This class is definitely recommended. It's one of the most engaging and enjoyable courses I’ve taken, where genuine discussions with classmates are a regular part of the experience. Everyone comes from diverse backgrounds, which brings in a variety of perspectives that make our conversations truly enriching. I also really appreciate how approachable and helpful the professor is. He genuinely cares about his students and often surprises us with interesting comments or even the occasional "cold joke". In terms of grading, the professor is fair and consistent, generally giving grades in the 90–95% range. Personally, after the first week, I’ve been consistently scoring 95%, and there was even one occasion where I received a perfect 100% along with encouraging feedback, which was incredibly motivating.

The seminar requires you to read a research paper or other source material each week and then write a reflection memo for it. The memo is due the morning of the Sunday before your seminar class. This has sometimes led to late last minute reading and writing for this 1 unit seminar. Be better than me. That said, if you're not familiar with reading academic papers, it might take you a while to get through the papers and understanding them. Some of these academic papers took me 3+ hours getting through them. But that could just be me.
Don't expect to get 100s easily from the memos. Professor Villarreal is very particular with the 100s he gives. So normally, the highest grade you'll get is 90. Don't worry if you don't get a 90 for each memo. I couldn't consistently get 90s but I still got an A. But sometimes, it got really stressful thinking about it, especially since the syllabus didn't include a numerical grade to alphabetical grading scale.
As for the seminar part of the class, it didn't really feel like a seminar. Most of the time, it was Professor Villarreal sharing an overview of the reading of the week then him talking with the occasional student who voluntarily shares. Professor Villarreal does try to encourage people to share their memos and thoughts, but most of the time people talk because Villarreal mentions their memo. I think if seminar participation was part of the grade, then more people would be motivated to speak during the seminars. I think this seminar could meet its full seminar-potential if people spoke more and if there were sources that would help understand the readings if you weren't familiar with comprehending research papers.