEMORIZATION. For ANY LIST (he'll number or list them somehow someway on the board) make an acronym for it. It's possible with every single one, just have to get creative with it. Plus, vast majority of the lists don't need to stay in the order they were taught in.
-Do your reading notes like days before the exams, bc those take a long time to write. It's not actual studying, so again just a waste of study time.
Midterm: Really not bad, first part is just defining concepts and then giving example and second portion is 2 essay questions and this is where ppl get messed up. To do well on this part, you have to create coherent stories that go along with your definition of the concepts. Otherwise you miss out on a buncha points

Paper: This is where ppl neglect and get messed up too bc they grade these essays extremely harsh. Prompts are not hard, people just think that a passable essay will pass (it won't, it'll fail GUARANTEED). I'm usually quite a decent writer and I thought it was the best essay I ever wrote in my life and I got a damn C. Go over it with your TA, and try to write it a week in advance and keep polishing it, making it sound as scholarly and "researchly" as possible bc it's gonna be graded like a true research paper. Hold it to the standard you see in scholarly journals/databases. P.S. You don't know your grade on this until the day of the final.

Final: Ngl, you and everyone who has taken this class before understand how ridiculous this final is, simply because there's so much information to memorize. Just do as best as you can, bc most ppl will have a hard time too so the test usually has a nice curve

The material for the class is actually pretty simple and straightforward and Suman constantly checks in to see if anybody has questions, which is helpful. What makes the class hard is that there is a lot of material to memorize and the readings are pretty dense. Here's my advice for doing well:

-Try not to miss any lectures and write down EVERYTHING (except for when he lists off examples- when he's giving a lot of examples, you should be fine with just 2 or 3 unless he's writing them all down on the board or he goes into extensive details about each example). Some of the questions on exams will be small details about something he goes over in class, so your best bet is just to try to write down everything you can and memorize every small detail possible
-START THE READINGS/YOUR EXAM NOTES EARLY. He lets you use notes for the readings on the exams, but since they have to be hand written, they take a long time to put together. For the midterm, this is a little easier since 7 of the 9 online readings are really short, but it's extremely tedious for the final since the readings are all pretty long. I took notes while reading the books and highlighted the information for the online readings on Word before copying them onto my exam notes, I'd say that's probably easier than trying to do the readings and the notes at the same time. I also worked on the notes each weekend, and I'd recommend that over doing them all at once because your hand will get cramped. Finish them as soon as possible and you can just focus on the lecture material when you study for the exams
-Color code your notes so they're easy to go through on the exam. Especially for the midterm, since you can't spend too much time flipping through your notes, it's a lot easier when everything is easy to find. I highlighted key terms and used different colored pens for different readings, so it never took me too much time to find information when I took the exams. Having reliable notes for the exam is key because about 40-45% of the exam questions are on the readings, and one of the essays for each exam will be on the books you go over in discussion
-Start working on the essay as soon as possible. The topics are pretty broad, which means that you have a lot of room for your own ideas, but I'd recommend making the scope of your essay specific within whichever topic you choose. Don't worry so much about trying to answer as many questions as possible (you actually don't have to answer any of the questions he puts under the topic, they're just suggestions), focus more on making a thesis that's related to the topic and supporting your thesis with your body paragraphs. Length is 5-7 pages, but that's not a hard limit- you can go beyond that if you need to. ESPECIALLY MAKE SURE TO GO OVER YOUR PAPER WITH YOUR TA- your TA is the one who will grade it, so it's good to go over your ideas with them and follow up/ask for help with drafts because you'll know exactly what they're looking for and what you need to include or avoid in your writing. For me, going over my paper with my TA a few times was definitely how I got an A instead of a B on it
-Know the lists he gives you really well- one of the essays on each exam will be about one of the lists (he'll give you a scenario that you need to answer by addressing each thing on the list it's related to). The good thing is that he'll tell you in the question which list you're supposed to use in your answer, but just keep in mind that one of the essays on each exam will for sure be on one of the lists. Don't just memorize the lists though, make sure you know the details about each part of the list well- the ones he doesn't use for the essay can be used on the short answer (he might ask you to define or give an example of a specific concept that's part of one of the lists)
-There are a lot of lists for the midterm, and only a few for the final. For me, this actually made me feel like the final was harder, because the lists for the midterm meant that everything was pretty organized, whereas a lot of the information for the final feels more like separate facts that you have to organize under a particular topic. Just keep this in mind for the lectures after the midterm- my notes were a lot better for the midterm than for the final, which meant that studying for the midterm was easier even though the material was not as straightforward as the material for the final
-Use flashcards to study for the exams. I typed my notes onto an online flashcard website and studied that way- since memorization is key for these exams, flashcards are really effective

Don't fall behind on the readings, be sure to ask your TA and Suman for help whenever you need it and give yourself a few days to study for each exam and you should be fine. It's a manageable class as long as you stay on top of everything. Good luck! :)

Suman is a really fun engaging professor. Actually a really nice guy if you ever have a conversation with him. Some tips from a third year comm major:
- Easily the hardest Comm class I've ever taken.
- Take skilled notes he does not let you type notes.
- Everything he writes on the board is significant, don't miss a single one. (Record lectures on your phone!)
- The books are not related to lecture so master the book material on your own and ask your TA for clarification.
- MIDTERM AND FINAL ARE DEMANDING. MEMORIZE YOUR NOTES.
- You get a cheat sheet for online readings and books, mostly concept based.
- Lecture notes are used for specific short answer questions and an essay.

