I love prof Sweeney! there are 2-3 midterms and a final, but ours was not cumulative. Tests are 87% of our grades so you really have to study. The stuff you learn about it super fun and interesting even if you don't surf! he also rounded my grade a lot which was really helpful. lectures and sections were not mandatory. highly recommend as a GE!

Super nice professor who clearly wants his students to succeed! Passionate about surfing and shares his own anecdotes/loves hearing student's stories. Plenty of extra credit opportunities and lectures are pretty interesting...would definitely recommend!

Get the books on time and use a planner for the reading and papers

Awesome class, had the most interesting content out of all of the courses I've taken so far. Highly recommend for surfers, as it covers super engaging topics throughout the entire duration of the class. Some of the assignments were a bit much, but they're only worth a small fraction of your grade. Graded mainly on exams, lowest score is dropped.

Great Prof!

Professor Sweeney is most likely the kindest man on campus. I don't know why other student call his lectures "boring." Other than being monotone, his lectures are most often interesting and applicable. You can tell he really cares about his students and I highly recommend this class if you want an easy A and some life lessons. :)

He is the best and the most generous professor I met ever since I got in UCSB! He will post all the lecture materials online for us to review. He has study guides for all tests! Sweeney does not have a harsh grading system. he is so kind that he won't let you fail easily. i will definitely take his class again!

Easy GE. Interesting even if you don't know anything about surfing, moreso if you do. Lecture can get boring, but the easy multiple choice tests make up for it. Has interesting speakers come in sometimes, so that's pretty cool. Didn't really need to read the book, but showing up to class was really enough.

Sweeney is super nice! Go to lecture and you should do well. Had him for the honors section and he's very caring

I had Prof Sweeney for Geography of Surfing and it was the most boring class I had ever taken in my entire life. If there wasn't an iClicker for this course I probably would've never went to class and even when I did, I found myself falling asleep every time. His monotone voice kills me! Luckily this was P/NP for me so it wasn't too bad. Good luck.

Attendance is mandatory, but overall exams are pretty easy. Didn't read at all and managed to do pretty well and there is no final :)

His lectures are sometimes boring but overall his class was very easy. He is approachable after class and he is very passionate about the subject. I definitely would recommend taking this class

Lectures get a bit boring at times, but he is a cool dude. The class is in no way hard, and he does his best to teach it to where everyone understands.

Sweeney is awesome. Literally the best professor I've had. If you're a surfer or interested in learning about surf culture, waves, etc, this is going to be the class for you. He shows surfing videos(Kelly Slater, himself, etc) and really is passionate about what he teaches. If you need to knock out a G.E., I'd definitely recommend this class.

Geography of surfing is a class you should take if you want a somewhat easy A and are genuinely interested in the origins of surfingscience behind wave formationsurf culture. The class goes in depth into the history of Polynesia (it is a geography class after all) so it gets a bit boring. Sweeney isn't a great lecturer. Can be boring, but chill.

Monotone and boring . Mainly surfers understand the material. You don't learn how to surf, more about culture, history, and industry than geography. I don't recommend taking it, but if you must then make sure to go to all sections because they're more helpful than lecture.

Interesting class if you surf. Kind boring if you don't. Don't slack off the test are kind of difficult.

This class ultimately isn't that bad. He is super repetitive with things and mumbles a good amount, but the material itself actually is interesting. If you find it interesting beforehand and just study on your own, youll do fine. Sometimes class can be confusing because he assumes there is a majority of surfers in the class, and theres not.

Take my advice, you DO NOT want to take this class. However if you do take it pass/ no pass, it's easy to pass the class but not easy to get an A. Don't bother going to lecture unless you want to be lulled to sleep by Sweeney's monotone voice. He posts lecture notes online and there is no iclicker. Oh a bonus is that there's no final!

I thought this class was really interesting.He has alot of energy for this subject, and he is a nice guy in and out of class. i took it pass/ no pass (that was a mistake) i would have gotten a B+ and i did not do much work and skipped the project.Nice guy, approachable, and attendance not mandatory.Lectures online

Class isn't hard, just do the study guides and study the day prior to the midterm or final. OPTIONAL Assignments (during Winter 2013) are not difficult, mainly just time consuming. Seems like a nice guy. Wasn't interested in subject before taking class and very rarely showed up to class and got an A.

No need to get the reader, it is a waste of money and only a few questions from the tests are actually from the reading. Tests are fair, just study the slides and do the study guide, btw a good TA really helps. Even though tests are not hard, the assignments are annoying and time consuming.

Horrible class! After reading the reviews I thought I'd give him a chance...huge mistake! So boring, and the tests are pretty difficult. Don't waste your time, take a real class, that is actually interesting, that people will take seriously

This class is really boring because Sweendawg is so monotone all the time. The material is kind of interesting if you invest yourself in it. Easy to get a B, but it's hard to get an A. The 2 midterms were not representative of what we learned, but the final was super easy. This class is only 1/3 geography. the rest is culture and industry.