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Universities » Michigan State University (MSU) » Professor Ratings » Cyrus Stewart

Professor Ratings & Grade Distribution Data for Cyrus Stewart

Cyrus Stewart
Professor (2008 – 2012)
Michigan State (MSU)
Integrative Studies Social Sci
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2.7500**+
Overall rating
Rated by 408 students
2.91
Avg GPA
across 2 classes
Spring 2012 Schedule
ISS 210 - Society and the Individual (D)
Add to schedule TR 8:00am-9:50am
Add to schedule TR 10:20am-12:10pm
All Classes
ABM 210
CSE 201
ISS 210
ISS 215
ISS 220
ISS 310
ISS 325
ISS 335

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Most Helpful Favorable Professor Review
Most Helpful Critical Professor Review
4****
ISS 210 - Society and the Individual (D)
It's reeeally not as bad as people are making it out to be, nor as bad as people I'd talked to in person had said. Reading the books he gives can help if you understand what you're reading for. The problem I think people have is that he wants you to ...
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Professor rated by: Student on 1/22/10
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+3 Helpful
2**
ISS 210 - Society and the Individual (D)
do not tak this prof's class. he is SO BORING. i fell asleep every time. he's not a good teacher at all. he is not engaging, personable, or informative.
i feel like i had to teach myself. his lectures were irrelevant. once in a while he had a good ex...
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Professor rated by: Student on 1/5/11
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+7 Helpful

Student Ratings 1 - 20 of 408

 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
2**
do not tak this prof's class. he is SO BORING. i fell asleep every time. he's not a good teacher at all. he is not engaging, personable, or informative.

i feel like i had to teach myself. his lectures were irrelevant. once in a while he had a good example, but then he would go off on a tangent. i dreaded this class. i know not all of your classes are going to be fun and exciting, but seriously...this is an exceptionally frustrating class. i don't feel like i learned anything.

he is so old! he does not believe in technology. he uses an overhead projector to "guide" us through his lectures, but the lecture notes are so hard to understand. he doesn't explain his abbreviations ((r), (f)...), and his vocabulary is so annoying! it doesn't matter it you understand the words or not, they should not be used on a lecture guide. they are unnecessary and make everything confusing. you'll spend most of the time deciphering his language. it's almost like he's trying to sound really intelligent. the same thing happens on his exams. you waste so much valuable time trying to break "the cyrus code".

you can use notes and textbooks on exams, but i recommend taking REALLY good notes in that case (in your notes and in your books). his notes won't help you at all. his exam questions are ambiguous and sneaky.

exams are way too long. they consist of a LOT of trick questions. exams should be about the info you have actually learned and retained; not memorization, and not him trying to see if he can outsmart you.

i thought i knew the material really well, but each time exam scores came back, i was eating my words. i lost all confidence in my test-taking abilities. i ended up with a 3.0, which could've been better had i had a teacher who cared about someone other than himself and his own wit and intelligence. he always said "i think i'm really good at teaching". you could feel everyone in the room get awkward every time he said that.

his childhood stories get old and repetitive, his long pauses are frequent, and if you don't study abroad in hawaii, seriously, don't feel bad.

this is a university requirement, but there are so many other options. if i could do it all over again, i would drop this class. it causes so much unnecessary stress that should especially not be wasted on a required ISS200-level course.

i took this my fall semester of sophomore year, so i really didn't have many prof's to compare him too. now i know better. there are some really great teachers here at msu; take advantage of it.
Professor rated by: Student on January 5, 2011
Helpful Rating?
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ISS 335
Ntl Diversity & Change US (N)
2**
I had this class for Fall 2011. I really didn't enjoy this class at all, mostly because of Stewart's sweeping generalizations and unwavering opinions. This class, in description, is about the Native peoples of America and how they have been robbed of their way of life. This leads to Stewart's solution i.e. problem solving skills to resolve the problem. I got a 3.5 in this class, barley. To succeed (4.0) I consider the following to be necessary; have every note that he writes on the overhead, make sure you continuously work on the take home exam he gives you and compare/ask questions about it, do extra credit. Also, if you are a student who does NOT have high reading comprehension skills you will NOT do well. All his questions are tricky true/false that are lengthy and use heightened vocabulary.



