I like Professor Stevens. He's a nice guy. He looks like he's the perfect dad, he's got a great sense of humor and he really cares what he does. I can imagine him playing catch with his children like "good job champ."

I took this class a GE. And it was really interesting. First half of quarter is about linguistics, brain and language, and phonetics. Second is about evolution and physical anthropology. Second half is so boring and he just rambles on and on about all the different kinds of hominids throughout history and I'm just like... how is this related to language? First half of quarter is amazing, and once we got to the second, it's really boring.
And your grade is only based upon two two page essays, a midterm and a final. So it's necessary for you to go to lecture.
The textbook is only a course reader that he wrote some of it and got other sources too. Read ahead and you'll be okay. It's not a lot of reading to be honest. You can do it in 30 minutes and you'll be set for the week's lectures. Trust, it'll help.

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY HIGH RATINGS. Definitely one of the most challenging GE's I have taken at UCLA. With that, it is not enjoyable in the slightest. In the first half of the quarter it is pure linguistics, and the second half is the dullest history you'll ever learn. Stevens is enthusiastic about what he teaches, it is just a dreadful class.

There is also absolutely no help when it comes to studying for his midterms and finals.

Avoid class at all costs. Go with another GE and learn from my misguided mistake.

** I meant Winter 2012. (For the previous post)

I took German M70, Origin of Language with him during Winter 2011. He was alright. The subject was a blend of science and humanities. I enjoyed learning about medical conditions like aphasia and split brain patients. But memorizing the phonetic stuff towards the end was tedious. There was a good amount of evolution and history. Had to memorize the different periods and dates. That was probably the hardest part of the class. But that was nothing compared to what anyone from South Campus would have to memorize for LS1. There were a few writing assignments. Ended up with B+. Not a super easy class but definitely not the hardest.

Obviously I am a little biased because I want to sell the course reader! Text ********** for the course reader and I will see if I can dig up the graded papers too.

Don't be fooled by his high teacher ratings.

You might be intrigued to take this class because it looks interesting, but in reality there is so much covered and so little of it has to do with actual linguistics.

Here are some reasons why you shouldn't take this class:
1. You will find reasons not to go to his lecture, and if you do it's a guarantee that you will fall asleep.
2. He rambles on about the same material for an hour fifteen and you will eventually lost interest.
3. His midterms and final are difficult, many people have said that this is one of the hardest classes they've taken at UCLA.

Do not take this professor. He is extremely horrible at his job and is unable to teach. He uses these horrible lecture slides and insists on reading off of them every lecture, which makes one wonder why you should even attend lecture. He inserts horrible puns and German jokes into the slides, and attempts to make jokes throughout class that only the people in the front chuckle at half-assedly. His writing assignments are ridiculous. You would think they would be easy considering they are less than two pages, but the information he wants is so specific and he is so nit-picky that it is impossible to get an A. Studying for both the final and the midterm is also impossible, since he refuses to formulate any sort of study guide ("Oh go read the slides and you'll be fine"). The tests are ridiculously long and seemingly meant to make you fail. He's unhelpful in office hours, unhelpful in any way shape or form in relation to the class, unless you want to learn German. Avoid him at all costs. I took this as a GE to help boost my GPA and made an awful mistake. PLEASE AVOID. Also avoid TA Nick DeCarlo

Professor Stevens is a great teacher and German M70 / Communications M70 / Indo-European Studies M70 (this class is listed as all 3 and is his only lower division course.) is relatively easy.

Stevens put together a course reader and he wrote a good portion of it. Definitely try to keep up w/ the reading because it\355ll help you understand the material. If you miss a few or more, or don\355t understand it, don\355t worry. Stevens will definitely go over it in class and clarify what may be a little confusing.

Some may disagree and say going to class is pointless because all he does is go over the reading, but definitely go to every, single class! If you miss a couple, you can always go to Stevens\355 office hours (or the TA\355s) to copy the notes but make sure you get them some way. Stevens may throw in some stuff on the midterm and final that he only has up on his slides.

This class requires lots and lots of taking notes (copying the slides) and he may go a little fast, but make sure you get down all the information. Again, whatever he puts up on his PowerPoint slides, most likely you\355ll see it on the midterm and final.

The midterm is worth 30% of your grade, the final is worth 40%, papers are worth 22%, class participation is 4%, and homework is only 4% of your grade. There were 3 hw assignments at the end of the quarter that take only 5-15 minutes each. There were only 2 papers that had to only be half a page to a page long. This class doesn\355t require a lot of time or dedication over the quarter, besides studying before the midterm and final!

The midterm and final are basically 10-15 identifications, a page of multiple choice questions, and 2 essays. Very, very easy if you do basic reading and go over your notes. Its straight memorization (just spit back out the information from class and remember to use specific examples!) and understanding basic concepts (again, with specific examples).

Stevens is always available outside of class and is extremely friendly. I like how he always communicates with his students, sending us e-mails to keep us up-to-date, sending us the paper topics in case we missed class, or letting us know if there were any changes in the reading. If you e-mail him, he always gets back to you.

Also, not allowed to use anyone else's name besides the professors' in these reviews, but A* is the best TA! Go to discussions because he clarifies what Stevens wants us to know for the tests and tells us what exactly to focus on when studying.

Last thing, during lecture, Stevens may include extra information sometimes that we won\355t need to know, but it just shows his passion for the subject. So, overall, the class is an easy and interesting GE. If you need to fulfill GE Philosophical and Linguistic analysis, take this class!

Definitely is a nice guy, definitely a character, tries to make the topic interesting, which works. The class is very easy - little outside work is really needed to do well, and the concept is simple enough that you can really get it. Fun class, for GE credit.