I actually liked this course. However, your grade is based on your TA. I had Kristella and she was amazing. She ran her discussion sections with examples on how to do the assignments and she was very clear. Professor Clayman only assigned four assignments, recorded lectures, and at least gave a whole week to do the assignment. The professor was always open to questions and provided lots of example in his lectures. I liked both my TA and professor. If Professor Clayman ever reads this, your satire jokes were appreciated by me. Especially the one about how to get away from an invitation by saying "I will get back to you on that" made my morning.

I really like Professor Clayman and this class. I wouldn't say this class is easy- but what I will say is if you watch his lectures, read his slides, go to your discussion with your TA, there's no reason you can't easily pass this class. I didn't do any of the readings and I received an A+ on each assignment. He tells you everything that is needed to prepare for the assignments. This quarter there was 4 total, each worth 25% of your grade. Pay attention to details- if you don't mention one little thing on the assignments that you'd think would be common sense, you'll get a few points marked off. Honestly, take this class. It is one of the most effortless classes I have ever taken.

This is a fascinating class. You learn how to analyze interactions, particularly converations between people. Although conversations are an utterly ordinary aspect of our everyday life, there are "rules" that we subconsciously follow to carry out our interactions with other individuals. This class is different from CM125 in that the focus is strictly on ordinary, everyday conversations, whereas the latter focuses on the application of CA to studying how large-sclae social organizations operate. In this class, we analyze recordings and transcripts of real-time phone conversations between ordinary individuals about their ordinary lives in order to extract the "rules" described previously. Very practical class whose knowledge you can apply in your everyday life.

+ Professor Clayman is great! While it is not easy to extract and articulate concepts that are so ingrained in our life, he is an expert at what he does. He is very clear in communicating the materials during lectures, and he is a kind, pleasant, and understanding person. His lectures are informative and full of meaningful content. I have taken three classes - all conversation analysis - with him so far, and I strongly recommend this class. (I personally feel that you should take CM125 before you take 124A/B because the former will kindle your interest in CA by showing you its practical application in society before you decide whether or not you want to really delve into the logistics of conversations, which is what you do in the 124-series.)

There are no midterms/finals (at least when I took the course); just 5 written assignments in which you practice and apply what you learned for each major unit covered in class.

This class was strange, but not the worst. I stopped going to class part way through the quarter because I was bored, I don't think I would have gotten a better grade if I would've kept going. My TA was very helpful and I felt like she was a fairly lenient grader. Whole grade was 4 assignments each worth 25% I got an A- on two of them and a B+ on the other two so I ended up with a B+ in the class. A lot of people didn't do well on the assignments but if you read the lecture slides and stick to the format they want then I think you'll be fine.

This class was good. But unfortunately, the grading was very subjective and the TA was extremely unhelpful. Professor Clayman is a funny person and is very sweet. Lectures could be dry some days but I felt like I was learning conversation "hacks"

honestly the most pointless class I have ever taken. Only 5 assignments the entire year. All completely unrelated. Didn't go to class ended with a B plus. If I would have gone not sure this would have changed. Very subjective grading. Will not help you in the future at all. However, if you are trying to fill the requirement go ahead could be worse.

honestly the most pointless class I have ever taken. Only 5 assignments the entire year. All completely unrelated. Didn't go to class ended with a B plus. If I would have gone not sure this would have changed. Very subjective grading. Will not help you in the future at all. However, if you are trying to fill the requirement go ahead could be worse.

Professor Clayman is a good and organized lecturer. He goes through a lot of examples and explains everything so thoroughly you don't need to do the reading. The concepts are easy to pick up and Clayman makes things interesting. overall, good class and professor.

I took this class on Fall 2013.

***SELLING MY COURSE READER***
SOC 124A/244A- Conversational Structures

If you are interested,
Please email me: huangemily@live.cn

Conversational Structures was a relatively hard class. It was team taught with Professor Heritage. The professors were good and the lectures were not hard to follow, but the concept itself was sometimes tough to grasp. You don't really need to do the reading. I got a B+ without doing any of the readings, but I went to lecture and discussion every week and made sure to follow along.