Jim Ralph

At first I was hesitant about actually enjoying a history class, but I ended up really liking this class and found I learned a lot about the urban landscape of America. Professor Ralph was engaging and exited about the material, and brought in many different topics into his lectures. We also only had two papers and two exams, so the amount of work was very do-able.

Professor Ralph is very enthusiastic about the the class material. Well put together lectures that explore the history of cities and historic developments of American cities. Quite engaging if you make it past early-morning hazes and history-paper-style eloquence. Papers and projects are very engaged in the historic and contemporary scene of American urban lives and encourage students to explore topics of interest in pressing urban issues today. He is also very willing to learn about the students personally, as well as students' personal experience with urban lives, and reference them in discussion sessions. Discussion attendance is mandatory unless excused. One of the classes I found worth getting up early for.

Professor Ralph is very enthusiastic about the the class material. Well put together lectures that explore the history of cities and historic developments of American cities. Quite engaging if you make it past early-morning hazes and history-paper-style eloquence. Papers and projects are very engaged in the historic and contemporary …Read more

Professor Ralph is very passionate about history and the American urban experience. That being said, his teaching style is very boring and he just reads from his notes for the entire class. If you find the content interesting, then it is a good class, but if you don't like history, this class is not for you. He assigns a lot of reading each week, but you can get by easily without doing it.

Professor Ralph is very passionate about history and the American urban experience. That being said, his teaching style is very boring and he just reads from his notes for the entire class. If you find the content interesting, then it is a good class, but if you don't like history, this class is not for you. He assigns a lot of readi …Read more