I thought this class would be an easy elective to take for upper div units alongside my major classes and boy was I wrong! Smoak's lectures cover about 35% of what you need to know, and the textbook is where the real content is found. The problem with that is that he assigns ~80 pages of dense reading per week (that's a lot for me). Would not recommend it as a filler class.

I took this class thinking it would be a great elective to get me to my 12 units for the quarter. BOY WAS I WORNG! This professor assigns dense readings of 80 pages per week minimum if you're lucky. It was more like 100 pages per week which typically entailed 60 pages out of a textbook and 40 pages from the Jewish Bible. In terms of grading, he is definitely not an easy grader. If you avoid doing the readings and don't listen to lecture on top of not taking notes throughout the quarter, YOU WILL NOT DO WELL! Regarding finals week, he will slap you with a dense research paper and a final exam which will both be graded harshly. If you do not have to take him, DON'T TAKE HIM! This was the only A- on my transcript throughout my UCLA career which messed up my 4.0. I would tell you to go to his office hours, but he doesn't even go to them himself! On top of that, he is very terrible with responding to emails especially if you need something urgent [took 5-6 weeks to respond to urgent personal matter]! If you need an easier elective as a random major or a history class as history major, there are plenty of other way better courses and professors you can find. Overall, he's a nice guy, but this entails an unreasonable course and professor which will be toxic towards your course load during a quarter and most probably tarnish your GPA...

I really enjoyed this class. Professor Smoak was very helpful in all facets of class including questions on the material and writing portions of class. The class is made up of 1 midterm, 1 research paper, participation, and the Final Exam. Be sure to take notes on your computer because slides go by fast. He gives study guides for both exams and the tests are largely similar to them. He’s a fair grader and offered 1 extra credit opportunity for 5 points on the midterm. I recommend taking his class. Just keep up on the term paper and study guides and you will do fine.

I have no idea why he has such a low score. Smoak is one of the best professors at UCLA. He's engaging, relatable, funny and just all around great. I'm taking another class with him next quarter even though I was just taking the first one as an elective. He's that good. He gave us very comprehensive study guides for both the midterm and final (worth 30% each) and there's an 8-12 page research paper due at the end of the quarter which he assigns on the syllabus. I haven't received my grade yet but if I don't receive an A its my own fault. TAKE THIS CLASS, YOU WON'T REGRET IT!