I did not know this going into the cluster class, but every 5 weeks we get a new professor. Out of all of the professors I’ve currently had for this cluster, I can easily say that Basset was the best one. Although all of the material was roughly the same throughout the year, Basset was the only professor who made the lectures engaging and interesting. He was passionate about what he would speak about, and engaged the class in multiple ways such as bringing in food that related to the lesson for the students to sample, or suggesting outside of class opportunities that pertained to the topics we were learning about. I also found his assigned reading “The Jungle Effect” to be really interesting and actually enjoyable to read. If you took AP Environmental Science in highschool, this class is basically extended APES. There is a lot of overlap in the topics.
The workload changes slightly with each new professor, but overall the workload for this class is very light and manageable. The one main assignment for the quarter is an end of the quarter research paper, but you have all quarter to work on it which gives you a lot of time.

There's no better way to knock out your science GEs than this class. Dr. Bassett is an incredibly engaging lecturer, though he only teaches half the quarter. The rest of the quarter rotated between a couple of less interesting but still fun professors. 40% of the grade in this class is devoted to a 5-page research paper you get nearly the entire quarter to write. Another 16% is "labs" which are done in section that are usually nothing more than Googling a few things and filling out an Excel spreadsheet. There are also brief reading responses as homework. Finally, weekly quizzes make up 24% of the grade. They're open-note, online, and mostly touch on material covered in lectures with some questions based on the reading. You'll want to attend lectures to prepare for the quizzes and hear about each professor's different perspectives on the subject. Though the general "food" focus can be a little repetitive, each professor mixes it up enough so it's still interesting throughout the quarter. There are so many resources to help you succeed in this class, from a peer writing specialist to extremely accommodating TAs. Essentially, the class is designed for your success. I recommend it to any non-STEM major who needs science GEs.

Professor Bassett had a perfectly balanced class structure that was really helpful for the start of the cluster and the overall start of college classes for freshmen. Homework are readings, reading reflections, and the occasional labs that you start in your discussions. His readings aren't too heavy because they're narrative books, not research papers. Professor Bassett's presentation slides had just enough writing for the points while his lecture filled in the details. His lectures are really engaging and fun to listen thanks to his showmanship. I felt that his section of the food cluster was a fair class where you could do well as long as you tried.

This class was great. As long as you do all the assignments, all the TA's and professors are really helpful and understanding. Would take again for this reason.

Spectacular, love this man and this class so so much, would totally gatekeep if there was any way to sneak in as a second year

Prof. Bassett is an insanely engaging lecturer who cares about teaching. He is a fascinating guy who is deeply involved in his field of study. I never missed lectures because he had fantastic anecdotes to share, and the lecture was often informative. Go to class because the weekly quizzes are mainly based on what he says in the lecture (some questions are based on readings), and if you aren't there to listen, you might miss out on some minor things he said. I could not recommend this class enough. If you attend lectures and discussions, pay attention, and complete the work assigned on time (which is extremely manageable), you are virtually guaranteed to succeed.

Dr. Bassett was a great professor to have my first quarter at UCLA. He only taught the first half of the course, & I thought this half was the most enjoyable. He is a very engaging lecturer and knows how to make his students feel comfortable/welcome. You have to read 2 small books for his half of the course, and they’re actually enjoyable and interesting. The workload is pretty light and very doable with more difficult classes. I’d definitely recommend this course with this professor!!

James Basset is seriously the best professor ever. His lectures are extremely interesting, and he always took the time to do some sort of hands-on demonstration. Jennifer Jay (the 2nd lecturer for the course), is also quite interesting, although her lectures can sometimes be monotonous.
Overall - take this class! Very enjoyable!