I find his lectures funny and he is able to keep students' attentions with his quirks and jokes. I think it's good for a GE class. Some may find that he does dumb downt he material but it's a GE.

Best professor I've had thus far. Good at giving another view of history, one that is by and large ignored by most others. Truth is, he knows his stuff and his point on the Renaissance, while biased, uncovers the truth behind what really happened.

IF YOU ARE NOT GOOD AT GRAMMAR OR WRITTING ESSAYS ON PRIMARY DOCS YOU WILL FAIL. He will not help ou either good lk

As a history major, I really disliked him as a person. He tries WAY..,and I mean WAY too hard to be "cool" and funny. He also dumbs things down a lot and doesn't really teach you useful skill in historical analysis. But he's easy, and there's ONLY a super cheap reader (no textbooks at all). So it's good if it is for a GE.

Sonino Is AWESOME!! Definitely take this class. He is hilarious! But, I learned a lot in this class. I like the way his class is set up and I liked his lectures. Very entertaining and informative class.

his lectures are organized but boring. he is an ok speaker but he says umm after every other word which is very annoying. he spits when he talks too, so stay away from the front row. I despised his views on the renaissance as well, and felt he was pretty biased. an ok class that is a good GE class. very fair test grading which is nice

Very interesting, helpful and funny as hell!

Make sure you study and study hard. I pulled a C on the first exam by just studying. On the final I pulled a 97% but studied 64 hours on finals week just for this class. Tough class but definitely fair.

Hilarious guy...made otherwise boring material very entertaining. The class isnt the easiest, theres lots of stuff you have to learn, but he's the first history professor at this school that kept me awake.

I love this professor. He's funny, witty and makes Louis XIV seem really interesting...who woulda thought. Oh, I'm not just saying that because he gave me an A+ in one of his classes.

He was a great lecturer it was his tests that killed! He thought you should have got it the first time no explaining it a second time

Prob the best lower Div hist prof I had. He is so funny, and makes it easy and fun to learn!

Good lecturer, very clear. However, his honors section was a ****. Tinge of sexism (I'm f), didn't want to go over things he thought were clear enough in lecture. Unless you're a hst. major (like I was), take it with a TA and you'll be fine.

I loved his lecture notes in the reader, it was very helpful. But you should still go to lecture because it makes more sense after he explains it. Also, make sure you study for the tests!! He has a good sense of humor, but his lectures still got a bit boring.

He was halarious, I listend to him and thought "this is me in 200 years." He actually brought a pike into class! I got a C- on his midterm and I am an A/B student so that worried me, but even that couldn't keep me from liking this guy and learning somethings about history along the way. History majors are all a bit nuts anyway to study dead guys.

I think it's pretty clear from the other comments - he's a good teacher if you're not that into history and want GE credit, but if you like history and you genuinely want to learn about this time period it's best to take another teacher for this class! Funny guy, but I didn't learn anything and the 150 wd papers were annoying.

Im the farthest person from being a history major; i dreaded taking class, but he made it interesting and got to point. he told history how it is not how someone analyzed it to be. dont have to write long essay just 150 words each week- super easy.

He was funny and made jokes a lot. If you don't like to write then take his class. No papers, just 8 little 150 word papers throughout quarter. All lecture notes are in reader. Not that much reading expect for the 2 books we had to read but midterm and final was all essay format. That might get you.

I don't get the high ratings either. As a history major, I thought he was terrible. He isn't passionate about history, and his jokes are SO lame...he tries really hard. Things are still unclear. You might like him if you aren't a history person because he's easy though.

alright, despite the high ratings...its ridiculous how much i dreaded this class. As a history major I had never slept in a history class until him. the lectures are dry and stoopid and he brushes over everything. not impressed at all with his lectures and i learned almost nothing but his opinion.

I went into this class dreading that I had to take a history class BUT Sonnino started the first lecture with a histerical story of how he became a history professor and how he hates history... the rest of the class was just as amusing, I loved this class and the work load was very reasonable.

really funny. intersting comments when the mike was left on accidentally. haha

I love his man - regardless of what people say and what he has said to me. He dicks you around and makes you feel like****, BUT he does it because he really wants you to learn. Once he gets to know you, he is more willing to open his heart and be much nicer to you. NO PASSIVE SENTENCES!!!!

Lectures are great, he always makes jokes and keeps you interested; reading isnt very hard