TL;DR: It was tough but definitely worth
So we basically have to read a novel every week... its kinda a lot but the novels are all really enjoyable reads. It was nice to finally read fun books again since I haven't read novels since high school.
For me, the toughest part of this class was the essays. We had 4 book reviews throughout the quarter (3 short ones, 1 long one) and we had 3 essays for a take home final. The take home final was rough esp cuz it was due in finals week

I really enjoyed this class. Even though I could had got a better grade because I procrastinated a lot, I still managed to pass it with a B. The workload is alright, just readings and then do a commentary that is not so long on it twice a week. Also the final and midterms are just doing fan fiction's of those lectures. I would loveeee to take this class again. The professor is also charismatic and so passionate

So glad I took this class!!! Prof. Dutton is so passionate and knowledgeable about SEASIAN literature, and also is very caring and makes an effort to remember all of his students' names. Easy GE, just a lot of reading (don't take this with other classes that have a heavy reading load). SEASIAN 70 was like a fun book club -- each class period, we'd spend the entire time discussing the assigned books. I'd recommend this class to people who enjoy participating in class, reading, and writing (weekly short responses, and for the midterm and final, we had to write fanfiction for one of the books we've read).

class is a pretty easy GE, only downside is loads and loads of reading. Dutton is super understanding and doesn't really believe in 'grading' per say so as long as u participate and do your best to keep up with the readings, you'll be fine. 2 big papers in this class, weekly write up responses to books, and thats basically it

Dr. Dutton is really passionate about literature, so be prepared to do a lot of reading for this class. That being said, he's also pretty flexible with the reading: he writes summaries of the books and lets you skip 3 of the biweekly reading reviews, and you don't really have to read super thoroughly because all of the work for the class is graded on completion. So, I think it's a good class for people who are really invested and want to read a lot, but there isn't much pressure to read everything so it's also a good class for people who don't want to read too much. Overall, good selection of books and would highly recommend it!

Took this class right as quarantine started during Spring quarter. Prof Dutton uploaded 15-20 minute mini lectures which we were expected to watch before class. Class was entirely discussion based and we would just talk about the readings for an hour. The class was fairly small (~20 students) and he encouraged everyone to participate. As for grading, he told us that as long as we completed all of the assignments, he would give everyone an A. He did follow through on that, but there were quite a few readings and assignments. All readings were uploaded as PDFs on CCLE. Every week, we would read a short story or part of a book, and we had to submit a reading response for every week (with two freebies). For the midterm and final, we had to write a fanfiction about one of the books we read in the quarter. Overall, it was a fun and informative class. Prof Dutton is really nice and class was pretty chill. He also bought all of us a book at the end of the quarter, which was sweet. Only downsides are that there is quite a bit of reading and if you don't like to talk in class, then it might be a drag. Otherwise, I highly recommend as the readings are really interesting and it's almost a guaranteed A.

I LOVED THIS CLASS! It was really nice to take a class with a smaller group and spend time just having discussions. I took this class via zoom and Professor Dutton basically told us on the first day that as long as we did the assignments and showed up to class, we'd get an A. He actually reads through all of your assignments himself and responds to whatever you write. Plus, the midterm and final were basically just writing fan fiction about something you read. I highly recommend this class to anyone who loves to read (since there is a lot of reading). This is probably one of my favorite classes that I've taken so far at UCLA (and it's just a GE).

Professor Dutton was amazing for SEASIAN 70. He was very clear, used slides that he frequently posted on CCLE, was always available to help, offered extra credit, gave fair tests, and more. The workload was a little tough though, as the readings really do pile up. But they are very interesting and I've read some of the best Thai and Burmese pieces of literature I've ever read in this class. This class was sort of a "hybrid" as there was only a lecture section and no designated discussion section. Because of this, the class was about 40 people and participation was extremely encouraged. Dutton makes an effort to learn everybody's names as well. He was an engaging lecturer and I'm glad I took this class. Although I didn't get an A, this class was a great.