I really enjoyed this class and felt like it improved my understanding of global politics. The surveys were fun to take each week, there were only 2 online exams and 2 reflection papers which was great. The workload was easy and the only downside was the attendance and weekly discussion posts.

assigns a group project over thanksgiving! 2 exams 2 essays 1 group project weekly discussion posts due on Sundays Lot of information each day , very interesting but he is a little boring. he is funny though at times.slides are easy to take notes off of so going to class is not very neccsary.

Good class overall. Lectures had interesting content which was presented well. Professor used an online discussion forum which we had to subscribe to that was kind of expensive and got to be very tedious throughout the quarter. Course content felt easy enough to process, but the exams were kind of tough at times. Other assignments were easy enough.

Didn't like that we had to pay ~40$ just for a forum post site. BUT besides that he's a good prof. Funny guy. Understanding & accessible, listened to students and made exams online, not the easiest A I've gotten, but he is not a tough grader on the writing portions. Couple MC midterms, weekly posts, and a final + research paper & "group" project

Manageable workload- 2 essays (one is reflective), 3 mc tests, a group presentation, and weekly discussion posts. They aren't graded harshly if you follow directions. He also gives lots of interesting/funny anecdotes and TONS of book recommendations in class. He does cancel lectures every now and then, but overall I did learn a lot.

Kind of insane how disorganized this class was this quarter. Not once, but twice he failed to post the exam for us to take on schedule. He did not respond for at least 3 days when students emailed him to ask what was going on. This included the final btw. He seems like a very wholesome person but this class was frustrating. Pretty easy though!

I have never had such an unorganized professor. It seemed every week at least one class was canceled, insanely slow on grading (3 weeks before end of quarter and nothing was graded), exams not getting posted online the day they are scheduled, boring lectures. The class is easy, I mean we barely had class and I still did well but I learned nothing.

The class was interesting and the lectures were engaging but the work load was very dense. One of the most work heavy course in SOC we had three exams, three papers, and weekly forum posts. There is no breaks with this class there is always a lot of work coming up.

Professor Nielsen did a great job teaching this course. It was dense, with a lot of information, but he presented it well on lecture slides and readings. Tests were online and there were a few papers, but they were manageable. The only downside was attendance and the weekly discussion posts.

Professor Nielsen is such a nice guy and a great lecturer. If you follow the essay rubrics exactly you will get very good grades. He is very funny and will make you LOVE class

Professor Nielson is a pretty personable guy. Participation does matter, he took it through in class surveys through this website called PackBack. The essays were graded pretty easily but the exams would have some unfamiliar material. First two exam were not cumulative, final is cumulative. Good guy overall though.

This prof sucks. Cancelled class at least once a week. I attended 2 lectures, passed with a B+. He just goes over the slides and that's all you need to pass. I didn't learn anything. I took 126 AND 131 in the same qrtr. I got an A in 131, didn't go to a single class. Didn't even do the packback questions... and got an A. Dont ask me how.

He cancel classes for sure, and I think you don't have to go to the class to write the paper. I think he is very nice, knowledgable and easy grader. He care less about citations and styles which makes it easier to write papers. I think he replies email fairly quick. Overall it is easy and fun.

Professor Nielsen never answers emails, cancels in-person classes and doesn't post online lectures. I've never had a teacher with such bad teaching skills. You can only do well if you have a good TA. Criteria is always so unclear on every single assignment, so it made class hard. I would not recommend taking any class with him at all.

His class syllabus was incomplete and lacked vital information. He missed more classes than the students and didn't even bother doing a make up. He also jumped through lectures, and didn't upload slides. REALLY SLOPPY. Attendance fell to less than 30% and he should have taken it as an indicator to do something, but didn't.

I took this at Sonoma State, class was, classical social theories. Nielsen did a great job at making a boring topic interesting. He gave great insight during his power point lectures and is very easy to talk to. I highly going to his office hours if you are struggling because he is willing to explain it to you until you understand, also he is funny

He's a pretty tough professor. If you work hard and put in a lot of effort you will definitely get an A. In lecture he gives you a lot of information, but it comes in handy for writing the papers he assigns

Hes a nice guy but not a good professor. His lectures are boring and unorganized. 2 short papers and one research paper. I wouldnt recommend him or the class because its really boring & he didnt explain very well but i got a B+ so i guess i cant be too mad about it.

It's a pretty cool soc class. Good professor too.

Erik is a cool teacher. I also had him also as a TA for Soc 134EC and in both classes he was extremely helpful and knowledgable. Some people thought he was a bit quiet, but I thought he was funny and presented the material well. He is also very willing to help outside of class and makes time for students. Good class and a great teacher

The instructor was great, probably the best professor I had this year. UCSB definitely needs to hire him as a full time professor, if they don't it's their loss. Erik is a great lecturer, teacher, and mentor.

The course was pretty difficult, but Mr. Nielsen offered lots of office hours. He was great at being available and providing good feedback on essays. Urban Society has certainly been one of the best sociology courses taught on campus at UC Santa Barbara. I recommend that all Soc majors take a course from him before they graduate!

I have to say this was one of my favorite courses at UCSB. Mr. Nielsen made the course very intriguing. Even though the course was rigorous he is definitely fair on what he teaches you, there are no surprises when it comes to his essay exams. This instructor did an excellent job at demonstrating the practicality of the information presented.

One the best instructors at UCSB. The course is demanding, but he presents lots of valuable information. He does an excellent job at preparing students for essay exams. He is an inspirational teacher, who is truly passionate about the subject. Everyone should take one of his courses even if they aren't soc majors!