Art Nishimura

First of Art is a very knowlegable sociologist and an inteligent, good man. However, throughout his time of instruction I felt that there was no point whatsoever going to his class. First of all it seemed like when you read the book and compared reading notes to lecture notes, they were totally different. In a class in which examinations are based purely on the reading material, this is a highly anti-constructive way of teaching. He would talk about gender differences for example but deal with it in totally different areas of focus than were expressed in the book. Whyt even have a class if you are not going to focus on the book? Stick to the text so students do not have to learn the subject by themselves. I think it says somthing about the quality of a teacher's ability when you review material in your textbook after he has "gone over it" and notice no significant change in your pool of knowlege as opposed to you having looked it over without any teacher involved instruction. A teacher should guide us through what we should know in a course, not give us the book and a good luck wish. Furthermore, his class frequently contained various off topic subjects that centralized around farting, him being a a punk in his younger years and how he used to drive like a maniac in his sports car. I wanted to take a class on sociology, not on "The Adventures Of Art Nishimura". If I wanted to hear about someones personal adventures I'd pick up a copy of "Tom Sawyer". This class was a waste of time and a waste of money and if youre the kind of student who takes a class to learn from the professor and not the book, don't take Art's class. Bottom line, wonderful person, lousy teacher.

I found Art to be a rather burnt out, lackluster teacher. His lectures, if you can call them that, were about five to ten minutes per chapter interspersed with stories about farting, tom foolery and general potty humor. The tests were hard considering we had to pretty much teach ourselves the chapters AND apply what we had read to Sociological perspectives without much lecture. His handwriting was horrible, his grading of essay questions and journals was completely subjective, and he slacked when it was time to post grades. He didn't seem to mind cell phones going off in class and had an overall ho hum attitude towards EVERYTHING (you could turn everything in as late as you wanted with only a 1 point deduction). I found his class to be a complete waste of time!

Art is a good teacher, but you may have to push him to get a lot out of his lectures. You will be surprised at how difficult his exams are, particularly when you know what an easy-going guy he is. I did get a lot out of his class.

This is one of the best teachers any could have. He is a real pro, and you definitely learn sociology from him. Get to know him and you will like him. I have not had a chance to finish the class, but i know that he is one of the best teachers.

What made me decide "that's it, I'm staying in the class no matter what!" was when Art first began talking. He is SO funny and witty that his lectures will keep you laughing from beginning to end. His observations about humans are dead-on and hilarious to boot. Swearing and crass comments are both tolerated. :) I also like that he's very laid back about attendance and class in general.

Over the course of the semester, you'll hear a million interesting stories and tidbits about himself and his experiences. Trust me, these stories are one of the many highlights of his class. Little known fact about Art since he doesn't play this up at all: he's got 2 Masters and a PhD. You'll eventually hear about his third nipple too.

Students get to decide the format of the class and choose the number of exams, writing assignments, and projects they want for the class. Unfortunately, I think we sometimes spent too much time voting on stuff like this in class so I'd personally appreciate a bit more structure.

Exams are challenging but not impossible if you study. Each student has two "floating excuses" that he or she may apply to any assignment or exam. You just let him know on the day of the assigment or exam, promise him a date when you'll make it up, and he'll hold you to that. No questions asked. Don't use it up to early though because you might truly need it later in the semester! Finally, he also offers plenty of opportunities for extra credit.

Art is an excellent teacher and a asset to City College. I've tried Sociology from three previous instructors before him and i'm glad i enrolled into his class. He's funny, witty, entertaining and knowledgable. Not only is he respectful of his students but his lectures are so simple and down to earth. He does his best to try to relate difficult concepts and brake it down so students can understand. He even gives the class the option of deciding the homework, exams and quiz format...which is very cool. This usually is a boring class but with Art as your instructor he makes you want to listen and learn. Keep up the Good Work ART!!! Highly recommended!

In my opinion Art, is one of the best teachers on campus. I took a 8a.m. Soc 1 course, and I loved it. He is very organized with himself, which makes the lectures easier for us to understand. He gives us an option on how many exams and papers we want to have for the semester. He has a real lad back attitude and he's very easy to talk to. He is always at his office when you need him and he return emails or calls right away. If you have any classes that has the option of taking Art Nishimura as a teacher, then do so, because this is a wonderful teacher to take. I guarantee you'll have fun at this class, even if it's 8 in the morning!!

I took Art's Class spring'02 and found it to be one of the best classes i ever took at city. I think it was largly the fact that Art was teaching it. He is honestly one of the most unforgettable personalities there at City. I found his class to be stimulating and informative. He has a great sense of humor and likes to poke fun at himself at times which made class all the more enjoyable. I have taken Sociology previously from two other instuctors and ended up dropping because it can be a boring subject. But Art made it easy to understand and fun to be learning this stuff. His tests aren't too hard, if you pay attention to his lectures read the text you should be able to ace them. Whats cool about this class is that when you get your tests back you can argue the ones you got wrong if they were worded wrong or inaccurate and the entire class will get bonus points that will up your returned test score! Great teacher!!Keep up the good work ART!!