This discovery seminar will start with a spatial history of surfboard design, tracing the origins in solid wood boards of ancient Hawaii through the design and materials innovations that gave rise to the modern surfboard, composed almost entirely of petrochemicals. After a brief review of surfboard hydrodynamics, the practice component will include design, shaping, and lamination with attention to materials, tools, and methods.
1
UnitsPass no pass
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeUpper division only
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeA huge amount of the test material is based on this one autobiography which I thought was weird but if you do that reading you should be fine. There's 3 midterms in this class which feels like a lot honestly for the amount of material actually covered. Sweeney is a cool guy and his lectures can be interesting. Overall the class wasn't bad at all.
I recommend this class if you're looking for an interesting GE. There is a good amount of reading and it's not as easy as you would think a surfing class is. But as long as you do the assignments and readings the tests are fairly easy. Professor Sweeney is really nice and you can tell he's very knowledgable when it comes to anything surf related.
Cool guy but the class is boring for the most part. Parts of the content are interesting but others feel like fillers and can get boring. Also, a good part of most of the tests are on a autobiography that seems unimportant and is kind of annoying and there's a lot of memorization required. Free points if you do the reading.
Prof Sweeney was such a reasonable and kind prof. He did assign a lot of papers that were somewhat difficult but he was always available to answer questions/help. I recommend this class if you need to a GE!
The class should just be called "Surfing" - actual geographical concepts only take up a few weeks and it feels like he had to add content on surfing history and wave science just to fill the rest of the quarter. Overall a pretty average lecturer but it's exactly what you'd expect from a surfer - very laid back and yet very knowledgeable.
Sweeney is my fav professor. Super cool surfer guy. 3 writing assignments at the start of the quarter. 2 midterms and a final. Content is super interesting but you def have to study. Honors section was the best part we just watched surf movies. If you can take this class, take it. He also rounded up my grade alot which I appreciate. Great dude. !!!