Washington, Jermaine  

Jermaine is awesome. So much more down to earth than most other ARCH professors. The environment in his studio was very laid back, which is nice because 1st year studio can be VERY stressful because of crazy projects and deadlines. Throughout the quarter, there are main projects (that ACTUALLY matter), and side projects, which are worthless wastes of time. Unlike other professors, Jermaine is aware of this, and tells students to not worry about these side projects. He doesn't care about them, which is great when you really have to push to complete the more important projects. Some people complain that his critiques are too vague to be helpful, but if you go the extra mile and seek extra advice from him, he'll let you know if you're going in the right direction. Sometimes, if you ask for help, he'll leave you with more questions than answers, but that's the point; as a designer, you have to be open to different ideas, and you have to have the mindset that you can always improve. As a person, Jermaine is 'hella chill,' as the kids say. So overall, I highly recommend.

Professor Washington is great. You can tell he really loves teaching. He can tell where you are struggling and tells you what to do while still letting you make the project your own. You don’t have to cater to him because he is simply there to guide you; not take over your project. As another post said, he is really down to earth and his studio is relaxed (for an architecture studio). I always felt really comfortable in his studio. At first he didn’t seem very welcoming but, as the quarter progressed he became more and more comfortable with everyone and even became “one of us”. (He’d crack jokes with us, ask us how we were doing, etc.) All in all, Washington is a great professor and person. If you put in a good effort, are respectful, and just have a good attitude in general, you will succeed in his class.

Jermaine is one of the more chill ARCH professors. He is very consistent with creating a personal bond in studio through jokes and sass. However, when it comes to the projects, he will make you reevaluate your creative decisions in a very vague manner, such as "the raised eyebrow," "side smirk with a gentle laugh beneath his breath," and "the slow walk away." Despite his sometimes vague responses to your direct questions, if you talk to him one-on-one, he will give you slightly more direct response. I loved having Jermaine as my professor, but there are other professors that gave better advice than him. I personally feel like he is progressively becoming a better professor, and I would love to have him again.

Pro is supreme

Pro (that's what he goes by) isn't a terrible guy. He knows what he's talking about and has good ideas for your design, but is very reluctant to giving them to you. I would often ask for advice, but he would not give any and require my own creativity. (It's a double-edged sword because it's kind of discouraging, but also will not lead to a student being dependent on suggestions.) He takes a very "do whatever you want but be able to justify it" position, so as long as you can back up your design features than you should be okay. I would not take him again though because he gave me a lower grade than I thought I deserved.

Pro can be a nice person once you get used to his (often) overwhelming sass. However, his feedback on what you could have done better or thought of differently is often phrased vaguely and everyone in my class got accustomed to having to ask him question after question just to clarify what the basic requirements were for the homework due next class. I am aware that it is difficult to teach Fall-quarter freshmen who know virtually nothing about Architecture and studio and so on, but I think Pro could have been better at making himself clear about reasonably simple things like assignment requirements or feedback so that we could return to our work knowing what was actually expected of us. Overall, you aren't screwed if you get Pro, but he isn't that great of a professor or helper. I can tell even better now after taking almost a quarter of a different professor in ARCH 132.

Like everyone else said, be prepared for a lot of sass. It can be quite difficult to get any meaningful conversation from him because he provides a lot of ambiguous feedback. His reviews on many of my projects also often felt quite arbitrary. Definitely my least favorite professor due to the extreme favoritism. I literally swapped one assignment with one of my friends so we could test his reaction. My friend got praised for my ideas while I was criticized for my friend's ideas (of course Jermaine was unaware of this swap). Barely managed to scrape a B probably because he felt bad for me as I kept hounding him during office hours and actually did put in a lot of effort. I took his class a few years ago and am making this review since I have a ton of free time during this pandemic; it's possible that Jermaine has changed since then, but my experience at the time was quite unpleasant.

Jermaine Ebon Washington is definitely one of the worst arch 130 series teachers. Everyone says that he has a lot of 'sass' but that is not it. His 'sass' is just him being childish. He picks favorites and those he does not like get treated poorly. TIP: suck up as much as you can early, because that is how you will do well in his class. He is condescending and immature towards those who he dislikes, also giving their projects less credit in discussion and towards your grade. He does not give out B's because of his favoritism, as those he likes get A's and those he dislikes get C's. He attributes more points towards his precious 'uploads' that are apparently more important than that of the actual projects themselves.

the sass is real

First thing's first, he's the realist. Jermaine (pro) is one of the most understanding professors I have come to know. He knows his students have deadlines for GE's and often even recognizes that the deadlines in the studio courses are a bit overbearing. If you get the opportunity to take pro, don't pass it up. His classes are always interesting and you'll learn lots. If i had one gripe about him it would be that his feedback is often lacking and sometimes inconclusive. You really have to pry the criticism out of him. However, being that i had him during his first year of teaching, I'm sure his ability to teach will continue to grow. #doitforpro

Pro is sometimes so sassy that it's really difficult to have a normal conversation, especially during class (almost always better outside class). I think I asked too many questions for his liking, so if you are a person who needs to ask a lot of questions to clarify directions or something, then maybe try to avoid this professor. At the same time, keep in mind that you do need to ask him LOTS of questions in order to properly understand an assignment or something (I just asked more than most people did). If you don't ask the right questions, you may end up doing it wrong, and then he will probably act as if that which you did is completely useless (it may really be that bad, but his attitude doesn't really help encourage you to move forward with what you need to do). Finally, for a spring-quarter freshman studio professor, he was extremely picky about leaving class early to work on assignments at home instead of in class. I didn't usually have the desire to do that, but for some people (like me) it became a real issue because they simply focused better at their dorm/apartment than in studio, especially with Pro hovering over you and asking you if you are working constantly.

First and Foremost. THE SASS IS REAL. If you can't handle a professor that'll talk back to you, don't take him. But in all honestly, the people he picks on the most tend to be his favorites; so it may just be a good thing. Jermaine, who we lovingly refer to as Pro, is actually a very good studio professor. He gives very good advice, probably the best out of any of the other first year professors. Pro is also very relaxed about everything. If he acts sassy towards you, or starts picking at the nitty gritty, you're doing something right. 10 out of 10 would recommend.

I really liked Pro. He picks favorites, but if you do your work on time and show interest and enthusiasm, you won't be on his bad side. He gives really good input.. but most of the time, only if you ask for it! He definitely knows his stuff, and it made for a great quarter

Pro is great. He's fun to interact with and incredibly knowledgable. He spends a lot of time addressing his students individually, which was really helpful throughout the quarter. The feedback he provides on projects is very insightful and thought-provoking. He really inspires you to want to learn and dive deeper into your subject matter. I've seen a few other reviews that mention he does not take well to questions, but I disagree. I do know that Pro doesn't like to give you any direct answers and instead responds with a thought-provoking piece of new perspective that can sometimes leave you with more questions. But, in my opinion, that's a good thing as it pushes you to grapple with your project in a way that moves beyond your initial ideas. He's a great professor, you (whoever you are) should take him.