Duchowny, Laurie  

Horrible professor. I could barely sit through one lecture without getting offended. If you do not agree with her opinions which she makes known loud and clear then don't raise your hand because she will not call on you. Duchowny is very unprofessional and makes Cal Poly look bad.

Yeah...this is by far the worst professor I've had in many years. No no, check that...she's the worst professor I've ever had. The woman's voice grates on nerves and she airs out personal laundry in class (which is HIGHLY unprofessional in my opinion). I consider her to be incompetent, unprofessional and unqualified to teach at any institution other than the men's colony. But hell, if you want a class you can pass easily, here's your ticket. The tests are straightforward and simple. Bottom line, she should not be teaching anyone over the age of 12. Best of luck, comrades.

Before taking the course i decided to read POlY REVIEWS to see what this teacher was like. It seemed like the majority hated her and that she was a bad teacher. Unfortunately, i had to take her anyways because she was the only teacher teaching SOC 106. She isn't that bad. I mean i didn't like her as a person.....but i would take the class still because it was fairly easy. Her tests are exactly from the lectures. If you want an easy class then take this course! She may be late to class all the time....but who cares....it just meant that i could come later too.

Dr. Duchowny is a real piece of work. She is living proof that they pass out Ph.D.s behind 7-11. Her class is easy but God forbid you have a disagreement with one of her views cause she will say "this is what is right". She gets very defensive and has a very hard time composing herself in front of the class. We watched 2 movies in her class; The Addam's family and Birdcage both of which taught me more about Sociology than she can. ANyway, if you have your own opinion at all, either don't take her or don't speak up in class. Oh by the way, only white people are racist and only males are sexist. Have fun with this lady.

One day there is one evaluation then the next there are five with no comments written underneath them. it sounds to me like this proffessor put a few 4.0s for herself.

This class requires little work. Go to lecture and review the outlines the night before and you're set. The movies are appropiate yet entertaining. If you can handle having opinions forced on you and repetive discussions where the class simply repeats themselves over and over, take Duchowny

You people need to give this woman a break. Dr. Duchowny, while a young professor and new to the school, nonetheless has a Ph.D and that says more than all of us who have only the priviledge of giving an opinion and walking away with an easy A. don't bitch unless she is too hard and doesn't readily dish out the A's with minimal work done to earn it. She's a pretty nice person and if I had to deal with all your attitudes, i wouldn't hesitate to put any of you in your place too. I took the class as a GE and I'd take her again if it meant another A. that's what GE's should be.. a learning tool to make a nice little cushion for your GPA.

I highly reccomend taking it with prof duchowny. She gives outlines that follow the test material perfectly which is great for studying and saving time. Also, I looked forward to this class even though it was 2 hours long. You learn a lot about yourself and the world around you. Any of the complaints on here are probably from freshman, because there were a lot in my class, and they don't really know what it means to have a crapy prof yet, boy are they in for a suprise, also I have 2 friends with different profs and they HATED their courses,and got low grades. Trust me~ this class is cool.

A good professor teaching a boring curriculum. Her interactive lecture style encourages everyone to participate, but does not penalize those who wish to just listen. A lot of interesting debates arose in the class, but the material itself is dead boring, and painfully simple. A very easy 'A'.

Dr. Duchowny's class is very straight forward and the concepts are easy to understand. She did an effective job of communicating to the class the material that would be on the tests. Grading is very objective. I should know, I e-mailed her about my grade and she e-mailed me back telling me I had gotten an "A" but that I had been rude to her and my fellow classmates. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for voicing my opinion. I thought that's what Sociology was about?

Duchowny was pretty cool, and we even got to watch the addams family in class. She is kind of mean to people when they speak up though. I know whenever I decided to talk, which was not very often, she had a way of making me feel like I didn't know what I was talking about. That is my only complaint though. She is very smart and her lectures are interesting and she lets you know exactly what to expect on the tests. I would recommend taking her for this class.

