The professors are very knowledgeable! This year our case studies were the Holocaust, Guatemalan Genocide, and the Yugoslav Wars. Definitely dense material and can get repetitive at times, but overall a great class! Make sure to go to the extra credit events since they’re definitely the best part of the cluster program. If you’re a STEM major I 100% recommend it! Even if you’re not a great writer I don’t think it matters too much (our biggest essays were graded on content not writing style).

A few things to note:
(1) I’m an economics major but I’m thinking about double majoring in history/political science. Although I’ve really enjoyed the class thus far and I’m continuing it next quarter, if I had the choice again I’d probably choose an easy science related cluster since my major classes would already count for the GEs this cluster fulfills.
(2) The lectures are great and you should definitely go. That being said, the writing assignments we’ve had (3 writing “reflections” and a 5-6 page paper) this quarter aren’t that directly related to lecture. Attending lecture definitely helped me when it came to the final exam.
(3) The final exam is the hardest part of the class and is very easy to prepare for. The test pretty much tests whether you spent the past 1-2 days putting in the work to study and it’s hard to BS. The short answer questions are just definitions (which is why taking notes from lecture is important) and two long essay questions (they basically tell you what the prompts are). Know your definitions well and reference a few readings/facts from lecture and you’re fine!

Would definitely recommend this class as a great History upper div. McBride is a fantastic professor, and he really cares about his students. He is a great lecturer, and will make you want to actually show up to class. Very manageable workload, in person midterm, take-home paper final, 1-2 other assignments mixed in throughout the quarter. If you put in the time, you will get an A...there isn't any sneakiness or random things to try to set you up for failure. He is a great guy!

YES, TAKE THIS CLASS! Professor McBride is by far one of the BEST professors at UCLA, so you should feel fully confident in taking any of his classes. He is a very understanding professor, and is genuinely trying to make sure that everyone does well, he is not out to get you at all. His lectures are great, he posts the lectures slides (super informative) and does a great job covering the material thoroughly & reviewing for the midterm. In-person midterm, take-home paper final, couple other assignments mixed in throughout the quarter but very manageable. Would 100% recommend.

I would 100% recommend this to any freshman looking to knock off a bunch of writing II credits & other GE's. McBride & Rothberg are AMAZING lecturers, Sengul's left a lot to be desired. Extremely manageable workload, if you show up to discussion & get the papers done on time, you will get an A.

This review is mostly about the TA Sharon, since TA's determine your grades for this cluster. She is most possibly the harshest TA I have ever had. She expects you to write at a graduate level, inconsiderate of the fact that this is only our second quarter in college and that this entire course is meant to be a GE not a major required class!! Also, when you try to seek out help from her, she will give you some vague advice or only help you with a small thing such as a thesis, and won't really help you overall. Then, when you do apply the advice, it's still not good enough for an A. She also expects us to be lively during discussion but to be fair she's not really much of an exciting person herself, and I'm pretty sure everybody's quiet because they don't like her enough to feel bad and say something. My first quarter TA, Cardozo, was quite literally the nicest person ever. As long as we said one thing during class he gave us full participation, and his advice and help was actually useful. Anyways, pick your TA wisely because your grade depends on them lol. Take this class if you can get a good TA and don't pick Sharon. Professors/lectures/ topics themselves were interesting.

Not a history major, not a poli sci major. TAKE THIS CLASS!!! I'm a psych major and needed a class that fit into my busy schedule, so took this as an elective. I have never been so happy to take a gamble on a class I wasn't sure of. I've never been crazy interested in history, nor have I ever been that good at it. However, Professor McBride changed my mind completely. This class is so interesting and eye-opening, there was never a day that I wasn't excited to show up to class. He is able to make anything easy to understand and it is so clear how passionate he is about his work. He is always ready to help or further clarify something. The midterm was very fair and he hosted a great review session during normal class time to review. The assignments are spaced apart and ask for enough information to show you're learning but aren't unmanageable. I loved this class and this professor so much, I would take this class over again if I could.

McBride is a very kind and engaging professor. The class is very manageable and the material is worth learning, he makes a lot of connections to today. I do want to re-emphasize how great McBride is!!!

enjoyed the content in the class, the grading was not bad but since the strike affected this quarter, everyone got full credit for the papers as long as they were turned in

Dr. McBride is an awesome lecturer and a fair grader. He makes this class even more interesting than it already is, and the workload is pretty manageable too. His slides are well-written and packed with information and analysis, so I'd save those as study materials. You'll have two exams and two assignments: a paper based on an assigned topic (you can choose from two or three) and a course diary. The diary is basically a free A if you complete it and provide some original opinions. There's a lot of reading, but it's all translated to or written in English, and if you pace yourself, you'll be fine.

This class was different to other history classes I have taken, which I liked. Obviously, the foundation of the class is watching films from this era, and I think the professor picked a really nice variety of films. I liked some better than others but none were awful. Definitely take notes on the films and on the film elements that McBride discusses at the beginning of the class. The class meets once a week which I found very manageable. Overall would suggest that anyone interested in the subject material take this class because it is a less convential way of learning about history.