Review from a student who took SOC 313K
I thought Kurtz was a nice prof. His grading style was very generous, since he gave lots of curves on tests. I remember he also gave an option of either a multiple choice test or an essay test. Obviously, Kurtz realizes how much students differ in test taking by giving them a choice. It's very rare you get a teacher that open minded. He is a bright man who knows a lot about many cultures and religions. I would defintely suggest taking his "intro to religion" course.

Review from a student who took 308C
Yeah his politics are obvious, but Kurtz's Peace and Conflict class is nonetheless quite interesting. The guy's an aging hippy, so he's pretty disorganized, and has absolutely left leaning politics... STILL...I would recommend taking this class...unless of course you cannot handle listening to liberal politics (as is obvious with the previous reviewer).

Review from a student who took SOC308C
Horrible. Politics clearly take precendence over learning in Kurtz's class. Peace studies was more like "liberal philosophy 301" or "unilateral disarmament 302" than anything else. The applause and laughter at the mention of a presidential assassination was too much for me, i dropped the class three weeks into it. horrible

Review from a student who took 308c
A certified dreamweaver. Uniformed hippies love to take this class and exercise their right to free speech in his lectures. An easy A if you can get your big booty up and go to his class!

Review from a student who took SOC 321J
This class was very interesting. It covers both violence and nonviolence within a broad range of religious traditions. Although he makes no secret of which side he heavily favors, he still presents the information and rationales for all sides well. Unless you can't stand being inundated with negative references to conservatives, this is a worthwhile class and a great, engaging prof.

Review from a student who took SOC 321J
If you are interested in an unbiased, realistic view of the supposed topics (Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence), don't take this class. I spent more time trying to distinguish between his left-wing rants than I did actually learning. Granted, I have gained a better perspective on nonviolence. Nonetheless, it seems as though the most important thing I could take from the class is a skepticism about professors' desire to reprogram the students in their own political image. While he proports to be open to listening to both sides, what he really does is allow the liberal side to degrade and disparage the conservative side while he makes vapid comments or, more often, sits in silence. To put it concisely, there is absolutely ZERO logic applied to the concepts, only one side is presented, and I would suggest you take a class from someone who wants to teach you something, not convince you of something.