I am not basing my evaluation of Duchowny upon a poor grade, as I hold an A in the course. However, she is almost incapable of teaching. She reads directly from her notes taken from the text, and spends more time harshly criticizing students for feedback. I am apalled with her inability to conduct positive critique. I recommend this teacher for the mere fact that it is enjoyable to try to contest her knowledge while she attempts to bellitle your opinion (even when based upon facts).

Her class was very easy and interesting. Our class had about 120 students and she wouldnt lecture until it was silent and would constantly stop class if anyone was talking. If you came to class and took notes on the lectures you will do fine on the tests. She will tell you what material you will need to know for the test. Oh one other thing shes pretty defensive so if you voice your own opinion watch out.

This professor did a good a job of presenting the course material. She did a good job running an interesting class. Her three tests are very easy and based on the lecture and reading. If you take decent notes and read, you'll do fine in the class. The only downfall with this professor was that she could not take someone else's opinion on the subject. She highly takes offense to what other people have to say, which is why I never raised my hand in the class. She has a tendency to make you look like an idiot if you have anything to say. Overall, I recommend this professor.

Duchowny is the worst professor I have ever had. For one thing, her lectures are word for word out of the text book. She is also very unapproachable, repetative, avoids answering students questions, wastes class time talking about her divorce, and inappropriately ridicules responses made in class. She is really big on class participation, but fails to realize that the discussion she's trying to hold is not only boring but completly unrelated to the material. The only good thing about this class is that the tests were really easy. Most of the questions come from her lecture (which are straight out of the book). But be careful, she likes to make up her own correct answers that are contrary to what the text says. She is convinced that everything she says is absolute truth. For entertainment some of the other students in my class would disagree with her, just to send her off on a tangent to waste time. Good luck!

This class is relatively easy, so much so that i convinced myself i didnt need to go to class. Thats why my grade is so low and i take full responsiblity for it. Duchowny is decent teacher and knows her subject, but she has some interesting opinions and does not attempt to hide them. In this class I learned that as a straight, white male, I am the root of all evil and the caues of all racism, sexism, homophobia and such. She is the type of liberal that creates reactionary conservatives by having no support for ridiculous arguments. Other than that shes pretty nice.

All GE class should be like this one: you go to class, you take good notes, and you do well on the tests! There were three tests and a final! Make sure to look over the assigned reading right before the tests. Sometimes she asks questions about topics that she doesn't cover in class! The class is sometimes boring, and other days exciting! And she always gave us break, which made the two hour block seem less exhausting!

I don't think her voice is bitchy. I like to think of it as erotic. She's definetly not your typical professor but who really cares? I thought she was nice and her stories about her X-husband were just that. Big deal. Nobody's perfect, and I think she does a good job of getting that point across. Remember, she's new to this. It's going to take a while for her to get a groove on. But for the most part her class was very useful and not difficult to pass at all.

Well.. if you're looking for an easy A, here's your ticket. I took this class as a freshman and the most I ever missed on her tests was one point. I finished the class off with a 102% after extra credit. I'm not trying to brag.. just to make a point. She's boring as heck but all I did was take good notes.. and do what you have to to make them organized. I typed up all my class notes. (that's the only class I've ever done that but it payed off.) Then I read the assigned reading the night before and looked over a couple of details in the reading the day of the tests and pretty much memorized my notes and I was fine. God forbid you pronounce her last name Du-kov-ney, she hates that. Take this class if you want a good grade, but not if you're looking for stimulation.

I actually took the class with professor Duchowny almost 2 years ago, but after reading some of the negative reviews by other students here, I felt I should add my own evaluation. Professor Duchowny has a lot of opinions with which I strongly disagree, and I found myself speaking up and debating with her practically every other class meeting. However, not once did I see evidence that she graded anyone unfairly because of that. There were times when people got upset because she would simply refuse to hear any more discussion on a topic, but it was only because she needed to make sure she moved on with the rest of the material for that day so as not to fall behind. This seemed perfectly reasonable to me, because there are always students in every class that love to hear their own voices and will talk all day if you let them. The workload was fair and reasonable and the tests were pretty straightforward if you did the required reading. When I handed in the final, I was wondering if my outspoken participation would have an affect on my grade in the class. To the contrary, professor Duchowny stopped me on my way out and told me that she appreciated my level participation and felt that I had showed a good understanding of the material, regardless of whether or not I agreed with her. You certainly can't say that about a lot of professors, and I respect her for that.

