I took this class online and almost dropped it when I saw the syllabus. It looks like its going to be a ridiculous amount of work but it turns out that you really do not need to do all the readings. He basically goes over all of the important stuff from the readings during the lectures, so the workload is not bad at all. You write 2 essays that are less than 2 pages each and you take a midterm and a final. You also do a weekly submission to your TA that's only a paragraph long. I still did the readings because they are interesting and help with the submission but don't panic if you can't finish all of them (there are like 100 pages assigned a week). Alim is funny and pretty engaging and incredibly helpful with preparing for the exams.

This was a really great class, he did it asynchronously during my quarter (as a commuter I loved this). I would recommend attending lectures at the very least, as he goes over all the material that will be on the tests and they are not recorded. The reading is a bit heavy, but he says to do the reading after the lectures to know what to focus on. He explains everything that is on the test in great detail. However, be warned because some of the test questions are incredibly long and detailed. Make sure you know everything he has mentioned will be on the test. Honestly, if you attend lecture, take notes, and look up what he said you will need for the test you will get an A. The material is very eye opening, it discusses how language is used to discriminate minorities and how we can have better educational pedagogies to fix this.

This class had lots of interesting material which made the lectures and discussions pretty engaging. If you watch the lectures, pay attention, and do the readings, you will be able to get every question right on the two tests which make up 60% of the grade. He makes sure that every question on them is taught in class, so it's a really fair test. The rest of the course is fairly graded as well, from the essays to the discussion section participation and attendance. There is no extra credit offered. Professor Alim is a really nice guy and cool dude.

Professor Alim is one of my favorite professors. He is extremely helpful, passionate, and want all his students to do really well. The exams were all asynchronous and online on Canva, and the 2 essays were quite easy. The workload is very manageable, because there is only 1 discussion post every week. The readings are very option (I barely did them) and still did very well on the test because he summarizes the readings during the lectures. I would highly recommend this class with Alim.

I took this class first quarter of freshman year during COVID-19 distance learning. Professor Alim is super helpful and super nice, and all of his TA's seemed pretty chill and interactive with the work material. Alim is not very strict (except about certain essay due dates) and likes to maintain a friendly class environment. His passion for the subjects discussed is apparent and really improves the class atmosphere. The coursework is very interesting and analyzes/criticizes relations between White normativity and spoken language. Most of the readings were very interesting, there were only a few that I did not enjoy. Not a difficult class as long as you stay on top of the readings and work with your TA groups. Definitely my favorite class first quarter. (To my understanding, the professor for this class changes every once in a while so if you get a chance to take it with Professor Alim it's definitely worth it!)

Overall, I really enjoyed this class and found it really enriching. Professor Alim is a great professor but also a great person. He was always helpful and passionate, and genuinely cares for his students' success. After class or during office hours he was always available if anyone ever had a question or just wanted to chat. He was also really adamant about getting students who were on the waitlist into his class.

The class is structured so that there is your first “celebration of knowledge” (midterm), midterm paper, second “celebration”, and final paper. The papers were both very manageable, and Alim and the TAs covered all the material that was on the “celebrations”. He makes it a point during class to specifically point out important content that will be tested. Based on the title of the course alone which is “Culture and Communication” I initially thought that the course would be a more communications-centered class. However, the course explores a lot of diverse and interesting topics, especially pertaining to race and marginalized groups as they relate to communication. Although some of the readings were a little dense and confusing, the professor and TAs are really helpful at clarifying concepts. I took this class for my major, but this is a great course as an easy GE where you also gain knowledge about a really interesting subject. SIDENOTE do NOT purchase the textbook. The professor provides a pdf of the online version, and the UCLA store currently will NOT buy the textbook back.

Professor Alim was an amazing professor to start the year off with. His lectures were interactive and he always had something knew for us to learn. We watched a movie in class and a Netflix Original where the producers came and answered all of our questions. The tests are multiple choice online and there were two essays that were due. Apart from that my TA was great, he was super well spoken and made everything clear. I will say there are a lot of readings and vocab to learn which is important to study. Professor Alim loves to interact with his students which made the lecture feel like a discussion. Overall, I recommend this class for anyone looking for a good starter class at UCLA.

Professor Alim was an amazing professor to start the year off with. His lectures were interactive and he always had something knew for us to learn. We watched a movie in class and a Netflix Original where the producers came and answered all of our questions. The tests are multiple choice online and there were two essays that were due. Apart from that my TA was great, he was super well spoken and made everything clear. I will say there are a lot of readings and vocab to learn which is important to study. Professor Alim loves to interact with his students which made the lecture feel like a discussion. Overall, I recommend this class for anyone looking for a good starter class at UCLA.

This was the best intro survey course I've ever taken at UCLA. Professor Alim is clearly dedicated to his students' success. He explains concepts clearly, introduces multimedia content into lecture, and provides review guides for each and every exam. His office hours are extremely helpful, and the TAs also review lecture in section so be sure to attend if you are confused. The weekly readings are often dense.

For the class breakdown: Section attendance is 20%, there are 2 short papers worth 10% each, and each exam is worth 30% (midterm and final). Professor Alim refers to his exams as "celebrations of knowledge" and does his best to alleviate any stress over these exams. Exams are multiple choice and straightforward so a brief review of lecture will review if you've attended every class. If I were looking for an interesting GE to take, I'd choose this one!

This class is a 100% take again! This was my favorite class this quarter. I will say there was a lot of reading involved this quarter so if you don't like to read... lols. But Alim's slides were very helpful and got the overall concepts of the reading. He goes pretty fast during lecture so make sure to have your phone out ready to take pictures. The weekly homework was simple as well, just a summary of the week's reading. The TA Erick, Matus was hands down the best TA! He seems to really care about everyone passing with an A and is so laid back. His discussions were nice to sit through especially when he played videos relating to the concepts we were learning. The midterm and final were take home also! Honestly if you just do the readings and go to lecture this class is an EASY A! 1000% recommend!!