Ronald Spector - George Washington University

Professor: Ronald Spector

Department: TBD

College: George Washington University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HIST3035
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This is by far the worst class I've taken at GW. Spector is incredibly boring, and his lectures are very disorganized, making them extremely hard to follow. He uses YouTube videos to teach the class, pulls exam questions directly from the videos and doesn't provide you info to watch them on your own. Theres no analysis, just basic fact memorization

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HIST3035
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Spector's class is an easy class to take. Go to class, listen to the lectures, and write the essays, and you will do well. The MC part of his tests are specific, but he curves. Essays are pretty general and grading is easy. You really don't have to put too much effort in to get and A. Spector is also a great guy!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HIST6032
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Expectations unclear from syllabus. Only 25% of reading covered in class. Professor refused to answer questions on basic takeaways from dense reading. Test questions included Wikipedia-level trivia; made reading 300+ dense pgs. irrelevant. Condescending towards non-history majors; expects students to retain AP high school and military background

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HIST3035
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Definitely one of the easier classes to take at GW. The three non-cumulative tests during the semester (no final) and the two writing assignments were all pretty low-effort. If you can get past his incredibly dry speaking style and take good notes during class, expect to have this class bump up your GPA without doing much else.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HIST3035
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

3 non-cumulative tests, a short book review, and two interviews of people who turned 18 during the Vietnam years. Spector knows everything there is to know about Vietnam but can be a dry lecturer, + his expectations are sometimes vague. Attendance not mandatory but if you take good lecture notes you won't need to do much reading.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HIST2340W
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Just 3 papers and a final. Lots of reading but it's not totally necessary if you go to lecture. He is pretty boring and his voice certainly doesn't help but he has some dry humor here and there that spice up the lecture. Occasional YouTube videos also give a break from writing notes.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HIST2340W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Spector goes into a lot of details during lecture, and there are a lot of notes and moderate readings for each class. There were three papers and no exams except for the final that was 40%. Overall, great class if you want to learn and if you need it for your major.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HIST2340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took this class as a WID and it was absolutely fine. The quizzes can be a bit tricky but from what I remember there are 7 questions and getting 5 of them gets you full credit. If you're a good writer I would take the WID version and fulfill your IA major requirement that way. Spector's jokes were also those kind that are so bad that they're funny

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HIST3001
• 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:

i took ww2 in east asia with him, and he's legit the worst professor i've ever had. he drones on like ben stein in ferris bueller and it's not even worth it to go to class because it's just that boring. if you have the option, take someone else. your gpa will thank you later

Rating # 10

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

What a Hottie!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HIST182
• 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:

Honestly one of the worst professors I've ever had. His lecture style is terrible. He drones on and it makes it absolutely unbearable to listen to and take notes. His WID course is horrible...pop quizzes make up 40% of your grade and if you miss a single one, you're done.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HIST126
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I LOVE PROF. SPECTOR. I've learned more than I ever expected to from him. I had to work a lot but the work he assigned was all very interesting. Go to class because 15% of your grade is class participation and it really does help. Class is interesting and he has an awesomely dry sense of humor.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HIST182
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

It's a little tough at 8:00, but he is an interesting enough guy and every once in a while he cracks random jokes, though no one laughs at 8:00. His grading is a little fuzzy and he won't be much help at exam time, but he's still pretty good.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HIST182
• 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:

He was very hard to listen to at 8:00 am, but every once in a while he'd say something that made me chuckle. He does indeed have a very dry sense of humor. Not the best professor, but not the worst either.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: VIETNAMWAR
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Also had him for WW II in the Pacific. One of the best professors I have had at GW. He is a nice guy, who really knows his stuff (he served in Vietnam). He is very funny if you have a dry sense of humor. He tends to get lazy as the semester goes on, and cuts back on some of the reading and writing assignments. Very fair grader, but tests are hard.

Rating # 16

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

The best professor I had while at GW. He gives a lot of reading, but it's interesting stuff! He is exceptionally fair in his grading and he is a really easy-going guy to boot.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HIST101W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

borng, horrible public speaker. Says "AHHH" between every 3 words. Way too much reading assigned, very hard test. Writing assignments were minimal and easy despite it being a WID class. Taught class with another professor, both did not seem to follow eachother resulting in a disorganized class

Rating # 18

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Very Knowledgeable. Helpful. A lot of readings assigned. Could use some organizational strategies.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HIST126
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Spector knows his stuff. A lot of students like to complain that there is too much reading in his classes, but those students are stupid and lazy. Its never more than 4 hours of reading a week.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HIST126
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is a great prof, though he can sometimes assign too much reading and then test you on uniportant facts just to make sure you did the reading. Overall great, take whatever you can with him. Military history is his forte and he knows it all.