Wow. Excessively liberal (which she admits to), unorganized, usually late, and very unprofessional in most aspects. The class she gives is easy, but I found myself getting angry with the sweeping oversimplifications she presents. I don't have a problem with the liberal perspective, as long as you consider all sides (there's usually more than 2)of an issue. I'm not nearly conservative in my political stereotype, but I felt very conservative in that class. Wish to never take another class with her again if possible during my stay here.

She was very disorganized and biased. The content of the course was interesting though.

Fuck this guy. Id like to stick my tounge up his ass.

Duchowny is a new teacher at Cal Poly, and man, it shows. Her lectures are vague and rambling, we kind of just talk about how we feel. She gives elusive answers to questions, like "I'm not saying that, and I'm not not saying that" or "can anybody else answer that question?". Worst of all, in a class that is supposed to be about tolerance, she has taken the opportunity to go off on several students. Her tests are all out of wack on what she lectures on, just read the books. I stuck it out because I had to, but don't take her class if you can help it.

A truly nice lady, but if you have a differing opion in class, its not just a differing opinion, its seen as a personal attack against her. She is insecure in front of class, and it shows. If your one not to speak up you will like this class because she will butt heads with students who are strong enough to voice thier own opinions, and it can get pretty entertaining.

This professor expects you to participate in class discussion and then makes you feel like what you are saying is wrong or dumb. She argued with many students for differing opinions and never seemed to answer a question, rather she would work around the question and then move on with the discussion. I tried to participate in class discussion and did not feel comfortable so remained queit and was marked down for not participating enough. She gets offended very easily and becomes defensive when you have no intentions of offending her in any way. She seems to have a lot of personal issues and discusses some of her problems in class. I would not recommend her to anyone.

This lady is a horrible. The class is easy and very boring. Bring ear plugs to class to you dont have to hear her bitchy voice.

DO NOT TAKE A CLASS FROM THIS WOMEN UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO SUCK IT UP AND JUST GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS! YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR OWN OPINION IN THIS CLASS AND PASS! The homework load is not bad, there is a lot of reading but she goes through most of them word for word in class, unless she doesn't agree with the writer, then she will talk for the entire class time (2 hours in my case) about how the Author is wrong. She whines constantly and will not get your work back to you quickly. I turned in 2 out of 5 papers before I got the first one back. She constantly complains about how much is going on in her life, and that she really doesn't have time to grade, yet she will not allow the students to slip up at all. She will talk on her cell phone mid lecture about personal things and then completely lose her place. She never fully explains anything, just talks around the real issues. She is the most unprofessional looking and acting teacher I have ever seen at Poly or any school for that matter. She complains daily about poor pay and sexist attitudes at Poly, and she will most likely get tenure! Most importantly she was teaching a class about ethnic diversity, and she makes many many racist comments. I could go on and on! Whatever you do NOT TAKE A CLASS FROM THIS CRAZY WOMEN!!!! Group inclass quizes were cool, but her tests all essay, anf they are really long essays that could easily take more then the hour and forty minutes she allowed!

I feel like I should stick up for Duchowny. The people in the last few posts need to lighten up, she is not nearly as bad as they make her out to be. I actually didn't mind this class at all. The exams are essay but, all you have to do is regurgitate the exact info she talked about in class and you'll do fine. As for the response papers, I wrote 3 complete pieces of crap and she still gave me good grades. A damn mental midget could've passed this class. I found Duchowny to be neither bitchy nor intensely opinionated. Yeah, she did look kinda haggard at times, but who the hell cares what your professors look like. More then half of the students in my classes look like shit everyday. Don't immediately write Duchowny off as a horrid professor just cause of those negative posts, she's not that bad. And to all those people who ripped on her and still got an "A's" in her class, why can't you just shut-up, take your grade, and stop trying to be such over-achieving super students. God you people are annoying.

