Class taken: W51 Aliens, Psychics and Ghosts
Very eye-opening class. I found it incredibly intellectually stimulating and Professor Shorter is a very engaging and charismatic lecturer. As for the writing portion, just follow the rules carefully and you'll do great. If you're open-minded and interested in the subject, definitely take his class!

I personally found his pedagogical style not a good fit. Not enough freedom to engage in discussion. Interesting?
Yes. Probably not a good fit for English Majors though and talks down to the class even though some of us are hardly children. Interesting material though.

Where do I even start? Professor Shorter...is one of the best professors I have ever met. He's so energetic and passionate about his work. He really does care about the students and really wants them to get something out of his classes. He is incredbily funny which makes the class even more enjoyable. Take it!

I took his Aliens, Psychics and Ghosts class---Haha, I know, this can be difficult to think they'd offer a class like this at UCLA but they do. You know what, Shorter puts up a huge front in the beginning, but he's really not that bad. Yes, he has his methods of lecture that come off somewhat condescending, but his lectures force you to pay attention. He's actually just severely sarcastic, and that can come off as really funny. The readings were, different. I suppose as long as you have an open mind coming into this class, it's not so bad. I had to fight with a lot of the beliefs, because I'm sure individuals like myself, found it hard to take some of the topics very seriously because of lack of tangible proof. You really had to do the readings and attend lecture because he did pop quizzes and took attendance (sign-in sheet). Some people aren't fond of his grading or assignments because he has his way of writing the perfect paper (which is pretty much your entire grade on one paper)--but what teacher doesn't have their way of perfect writing? Just be like me, and keep on his ass about it. The more persistent you are, the more he'll respect you and help you. He's is approachable too, just go in and talk to him. Plus, after you hand in your final (the research paper), he gives you a cookie. I guess this is his peace offering to bitter or offended students, haha.

I took WAC 33: Tribal Worldviews (Winter 2010) and really liked it. The lectures are entertaining and he really engages the students to have a dialogue about the material we are discussing. He is funny, VERY sarcastic, and witty and I believe those are some attributes that make him such a positive role model and a phenomenal professor. He is stern in his requirements and only want the best from his students. I, however, didn't do too well and could have done better but there is always room for improvement and the grade I got was the one I deserved and I believe that is fair. I definitely recommend taking any of David Shorters' classes; making sure it's the right class you want to take, if you want to gain more insight about the world, be entertained, and befriend a great professor that might one day write a phenomenal recommendation letter for you. Also, keep in mind everyone's experiences are different and you have to take everything with a grain of salt so don't be frightened by others comments about Prof. Shorter. Good Luck!!!

Like someone said below, he puts on a very scary front in the beginning but as the quarter progresses, he's not that bad. He definitely has some quirks in teaching style and likes to stick to them (I doubt he'd change his ways unless there was a full-scale student riot about it) but as long as you do the assignments, the readings (he gives pop quizzes which can make or break your grade), and pay attention to the formatting guidelines, it's not that hard to do well in the class. He really just wants everyone to learn and be as engaged as possible. Sure, he's intimidating and he'd probably benefit from loosening up a bit but he's also sarcastically funny and entertaining to listen to. Pay attention to the things he says but don't psyche yourself out by stressing too much on the little things. His straight point-based grading system sucks a little but at the very least he's fair and as long as you do decent work, you should be fine.

I took WAC 33 as a GE. Honestly, for the ling and philosophy credit, I might not recommend that. The class is a bit more difficult than your typical GE. The course goes very deep into its content and provides students with a range of history and perspectives. If you're interested in the topic, I'd consider taking it. David is very funny but has high expectations for his students. Do not expect to be able to skip class or space out. Honestly, he doesn't assign a ton of assignments besides readings that you really need to do. The letters to the colonized/colonizer are more of a creative writing sort of thing, so the class truly only has two hard assignments (thesis/outline and final paper). He gives the formatting requirements for these two. Put in the work and you will do well. The TA is also a great resource.