Stewart refuses to use technology. He can't even deal with his own scantrons and can barley use his microphone. This professor was a joke to me and said RIDICULOUS statements. In a 1 hr 50 min class no one wants to hear the same story you have already told five times, I do not exaggerated this. His poor lecturing can be shown by about 25% to 50% of the class in a typical lecture. I would usually go to his class only to take notes, I could not listen to his bumbling rambles for longer then ten minutes. Kids who like this class get wrapped up in liberal, unrealistic ideas, who in my opinion, are little tools. Despite what i say this class really isn't that difficult, you just will not be spoon fed any answers.



Save yourself the pain, unless like me this was the only open ISS class (for good reason), and do not take this class.
Professor rated by: Mechanical Engineering Student on December 20, 2011
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ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
4****
It's reeeally not as bad as people are making it out to be, nor as bad as people I'd talked to in person had said. Reading the books he gives can help if you understand what you're reading for. The problem I think people have is that he wants you to know the concepts, not the specifics that the books talk about. The one on influence is far more useful than the one on cults.

Going to class and writing down what he does will definitely help you out. A few exams questions are word for word on things he says in class. Sure, it's irritating that he tells such a massive amount of seemingly pointless stories, but I found that I unconsciously learned some things just by zoning out while he talked.

I did the service learning extra credit because I was nervous after reading the reviews. It was actually kind of fun and even though I didn't end up needing it, it gave me some security when taking my final in knowing that I would 4.0 as long as I got a 50/75... which was not too hard to do.

Exams are true/false. They require a decent vocabulary to understand, but I found that just thinking them out resulted in me getting a 20 or better out of 25 on each of them. The final is multiple choice, but if you can get your hands on some old exams it definitely helps.

Oh, and the take home test for ours was the same as one that my friend had 2 years ago. So that part was extremely easy.

College isn't supposed to be a cake walk. If it was everyone would do it. But in my opinion, this class was not very hard.
Professor rated by: Student on January 22, 2010
Helpful Rating?
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NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
2**
Pros: He knows the material well.
Cons: He likes to give life lessons instead of actual academic lecture.
This lecture has been the lecture I've skipped the most. The lectures feel very long because of his lecturing style. He uses a lot of repetitive life lesson examples that don't always pertain to the material. He uses a lot of big words that don't need to be used. His lecture notes can be very confusing. This class can be a pain to go to but here is all you have to do:



1.) Read the books. Take notes on the strategies, not specific examples. Notes can usually be used on tests so this is essential to take good notes.



2.) Even though his notes and lectures are painful, go to class and at least get the notes he writes down. Even if you don't pay attention at least write down the notes, because they are a summary of the LENGTHY and BORING things he says.



3.) Read the book while in class if you feel like the lecture is a waste of time. At least you're doing something for the class.



4.) If you're not doing well, he has extra credit opportunities.
Professor rated by: Nursing Student on November 26, 2011
Helpful Rating?
YES
NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
1*
Pros: Nothing
Cons: -Boring

-Impossible Exams

-Hard to understand
This is the worst professor I have ever had in combination to high school as well. He is extremely boring. His exams are all true/false each question was a paragraph long and you have to figure out through his confusing and poorly worded questions which one word makes the statement true/false. He is an awful professor and there are many easier ones out there. This class destroyed my GPA. I learned absolutely nothing in this class.
Professor rated by: Lyman Briggs School Student on December 21, 2011
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ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
5*****
Pros: Easy quizzes

Don't need to go to class

Interesting Lectures
Cons: None
Honestly this is the easiest class. I go to class only on exam days and I have a 4.0 in the class. If you take notes and read the books its impossible not to do well... IT'S OPEN BOOK AND OPEN NOTES. Easiest class.
Professor rated by: Chemical Engineering Student on December 8, 2011
Helpful Rating?
YES
NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
3***
Pros: easy class
Cons: Boring
The class itself is easy. If you read the books and take notes, there's no reason to go to class. Do the service learning, its 15 points extra credit, and doesn't take up much time. There is no reason not to get a 4.0 in this class.
Professor rated by: History of Art Student on December 13, 2011
Helpful Rating?
YES
NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
3***
Pros: The class in general relates to our daily life.
Cons: BORING!
His exams are true and false. So you basically have 50% chance to get the answer right, but the classes are long and boring. His notes simply suck and they're useless.
Professor rated by: Chemical Engineering Student on November 29, 2011
Helpful Rating?
YES
NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
4****
Pros: Very interested in the material he teaches and is very passionate about it.
Cons: Gets caught up in stories during lecture and his notes don't make sense
Professor rated by: Civil Engineering Student on December 11, 2011
Helpful Rating?
YES
NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
1*
Pros: No homework, no projects.
Cons: Everything about this class is a con.
Horrible professor, he is the G.P.A DESTROYER
Professor rated by: Nursing Student on October 3, 2011
Helpful Rating?
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NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
2**
Pros: easy things
Cons: extemely boring
hes a good guy
Professor rated by: Kinesiology Student on November 19, 2011
Helpful Rating?
YES
NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
1*
Pros: none
Cons: worst. professor. ever.
Professor rated by: Supply Chain Management Student on August 27, 2011
Helpful Rating?
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NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
2**
Summary:

1) Unnecessarily wordy notes that are filled with unexplained short-hand and convoluted sentence structure.

2) A lot of unsavory stories about his childhood sexuality and his mother. Frequently digresses onto these topics, as well as anything and everything about Hawaii.

3) Rather boring lectures (from the back of the class you can see an ocean of laptops that feature solitare throughout his rants)

4) Test questions are poorly worded and the possible answers are often very similar to each other. A lot of trick language and the aforementioned problem with convoluted sentences and general wordiness persists.



Advice if you're already stuck in this class:

1) Listen to the lectures and take your own notes. What he puts onto the overhead is really coded for him to understand and will mean nothing to you when you look it over later.

2) Don't bother trying to study for the exams. When he says that they can't be studied for, he's telling you the truth. Although the exam questions often interconnect to some degree with material covered in the lectures, they are so deviant from the initial concepts that it is difficult to trace the connection.

3) Bring something else to do

4) If possible, drop the class and save your GPA
Professor rated by: Student on March 29, 2007
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NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
1*
Even though I took this class a whole two years ago, I thought I'd reflect on it now that I have some college experience under my belt. Being a physiology major, I have taken both courses for bio/orgo/physics/cem/calc and I can honestly say the hardest class I've taken overall, was that of "Cyrus the Virus". The only posts on here which are good are either from him, or his mom, which may be hard to believe due to his complete lack of common sense when it comes to using something as confusing as 'internet' or 'e-mail'. If you like learning about old farts and their glory days and their mom, oh and hawaii, step into the ring w/ Cyrus. But be prepared for a full 12 rounds of being held down and beat to death. If you're smart, you'll find a way to weasel your way out of this one and take something you have a chance in... his tests are impossible. He thinks words are synonyms when they are not, so the questions don't make sense, which makes it REALLY FUCKIN' HARD to answer them. Take it if you want a challenge, but when you're sitting in class trying to decipher the 4 words he wrote on the overhead during an hour of lecturing, and what they mean, think of me- I'll be the voice in your head saying "i told ya so".
Professor rated by: Student on May 15, 2006
Helpful Rating?
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NO
 
 
ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
4****
Okay, people make this class out to be way harder than it really is. His class sessions are boring that is for sure. He has you take notes that are slightly tricky to figure out when you're looking back on them later, yes. You may find yourself drawing a picture of a turkey/pilgrim on your hand because there is nothing else to do, definitely. But this class is not hard.

All you have to do is listen to him talk and it will give you an idea of how the general concepts behind the ideas work. If you can grasp the way these concepts work then the exams will be simple. The questions are all just based on a couple key concepts. I have not read the book once yet and my scores have gone as follows: first pop quiz 9 out of 10, done in 5 minutes, first exam 23 out of 25, done in 15-20 minutes, second pop quiz 9 out of 10 done in 5 minutes, and the second exam literally done in 10 minutes and got a 24 out of 25. It is not that hard, people, stop complaining so much. I haven't read the book even once, I looked over the notes for maybe 20 minutes the night before the exams, and I'm by no means a genius. I had a 3.8 in high school. Easy class just a little boring. Bring something to do.
Professor rated by: Student on October 22, 2007
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ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
5*****
This is seriously the BEST prof. I have had since I have been at MSU! At first when I came here and looked at allMSU, I cried when I saw I had Cy Stewart. But I chose to stay in his class and it was one of the BEST decisions I have made. While I do admit that he does have confusing tests, these are a good wake-up call to all of you coming to State (and any college)... Brain work is a little needed here. If you've picked up a book or two in a recent three months or so, you should be fine with the wording.