People need to stop ripping Duchowny. I read all the critics before I tooke the class and was a little weary at first, but she was one of the most understanding teachers I have had at Poly. I had to leave in the middle of the quarter for a week for athletics and she was very understanding. It wasn't NCAA and she still was more than willing to allow me to make up the work I missed. Her lectures reiterated what is in the book, that's the point of the class, to learn the different perspectives of published scholars. The tests required more than a little studying, but what upper division class doesn't. The papers help you learn and aren't difficult. I would recommend her to anyone moderately interested in putting in a little work for a good grade

It's hard for me to believe that Professor Duchowny is rated so poorly here. I had such a good time in SOC 316 that I'm taking another class with her. Her lectures are straightforward and cover a lot of the material in the readings, which she expects you to keep up on and to discuss in class. I've never heard her get defensive about something anyone has said in class. She's a sincerely nice woman in and out of class and is very accomodating as a professor. We had group quizzes, which were not only easy but fun also. There were two big essay midterms that took the full two hours to write, but were not that hard if you've done the reading and studied. For the final we had a group quiz and a multi-ethnic potluck lunch (how cool is that?!). Also, we had to do three or four response papers, but those were not difficult. In summary, there is a considerable amount of work to do in this class--but nothing inappropriate for a 300-level course. I highly recommend this class and Professor Duchowny.

I'm sorry, but the students who rated Duchowny badly are just plain ignorant. Yes, it is true that this course can be controversial, but it is American Ethnic Minorities, and the fact is that ethnic minorities in US history have had and still do face racism and discrimination. Maybe the reason why some students find this subject to be so offensive is because they don

Professor Duchowny is probably one of the hardest professors to evaluate at Cal Poly. The moment she opened her mouth on the first day of class I immedately thought "There is no way I am going to make it through an entire quarter with this woman!". A list of good points and bad points is the only way I can easily evaluate her. Good points: she throughly discusses the readings that will be on the exam, group quizzes, end of the quarter "ethnic food pot luck", promotes controversial discussion which makes class interesting, and she really is a very nice person. Bad points: she is late to class almost everyday but she gets upset when the students are late, she can be a little bit flaky while giving the lectures making it difficult to follow her and take good notes, the dates listed on the syllabus are basically useless, overall she is a bit disorganized. *** To do well in this class you have to go to class!!!!! *** The main benefit of taking this class is that it really opens your eyes to minority issues that still exist in the United States. The only people in my class that were ever offended by Duchowny were the privleged white males that have never been oppressed in their lives.

I think that people are too hard on Laurie. I have had three classes with her and the first one I had my doubts but the more classes I took the more I warmed up to her. Sure she is usually a little disorganized and it usually takes her a while to get tests back but other then that I have found all of her classes interesting. She is big on discussion in class so there is a lot of student interaction. She covers all material well and if she doesn't get to something she doesn't hold you responsible for it on the tests. Shes the kind of professor you only have to have once before she knows your name for the next time she has you in a class. So guys before you're to hard on this lady give her a second chance cause she is fair and she is a good professor.

Duchowny is a hard teacher to evaluate. so hard that i didnt fill out the end of quarter evaluation for the first time with a teacher because i felt that my personal bias against her was too strong to fairly evaluate her as an instructor. for a variety of reasons she rubbed me the wrong way although she was not the worst teacher ive ever had. she is very disorganized and has a tough time staying on topic. however, she does know the subject very well and the course was interesting. no point in trying to do all the reading she assigns as most of it gets taken off the exam. in fact the whole syllabus schedule was really worthless. just pay attention to the stuff she quizzes on (all done in group discussion format) and the actual readings she says will be on the test. the extra activities and writing assignments are really easy (one or two pages. Also, the potluck and the prison trip were worth taking the whole course for. definately a easy A but you will have to put up with a less than ideal professor.

