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.