Juan Santamarina - University of Dayton, Dayton, OH

Professor: Juan Santamarina

Department: History

College: University of Dayton, Dayton, OH

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HST375
• Grade Received: INC
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Santamarina made US foreign policy fun and interesting for a non-history major. His class lectures can be a little boring, but he does a great job of relating the reading material and primary documents to 4 class themes, which you are introduced to in the first class. Pay attention in class and not much work outside of class. 2 8-page papers.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HST299
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Santamarina is the best! He's does his best to make the class content enjoyable, shares his own real life experiences during lecture - which are all wonderful stories. He gives good feedback on work, makes time for students who need help with assignments/projects, and just generally encouraging. Highly recommend taking a course w/ Juan!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HST375
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

One of the best professors I've had at UD! He's great. Yes, he does lecture most of class, but is super interesting, very knowledgeable and passionate about history, and makes his class so much fun! I would recommend him to anyone!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: 375
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very easy to follow during lectures, but mostly all classes consist of lectures. Occasional movies and not a lot of homework. 2 Tests consist of a mid-term and final with a take home essay for 40% of your grade for both. 10 page research paper that isn't to hard, just long. Overall, I enjoyed the class and Dr. Santamarina for my history elective.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HST383
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's a nice guy and a smart professor, but his teaching style could use some updating. The class (History of the Caribbean) was very disorganized and difficult to follow. His tests included a lot of material he didn't emphasize in class or on the review packet, but his grading was easy. Two finals and a major paper - attendance unnecessary. Boring.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HST383
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I had a difficult time trying to figure out what he was trying to get across. He breaks off in the middle of his sentences to say other things (I think to be sure he's factual and to cite his sources), but it makes his point very hard to follow. He was willing to talk to me about my grade and helped me out in the end. Very fair.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HST101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Juan is a nice dude. I did not think his class was bad at all. The only problem is that he was SUPER boring, and he says AMURICA. He wasn't a difficult grader, and I liked the fact that he gave us everything that would be on the tests. I would not recommend him but don't freak out if you have him, he's not that bad.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The class was horrible! When I met with him to talk about the term paper, he was degrading and unfriendly. He was hard to meet with because he did not hold office hours. Weekly quizzes were annoying and would take weeks to get graded and returned. Discussions were useless. He was unprofessional. Weird class format. Stay away if possible!!!!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I took this class with two other professors, some experiment. Really stupid idea, made the class a lot harder than necessary. Quiz once a week on the reading, which was hard to understand. Stay away if possible.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HST382
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Avoid, unless you are already really interested and good at history.... He is a VERY busy guy and just simply does not have time for his students. He really shows his bad side in the last few classes (after his evals are turned in), so beware! He also made weird insinuations that we should give him positive scores b/c it helps in "Salary Reviews"

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HST382
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I had a JUANderful time in his class. Very knowledgeable and keeps the material interesting.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is a pretty interesting teacher... most students are on the laptop the entire class, just take the few notes he puts on powepoints, and the tests are not bad at all... 7 pg research paper at the end of the semester, pretty easy grader

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HST382
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

His class is a bore, but there are a lot of videos and movies, and he's very passionate on the material. He posts test reviews with the essay questions, and if you know something about each thing on the review and prep the essays, the test will be easy. I recommend him.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HST265
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This professor was amazing!! So smart!! Let the class go on learning tangents even if it wasn't the material we were supposed to cover. I learned so much in this class!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: HST101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is one of the worst profs at the University. This class was a complete waste of time and money. His lectures are boring and the movies he shows are completely worthless. He makes the dumbest things worth ridiculous amounts of points and he makes no sense.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This guy is ridiculous! AVOID!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I was in his honors west & the world..it was pretty challenging, a lot of work out of class..& his tests are pretty picky. but he's nice & willing to help!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: WESTERNCIV
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He was interesting, and made history as interesting as it could be, but I am an engineer and typically hate history.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I hated history going into this class but Dr. Santamarina made it really fun and interesting. While he sometimes goes on and on he knows what he is talking about and tries his hardest to make it as interesting as he can. As long as you do the readings and study for his tests it is an easy A. He grades very easy and fair just make sure you study.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HST103
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He mumbles a LOT and reminds me of Milton from Office Space. He was never very clear with his expectations and although I would go in for help he was not there during office hours. I ended up with a B and was very disappointed because it was my lowest grade of the semester. His lectures are boring, and his tests aren’t clear. I wouldn’t recommend.