Overall Professor Suman demands excellence in remembering every aspect of the class. If you are trying to take this as an elective I urge you not too. If you are a comm major put on your hard hat and be ready to rock and roll, you learn a ton and even though I didn't get an A, I thoroughly enjoyed the material.

I absolutely loved this class and the way Suman taught. He was engaging, funny, relatable and made the 2 hours fly by. Suman is very understanding and allowed questions and does his best to provide an adequate response. There are a few books and several online articles to read (usually short) that you discuss in your sections. Sections are not mandatory but they do help with the exam because it covers key points of the readings. Your grade is composed of a midterm, final, and 5-7 page paper. The paper was actually enjoyable to write because it was about communication you observed in society. There are four prompts but you can get pretty creative with them. The class is a lot of memorization and you don’t want to miss a lecture because nothing is online but Suman does a great job of keeping things entertaining and makes sure you have a really good understanding of the content (Technology is not allowed so be prepared to write a lot). With regard to the midterm and final, it is about 36 short answers- ranging from one word to sentences- and 2-3 short essays. You are allowed 20 pages of cheat sheets over the reading material so you really only need to memorize the lecture content. Everyone says this class is hard, but if you keep up with the reading and attend lecture it is VERY doable.

Do not take class un less you have to. Tests are just memorizing as much as possibe. Allows notes during test but questions are still so unnecessarily specific. Montone speaker.
Selling You Just Dont Understand & Losing the News. $10 for both.
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I loved this class. Although it was challenging, it was very interesting and Professor Suman was extremely knowledgable and engaging. It wasn't hard to pay attention in class. I don't know why his reviews are so bad. Going into the class, I was expecting the worst. But if you pay attention and do the readings, you can do well and get a lot out of the class.

Overall manageable, but definitely a weeder class designed for students trying to get into the Communications major. I would say that you either like this class or you hate it. I enjoyed the material a lot, especially when it came to interpersonal communication and why people act certain ways in social settings.

The workload is heavy because of the amount of readings. Other than that, there is no homework to worry about other than a paper. It would benefit you to ask your TA what he/she expects from you on the paper as well as the tests. The professor purposely tells the TAs to grade the paper strictly, but if you go over your drafts with your TA, they will be more understanding and lenient. There is one midterm and one final. Both are very essay heavy. Be prepared to regurgitate a lot of information from pure memorization.

I ended with a B+ and I started studying around 2 days before both the midterm and the final. The class isn't too bad, and I ended getting accepted into the Comm major :)

Professor Suman has his head in the dark ages. He does not allow any electronics and won't even use slides for class. He posts grades on the wall outside the classroom, so nothing is collected in one space online, making it hard to keep track of your grade. His tests are also subjective rather than objective because even if you know the answers, you won't get points if you word it differently than he does. It was not a good class because I felt like I was memorizing in order to achieve a grade rather than learning content that could otherwise be very interesting. I don't recommend this class unless you have to take it.

This was a tough class to get an A in, but if you keep up with the readings and go to all of the lectures, it should be manageable. Suman doesn’t use powerpoint slides, nor does he let you have any electronic devices out during lecture. He lectures old school, by just explaining the material and writing key words that you must know on the board. Generally, anything he writes down on the board may possibly show up on the exams., but he goes at a reasonable pace, so its not too hard to keep up when writing notes.
He has two exams (a midterm and a final) and one essay. He gives you from the beginning of the quarter to work on the essay, so don’t procrastinate on it! His exams consist of short answers on both reading material and lecture material (keep in mind that he doesn’t go over reading material in lecture, that’s what discussion sections are for!).
Suman also allows you to take notes on the reading material so you can use them on exams, so it’s wise to start early on the notes and take them as you read. These really help during exams, so you can focus more on memorizing the lecture material. A lot of people said that getting an A in this class was hard, but studying beforehand, going to lectures, completing the readings, and not cramming should make it easier.

Professor Suman is a great lecturer and all around great teacher. The content of the class is very interesting. However, the structure of the class is TERRIBLE. *Unless you need this class for Comm Major etc. heed my warning, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! Here's Why: To start, you will have 1 midterm, 1 paper and 1 final. That's it, there is no cushion room to mess up.
PROS: There are no other HW assignments and attendance is no mandatory, there are 20 pages of handwritten notes allowed for exams of readings.
CONS: You may NOT include ANY lecture notes in your 20 pages. Notes are turned in at the time of exam. Your paper will be handed back on the day of the final so you have no way of knowing where you stand until you step out of the class for the last time. The paper is very critically graded, all grammar, format, punctuation and content is crucial. Exam questions will include obscure things you thought were not important and didn't bother to study. Important things you spent hours studying will NOT even be there. The exams will be one sided papers and you will have maybe 5 cm width lines to write your response thats right 5 CENTIMETERS! *Talk about a Hand cramp!
Speaking of notes, If you should choose to take on this heavy challenge, I have detailed notes typed and ready to share if you need them Msg me at (949)891-1536 Happy class searching!