What are your favorite professors/classes?

She teaches english. You won't regret taking her class. 

I agree with the Laura Laffrado comment, she's fabulous.

As for some good freshman classes, try...

Comm101 is a pretty easy class, unless you hate speaking in front of groups but it's still manageable. It doesn't really matter which prof you get, as long as your IA is cool.

Psych101 I hear is interesting, Ericksen is fabulous.

Intro to Cinema with Dizney, it's super easy, better if taken with friends because you get to make a movie as your final project, super fun.

Take COM 235, not 101. Take it with Paul Bingham!

Thor Hansen for GEOLOGY 101 is the best decision you could ever make. Look at all his rates on rate my professor if you don't believe me! :) He brings in his golden retriever on test days, gives pre-tests with answers (which are all on the actual exams), test retakes for extra credit, movie clips, etc. He is hysterical.

Take COM 235, not 101. Take it with Paul Bingham!

Thor Hansen for GEOLOGY 101 is the best decision you could ever make. Look at all his rates on rate my professor if you don't believe me! :) He brings in his golden retriever on test days, gives pre-tests with answers (which are all on the actual exams), test retakes for extra credit, movie clips, etc. He is hysterical.

ANY class with Thor Hansen is amazing. Granted I have only had one with him (Geol 303 - Dinosaurs) but it was still awesome. No text, don't even have to take notes as he provides his own as well as his powerpoints online. I have no idea if that particular class is offered next quarter or not but i am 99% sure I saw him as a prof for Geol 101. So yea, pretty much ditto to asplunc.
 

Take anything with Edward Vajda.  He's the best professor on campus.

He teaches East Asian Studies, and the Russian and Mongolian languages.

Brad Sherman's Music 105 class kicked the pants off of every other class EVER.

But I don't think he's teaching it Winter Quarter. :( Sorry I'm of no help.

 If you have any interest in being a teacher, I would HIGHLY recommend Education 109. The prof, Bill Lay, is amazing, and the class itself is really fun and interesting.

Marc Richards, Histoy 104.

I, along with everyone I know who has taken this class has, loved it.

There are two midterms, and a group project or paper (do the project)

 Yep, Thor is AMAZING. Pete Stelling (also geology) inspired me to switch majors.

Every winter quarter there is a double class called Monsters - Geology 204 and English 238. It is the best class ever, no doubt. Thor teaches about real life monstrosity like dinosaurs, parasites, and deformities, Bruce Beasely teaches about literary monsters like Frankenstein, Lives of the Monster Dogs and Geek Love characters.

Laura Laffrado is amazing (man, there are some Laura groupies out here - I love it!). Her energy in the classroom is a gift - it will keep you awake and entertained. Not to mention all that you'll learn and retain. I get so many more Jeopardy questions right now, teehee.

I also second the Bingham suggestion. The SPAR debates are fun, and the format of the class helped me to write better papers.

One more - geology 101 was surprisingly enjoyable. Sweet pictures during lecture, and pretty easy/fun labs.

Any psychology class that Ericksen teaches is amazing. She is hysterical, and informative.

Mark Richards 104 is by far the best!

and Intro to Theater Art with Mr. Kuntz

 Hey I just have to represent as another "Laura Groupie!"  Even if the class title sounds boring, take it!  It is impossible to be bored in her class- she is frantic, insane, brilliant, and hilarious!  She manages to make an 8:30 am class on Herman Melville exciting.  That is a feat, trust me.  Although I don't really know if she teaches a lot of freshman stuff.  I honestly just wrote this to be enthusiastic about Laura!

 Check out the classes at Fairhaven college. There are usually some interesting topics you find anywhere else. Stan Tag is a fairhaven professor and he's amazing! He mostly teaches literature, writing, poetry style classes, but it's fairhaven so its all interdisciplinary. BTW, there are no grades in Fairhaven classes.

Soc 269 - Race and Ethnic Relations

It will cover a BCGM gur credit, and Dr. Tsunokai is amazing. He knows everything by heart and could literally just lecture the entire class without ever glancing at any notes. He gets bored of teaching by the end of class so you generally always get out early. Its super super interesting and pretty easy.

^ Above someone mentioned Bill Lay for EDUC 109. That class is amazing. It's primarily for students who are on the fence about wanting to become teachers, but is still a good class for those who aren't going to become teachers. (for instance, in my class right now there are some students who are going into humanitarianism and stuff)

Also, last year I really enjoyed PHIL 102 with Downing. He's interesting, and the way he speaks just makes you want to learn. Plus, I find logic fun. :P

If he's teaching it, Mike Mana for PSYCH 101 is awesome. Again, he just makes you want to learn. He's entertaining, yet doesn't drift away into stupid crap and you can really learn a lot.

Psychology - Alex Czopp - I survived 303 because of him. Very entertaining.

Psychology - Kristi Lemm - Also very funny and supportive.

Linguistics - Jordan Brewer. She's hilarious and knows her stuff.

They all teach mostly 200+ level classes though.

PSY 101 with Ericksen is a good time and not too hard if you do the reading and go to lectures.

GEOL 101 isn't bad. I took it with Babcock I think. His slideshows were pretty interesting.

PLSC 250 with Salazar was super interesting but I am a polisci major so I am biased.

Took HIST 104 with Richards and was split 50/50 on it. It was interesting about half the time.

COMM 235 with Bingham was a great class. Interesting, engaging, and the debates were fun.

Whether or not your interested in Sociolinguistics this is a really fun class and a great professor, There are 2 or 3 tests and a group project or paper as the final, The project was actually pretty fun, Keppie's a great teacer; loves Youtube so you watch lots of random videos and the lecture is never boring.  I would definetly suggest this class to anyone at Western.

Intro to the Art of Theatre w/ Mark Kuntz was suggested.  Unfortunately, Mark isn't teaching it this year.  It's a good class, but if you take it, make sure to do so w/ Charlotte Guyette, NOT PERRY MILLS.