As an engineering major who took this class for fun alongside another writing 2 class, I can without a doubt say that this was the best course I have taken at UCLA. The class teaches you how to think and to question all the preconceived notions that you hold about topics like aliens. Shorter really makes you think outside your own worldview and really challenges you to question your own worldview. The class isn't even really about aliens, psychics, and ghosts per say. I would characterize the class as a referendum on how we acquire knowledge and choose what we believe and do not believe through the lens of alien encounters. Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone that can enroll because it will change your worldview for the better. Also come into the class with an open mind because your experience will be 100x better than those who are stubborn and not willing to question their worldview.

Discussion sections were the most enriching discussions I have ever been a part of, which was amplified because of people's willingness to share and actually do the readings. Also TA Jackie Davis did not bring her own viewpoints into the section, which definitely allowed for free flowing and exciting discussions about lecture and the reading.

I feel like the people who hated the class were not willing to even consider other viewpoints (literally the whole point of the class) and did not seek help from the TA during office hours for writing advice. I went into TA office hours and we went over my argument structure and which evidence I would use to prove each point. My TA (Jackie Davis) would discuss with you exactly which ideas are fleshed out and which ones could be more compelling. After this, just follow every small detail that Professor Shorter lays out to receive an A.

If you do the work and follow his directions you'll get an A. Fun and enjoyable class material. Selling the required books : Communion and The Supernatural. Text @ **********

On paper, this class is a lot. With discussion sections twice a week plus 2 hour lectures twice a week, you physically are contributing a lot of time to this class. Attendance was taken, allowing for up to 4 total missed classes for full attendance credit (when you miss more than 4, then points start being deducted). Going into this class I dreaded the mandatory attendance, but surprisingly the 2 hour lectures passed by really quickly (contrary to some of my STEM classes) since they were genuinely interesting, and discussion sections were really helpful for the papers. Given this is Writing II class, we honestly did not do much writing. Professor Shorter ended up removing the 2nd paper (author analysis) from the syllabus, so we only had to write a 3-4 page short analysis and a 7-8 page final paper. Additionally, any assignments starting from around Week 5-6ish were dedicated to the final paper, which were mostly graded on completion (included a peer review), so writing the final paper was not bad at all (as we were working on it for a long time). The writing is formulaic in that it follows the College Rule - if you follow these guidelines, it is easy to get an A - Shorter really places an emphasis on learning and discussion during class versus the actual writing and assignments due. While I'm sure there are other easier Writing II classes (this class has a ton of reading, I stopped doing them towards the end but he does do pop quizzes on them), Professor Shorter makes this a genuinely engaging class that I looked forward to despite the mandatory attendance. He gives some really interesting perspectives on aliens, psychics, and ghosts that I found intriguing.

I truly liked my class with Shorter and recommend him, but some people didn't jive with him. He's the classic archetype of a university professor but funnier and looser. Just participate in the discussions, do the readings, and attend office hours, and you will be on his good side and do fine. Also, he will make you a better writer.

The readings/texts/films were exciting and changed my perspective on many areas of life.

I took Aliens Psychics and Ghosts with Shorter and it was one of the coolest classes I've ever taken at UCLA. His lectures are interesting and the subject material (as you can imagine) is interesting/freaky/thought provoking. Shorter is a very engaging character who will keep you awake the entire time (guaranteed). Lectures are a combo of discussion of the reading, lecturing, and video/audio clips. There was a lot of reading that you'll have to do to take a lot out of this class, but it is worthwhile. It makes you want to keep reading. There were some short reading pop quizzes. The class focused upon a final research paper that counts for both a midterm and a final. He is a major stickler for writing, but I assure that you will end up writing one of the best research papers of your UCLA career. Anyhow, if you want to challenge yourself to learn about something you probably haven't thought about much, definitely take Shorter's class.

The professor is cool, the class content is interesting, but the grading is by far too demanding. I went into this class thinking it was going to be an easy way to check off my writing 2 requirement and get an easy A. About half way through the quarter, Shorter informed us past bruin walk reviews no longer reflected the class because he had changed up the grading scale (there are no longer 20 points of extra credit, maybe ~8 offered). The class is out of 100 and, even if you write a perfect analytical paper, there are many places to lose points through college rule (college rule covers contractions, 'it,' grammar, etc). Each mistake on the college rule is a .25 to 3 point deduction. On one of my papers, I lost more points on the college rule rather than on the content of my paper, this mistake cost me 3 points/ a letter grade (this class weighs content and grammar equally). Shorter also introduces a very specific writing structure that must be followed in order to not lose points (e.g significance statements, problem and solutions, etc.). There are 5 assignments (1x4 pg, 2x5pg, 1x1pg, 1x6.5 pg) and attendance is worth 15 points. If you care about your GPA, I would not recommend taking this class unless you plan on investing a significant amount of time in it by going to your TA's office hours to review each paper before turning it in and combing through for any possible point deductions. Also, there are a lot of readings so make sure you have time for those too so you can keep up with class discussions and earn the pop quiz extra credit points. If you're genuinely interested in the class content, I recommend getting your writing 2 out of the way with some other class and taking this one P/NP so you don't have to stress about each point you lose on the writing assignments. The class discussions are interesting and Shorter is a fun professor who cares about his students. I learned a lot about aliens and, as a south campus major, I appreciated Shorter's lectures and perspective. However, do not expect an A out of this class without putting in time, it is no longer an easy A.

I do not recommend this for anyone looking to satisfy a writing II requirement. The professor is a nice person overall and shares a lot of his personal stories, but his standards of grading are way too high. If you are a south campus student and care about your GPA, this class does not help as a GPA booster and will give you a lot more stress than other writing II classes. I’m sure anyone could get an A in this class if they go to both the professor/TA office hours weekly and set aside hours of reading daily. But coming into this class as a good writer won’t really help.

Do not take this class. If you are looking at the past bruinwalk reviews IT IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE. The grading is tough and the professor requires you write extensively. The topic of the class is interesting but he requires you to have a certain style of writing. There are extra credit points but are very limited so don't think that it is an easy A. I came into class looking a bruinwalk, but the class is completely different now so think twice before you enroll in this class.

Sí, me gustó y yo lo recomiendo

WAC 33 was one of those classes you regret while taking it (the workload was pretty intense, especially for me who only took it as a GE) but learn to appreciate its worth after you're done with it. Professor Shorter's lectures always prompted me to rethink the very way I thought and entire systems of what I had been taught. The way I approach the world has been, I can honestly say, affected by the philosophical aspects of the class. Anyone interested in really gaining something from their experience at UCLA should consider taking this class. There was one 10-12 page paper due at the end of the quarter and readings for every week.