I have so much to say about this class that I’ll break it down into sections for your ease. But first things first, this class isn’t really about aliens, psychics, and ghosts. Do not go in thinking that you’re going to come out a believer. You may, and we definitely covered content about different forms of evidence that can be considered, but he really uses Aliens, Psychics, and Ghosts as a medium to talk about culture and the world we live in. It's a method to another ends. We use these supernatural sources to talk about human rights, colonization, evidence, testimony, sexual assault, and so many other topics. You’ll be forced to question everything that you know, and wonder about the positivist education you’re receiving. You’ll probably have some bad existential moments where you feel sad about your place in the universe, and question why you do the things that you do, but this self-reflection is really important, and it makes this a truly worthwhile class. I won’t spoil too much, just know that you’ll leave with a new way of looking at and experiencing the world.
Professor: David Shorter is amazing. THE BEST lecturer that I have ever had. However, I’ll cover the lecture section later. I will say that he is a very eccentric personality. You will hate him at times, and you will love him at times. Sure he’s a great lecturer and is extremely engaging, but you will also hate all of his stupid writing rules. Some may say that he’s condescending, but I think that he’s hilarious. But the pros of this class outweigh the few negatives like the annoying grading rules.
Assignments/Grading: This class is graded on a straight scale. However, if you don’t get an A in this class, then it’s your own fault. You probably didn’t put in enough work. To get an A, you need above 91 points. There are 100 points available for the quarter. Fifteen points is from attendance, which is mandatory, although you can still miss a couple lectures and still receive full credit for that category. However, there’s also an extraordinary amount of extra credit. Literally over 20 points extra credit. If you put in the work, there’s no reason why you should not get an A. Of course, you do get points deducted like crazy. Watch out for the very first short analysis assignment. The average was somewhere around a 3/15, which will make people panic, but don’t worry, you can make it up with the extra credit. That first assignment is kind of a scare tactic to make you write better. He has a whole checklist of things to do and not to do, and if you follow them, then you do not lose point and you become better at writing. For example, no contractions. I literally was going to say “don’t” a line before, but Shorter’s training made me fix the contraction. There are lots of other points to watch out for such as use of “this is”, “there are”, run-ons, passive voice, etc. His checklist ensures clarity in your writing.
Workload: For a writing two class, the workload is very easy. You have one short analysis paper (3-5 pages), and then a final assignment that you build to. In this final assignment, you have an annotated bibliography (3-5 pages), you have an outline, you have a rough draft, a peer editor report, and then the final essay. They all revolve around the same topic, so it is really not that bad. The final paper is only 12 pages long which is definitely manageable and reasonable. The topics you get to talk about and do research on are extremely interesting, so I think that the assignments are very reasonable for a writing two class.
Lectures: This is why you take the class. THE BEST LECTURES I HAVE EVER HAD. First, this material is obviously a bit more interesting than most classes. All of the lectures go over class readings, and David gives so many good sources. We read Communion and the Super Natural by Whitley Strieber, and then Reinventing Medicine by Larry Dossey, plus random articles and sources that he pulls. I will say that this is a lot of reading, but you don’t have to do the reading. However, the class is so much more enriching if you actually do the readings. So many days I’d be overwhelmed with work to do, but I would still make sure to get my readings done because this was really a pleasure class that I wanted to get the most out of. You will first start out watching a bunch of videos, and the videos are cool and all, but the lectures are so much better. We literally just sit in a room for two hours and just talk. I literally have never leaned forward and listened so attentively in a lecture trying to write down everything that David said because it’s just so mind blowing! I’m sure you want to hear some examples, but it’s better if you just take the class and hear it from David. He’s a fantastic moderator, but he also knows how to play the audience. His best work is when he uses silence. He takes these long pauses to just let something he just said sink in. He is also quick on his feet and answer with a rebuttal in a dramatic yet convincing fashion. I don’t know if he has taken acting lessons before, but he knows how to work an audience. I never leave lecture not thinking “Wow!” about something I heard in lecture. Plus, we meditate too, which I really appreciated this quarter. He also has a killer taste in music. He’s shared his playlist for the quarter with us, and it is absolute fire. Each lecture is truly an experience, and I’m sad that it was only twice a week.
Discussion: You have to meet twice a week which kind of sucks. One class is dedicated to writing, while the other class is dedicated to class content. I had a fantastic TA, and a big part of your experience with the class is who is in your discussion sections. My TA fostered some really great conversations and provided lots of really interesting supplementary readings and sources, so I had a great experience. Plus, my discussion section had many people who had really insightful views that made discussion always worthwhile to go to.
This class is popular and legendary for a reason. If somehow you can get into the class, take it. You will not regret it. Easy writing two? Fantastic! Interesting material and engaging lectures? Perfect. The expansion in how you think and see the world? Priceless. This is a game changer. You’re never going to talk about that random English class you took in college, but you’ll definitely talk about this class. It’s a wild journey, and it’s by far the best class that I have taken at UCLA so far.

This was one of my favorite and most memorable classes at UCLA. I initially signed up because I needed a writing class, and had a general interest in science-fiction. However, I was really impressed by what I got out of this course. It's not just about writing- in fact, I would argue it's actually MOSTLY about learning to think in new ways and challenging the process of how we perceive information. I would definitely recommend the class and the professor. David Shorter is an engaging speaker and thinker.

WAITLIST DOESN'T GET ENROLLED. Made an account just to help some homies. If you wanna confirm, call the World Arts Department. Here's the website (phone number found here): https://www.wacd.ucla.edu/