Decker is terribleeeee lol we always have a joke about how much he sucks. Vavreck and Fink are g's though, I absolutely love them. The class itself is really interesting, don't do the reading though, don't buy the course reader it's $60 and you'll open it once. Super fun and entertaining, would recommend.

Professor Decker is so fucking boring; by the end of the second quarter I hated his lectures with passion. The other professors were somewhat better, specially Fink, but overall the class gets really tiresome by the Winter quarter. However, I would advise sticking with it until the end, as the Spring seminar was quite fun and enjoyable (I took it with Tom, but it is different for every TA and year, so YMMV). Personally, I think it's worth the extra credit.

This is not a review for Professor Decker. This is for the Cluster 60 in general. I decided to take this cluster for its credit (satisfies 4 GE, writing II, diversity, etc). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CLASS. Clusters do have the reputation of having a greater workload but it is not the case for this one. I'm so glad that I stuck with this cluster for my freshman year. It's pretty interesting and definitely a GPA booster in my opinion.
It's not the easiest A as you do have to pay attention to lecture, do the readings (at least for the first quarter. I stopped using the course reader after the midterm of fall quarter and was perfectly fine). This class helped me adjust to college along with making new friends and strong bonds with my TA.
Another benefit for this class is that you get priority for Eng Comp 3 (if you need to take it) for your winter/spring quarter. Based on what I heard from my peers, Eng Comp 3 and writing classes general are EXTREMELY hard to get in since everyone needs to take at least one writing class. You won't have to worry about it as you receive your writing II credit during your spring quarter, which is basically a three hour seminar one a week. You also don't have to worry about not getting a class since you are guaranteed enrollment to the course for winter and spring .
I assume that you are reading this review to decide to take this class or not. Well I would like to say TAKE IT because it is extremely rewarding and you won't regret it. I benefited a lot from this class and it satisfied most of my GE requirements as a STEM major.

Don't listen to everyone saying not to sign up for the clusters!!! I am a stem major and totally recommend the history cluster. It was fun and relatively easy. Basically the four different profession rotate giving lectures. Your fall grade consists of the midterm and two papers. Some lectures are suppperrr interesting, (I liked Vavrek and the musicology teacher) but Decker is so boring I stopped going to his lecture. There is very little to no homework at all. Fall quarter you read two books and choose one of them to write an essay on. I actually enjoyed the books we read. The midterm was pretty easy but you get docked off a lot of points for the smallest mistakes. If you have a good TA (shoutout to Leslie) then they will help you get good grades on the papers which will ensure a good grade in the class. Since there is no final for the class I skipped lots of classes after the midterm since all we had left was the Polling Paper which had nothing to do with the lectures. Not sure if winter quarter is just as easy but if you like history I def recommend taking the cluster to knock out a bunch of GEs.

Decker is probably the sweetest but most boring professor I’ve had at UCLA. The dude is a little boring but you manage to get through it. However, again he’s a very nice guy. Would not recommend taking this cluster, take another one if you want the credit. This cluster is an interesting time in history but the faculty is very disorganized in teaching it. As a history major, they do a poor job of keeping it on a time sequence. The class bores you with readings that are too long and focusing on things that are very bland in the Sixties with no time frame whatsoever. Adam Bakr is an awesome TA though, if he’s a TA next year you should Forsure take it.

Okay you guys... I took this cluster Fall 2020-Spring 2021 and I thought I should finally give my thoughts just in case there is a freshman like me who has no idea if this cluster is right for them. I decided to take this cluster by literally winging it, I remember there was literally only one spot left when my enrollment time came. Anyways, after taking this class for a year I would say...... drum roll please.... TAKE THIS CLUSTER. I recommend especially if you were like me and came in with no GE's satisfied. This course is definitely worth it and when I look at my DARS, so many GE's are out of the way. This cluster is especially useful if you are pre-med bc it gets a ton of those GE's out of the way. The workload isn't that bad tbh in 60A you have 2 essays and the same for 60B and 60CW is different for every TA. **Side note I had Sam for my TA and she's the best people were literally fighting over her lmao but def recommend her. She doesn't grade on participation, doesn't grade harshly, and super helpful on essays. For 60CW I took Hanslowe (the seminar on cults) and he grades easy too and participation isn't strict.***

To get to my kinda point...
Take this class not only because of the GE's it gets out of the way but also because you do not have to stress about finding another class that isn't full by the time your enrollment appointment comes up, you get your writing II out of the way, and if you have not yet satisfied EngComp 3 you LITERALLY GET PRIORITY.

Don't listen to those Reddit posts saying that taking clusters ruins your GPA bc they're lying. If past me was reading this I hope I convinced her. ALso I am not re-reading this to check for mistakes, I'm too lazy. But you're welcome.

(For the cluster in general, not just Prof Decker)
Pros:
-understandable content
-organized lectures
-attendance not mandatory (slides posted online)
-straightforward midterm
Cons:
-grade entirely dependent on TA
-papers make up a huge portion of your grade and can be a little complicated
-some of the lectures (especially Decker's) are boring

Every single thing in this class is graded by your TA. If they don't like you, you're screwed. I had a paper that I went to the writing center for 3 times and was told that it "was an A+ paper if I've ever seen one." I ended up getting Bs on all of my papers, which brought my grade down to an A-. The content is simple and this class should be an easy A, but unfortunately, it's very subjective and dependent on your TA. (My TA was S Ewing, he was a good TA just a terribly strict grader)

Prof Decker was extremely helpful and encouraged everyone to participate. Never makes you feel dumb (even if you have some wild takes on the reading). Workload was manageable: weekly worksheets, one short paper at the beginning of the quarter (1 page), second paper during week 8 (4-5 pages), and a final paper (4-5 pages) due at the end. This course focuses on American literature and television, super refreshing and interesting material compared to other English courses. Highly recommend for every English major to take this course.

Selling course reader for GE 60B,

Text me for more details if you are interested :) **********

Selling the course reader for $15.
And I can give you all the reading material they also use this quarter for $2 a book. ex: Meridian, Time out of Joint
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