If you do the reading, and pay attention, you'll do well. However, if you want a teacher who will challange you, and who will be interesting and thought provoking, she is not it. She strikes many students as angry and annoyed with students in general. She does not create an environment in which people want to interact, learn, or even exist.

Being a Social Sciences major I have had to take several courses from Dr. Duchowny and teaching Social Data Collection and Analysis is definately not her speciality. She was late to class every single day, her lectures were completely disorganized and made a boring subject even more difficult to learn. She is completely unprofessional and is unable to effectively teach the material since she honestly does not seem to know what she is talking about. Don't bother to ask her any questions regarding the material because she does not know enough to answer your questions. If you have to take this class you are better off just reading the book and attending the lab but don't even bother with going to the lectures -- they are completely useless and a waste of your time. Good Luck!!!!

So as you can see I didn't do a great job in this class. I'm not going to be on this high horse too long, but this is the second C in my 3 years here at Cal Poly, so there are some things to be said about this course. Dr. Duchowny is a brilliant sociologist, no doubt. I'm sure her other classes run a bit more smoothly, but Social Data Collection and Analysis is a class she can not teach. She was late everyday (including the midterm and the final) she gave very little opportunity for students to show their comprehension of the material and the labs were seldom based in the software we were apparently aiming to show mastery of. For a class which purports to teach students how to collect and analyse data, we came away with, if anything, a more shakey idea of statistics than ever, and a foggy idea of how to run the computer software. Labs were cancelled on several ocassions due to the professors personal life, and never were designed to make full use of the lab time. Overall, Duchowny is unprofessional, is unable to answer student questions, comes unprepared to lecture and really just lacks the ability to educate others. If there is another professor offering this course, do yourself a favor and take this class with them, save yourself the headache and frustration.

Worst teacher I have had in my 5 yrs of college!!!!! Enough Said...

This lady should not be teaching this class. She teaches criminal justice but she is still afraid when a cop drives by..what a dumb ass!!..I learned more about her trying to find a house in SLO then I did about CJ..All she freaking talks about is housing, her son, and her Ex-husband...But I can see why they had a breakup...I were married to this chick...I would make her a widow...her voice is horrible and she looks depressed all the time. She doesn't know what she is talking about and she just reads off her notes the entire time...the tests were easy and the class was horrible to be in ..we did stupid activities that did not help anyone understand what was going on in Law Enforcement..and she complained about how much professors get paid at CP...she said they only make like 50,000 a year and how bad that was....but THEY ONLY TEACH 12 units...I am sorry but that isn't shit..I work 40 hrs a week and I take 16 units...overall she was a bad teacher and I would never take her again for anything..I think she is overpaid and she needs to quit..I am soory I took this class....I would not take her if I were you...

Dr.Duchowny is a very good professor. Without extensive professor experience (this being her first year as a professor) she performed, in my eyes, very well. She is clearly knowledgable with her subject she is teaching, and relates topics to everyday ideas and thoughts. She refers back to her own previous research which gives her plenty of credibility to her name. People complain about her, but I think she is a great professor and will enjoy taking her again!

She completley sucks ass. Your opionions dont matter and she fails to see your point of view. Dont ever take but you will probably have to because she is the only teacher offered. If you are looking foreward to your CJ class dont because she is absoltly terrible, you dont learn anything!!

This is the absolute worse professor I have had at Cal Poly. Complete diaster in my book. The material itself is easy to understand but if you disagree with her opinon your are screwed. This is a Criminal Justice class and most students taking the class are going into some feild of law. But as far as she in concern law enforcement is completely racial, biased and corrupt. The stats she uses are scewed and enforces what she believes are the truths about criminal justice system. It is an easy grade but a hard class to stomach and leave feeling good about the class, and what you have learned. If this is the future of professors at Cal Poly beware.