HINT: Just 'cause it's at 8 AM, show up for class. He lets you use your notes on the exams and all he covers in class is on the exams. The reading itself is just basic background that YOU WILL NEED, just have to find a way where it works for you. May I suggest reading and trying to apply it to your lives? That's what his life stories are about he tells us in class, to help us do just that!



That is all! :D



P.S.: He's been around here for like.... EVER. Not only will he usually remember your face, but he will say hi to you and will even give you advice and what is up here at MSU. A guru if you can get along with him! I def. give him a 4.0!
Professor rated by: Student on April 12, 2009
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ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
2**
This is an honest rating. I waited a full 2 years to rate this joker because I wanted to make sure for a fact that he REALLY was the WORST prof this school has to offer. After going through the core of the pre-professional program, [biochem/orgo/gen chem/bio/physio/anat/calc/physics] I can confirm my fall semester freshman year findings. HES TERRIBLE. He lets you bring your notes to class, but they're only there in case you have to wipe you ass and don't have any TP, because a) what you write down will mean nothing to you due to the 'wordiness' of his impossibly misconstrued exam questions and b) even if it did mean something, you can't read his sloppy writing anyway, so you might as well guess. The books, while mildly intersting, are of no help whatsoever b/c they have little to do with the material. I DON"T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE MATERIAL IS FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!! Save yourself and your GPA from taking a hit from this Hawaii-lovin'-high school obsessed-sorry excuse of an old fart of a teacher. While he might be an interesting uncle, teaching is not his job. He should be canned. Drop his class- HEED MY WARNING!!
Professor rated by: Student on November 29, 2006
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ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
2**
DO NOT listen to those who say this class isn't as bad as the reviews make him out to be. This class is awful. The select few that got a good grade in this course are the who guess good, did the service learning, or your mind functions the same damn way his does. This man just rambles on about non-sense. He doesn't believe in computers so you know he's a head case himself. Take the notes he HAND writes in the beginning of the class and leave, because all his lectures are is him rambling about his childhood, family, and crap that won't ever be found on the exams. If you have no vocab, your screwed also. He loves to throw large vocab words on every question of his exams probably because he is in love with his Phd and talks about it all the time in lecture. Don't look for any help from him, the only things he loves in life is his Phd, MSU, and Hawaii. If you thinking about taking this class, save yourself and don't. If you decide to ignore me... have fun listening to his non-sense while he comes to class each day in the same damn shirt, gel crusted hair, and big ass glasses.
Professor rated by: Student on May 8, 2006
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ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
2**
I took this class the first semester my freshman year, and it was the biggest mistake I've made so far into college. I was a 4.0 student in high school, and this class was extremely difficult. Other people say you need to learn the concepts, there are no concepts! I went to class everyday and took notes on everything he said. While some info on the tests was from the books it wasn't much. The only way I did reasonably well (3.0) in this class was because on the final one quarter of the questions were from past tests. He allowed us to use computers though swore he never would for the rest of the time teaching because he thought people were cheating. Avoid this class at whatever the costs! While Cyrus may seem nice, it doesn't make up for the fact that he teaches nothing and quizzes on impossible information, that I'm quite certain we never even learned about. If you are forced into 210 with him make sure you go to every class because he does have pop quizzes and without the notes from lectures you will really be clueless and have no chance at doing well.
Professor rated by: Student on May 6, 2008
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ISS 210
Society and the Individual (D)
1*
Pros: you dont have to show up to class
Cons: the worst teacher i have ever had in all my years of schooling

-tests are impossible. they are true or false and the questions are a joke. sure you can read all the chapters assigned, but come test day, his questions are just there to trick you. its a game to him it seems, he will throw in words that no one understands, that change the whole meaning of the question. its not even fair, dont even bother reading, its just a joke, and everyone agrees.



-his notes are awful, even if you do go to class, you cant even read his notes, he makes symbols and short words that are apparently supposed to help us learn? I dont know, its just painful to sit in class and try to take notes you dont even understand.



-Dont bother writing him an email, he wont reply. Believe me, i wrote him about 5 telling him to please fix angel so his whole class can read the syllabus, never wrote any of the kids back. ever.



take any other ISS class than this. I personally am interested in social science, but this professor ruined it with this class.
Professor rated by: Advertising Student on January 18, 2012
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