Very easy and manageable class. Definitely recommend for an easy GE! As a STEM major the discussions (attendance/'participation' is counted for discussions) were sometimes the most fun class of my week. It depends on the TA but my discussions were silly little activities that didn't require you to have done the readings (plan a music festival, karaoke, make a collage abt a topic, etc). Your grade mainly consists of two papers and a final project, all of which are opinion based and don't require knowledge from the lectures. There are also two take home quizzes that were fairly easy. Lectures were pretty entertaining too but you don't need to go to do well in the class!

Seriously the easiest GE ever. I never went to lectures past week three and got an A. The essays topics were easy and didn’t pertain to lecture material. The TAs determine how easily the work is graded but mine was VERY forgiving. There were two take home quizzes that weren’t difficult. If you want an easy GE with minimal workload definitely take this class. It’s a nice GPA booster if anything and the lectures consisted of interesting material.

I cannot exaggerate how easy this class was. You really don’t need to show up to lecture but there were still some fun lectures with guest performers and speakers so I would still go for the experience! As a STEM major this was definitely my break from math and stuff. The essays are easy to write since they are basically opinionated and could be done in a day. The final project was also really easy and not stressful at all. The quizzes were take home and easy if you do them with a friend. Definitely recommend if you want an easy GE.

This class is an extremely easy GE and I found the material to be pretty interesting, if I were to take this class I would've done all the readings and listened to the songs because it's cool to learn about but aren't neccessary to know to get an A in the class. The two papers were graded really easily, got an A on both without going to office hours and spending pretty minimal effort on them. The two quizzes were take home and the first one required information from the readings, and although the second one was supposed to be a "listening quiz" it was just a quiz on the info from the listening notes posted on bruinlearn, not complaining though because it was extremely easy to get a 100% on. Attendance for sections is mandatory, and the sections were pretty interesting as well if you like music and the social context behind it, I would reccomend coming to sections with some knowledge of the weekly readings so it's not painfully awkward and silent when your TA is trying to fish for any engagement with the students. The final project is a playlist with an essay about half of the songs, this was a fun project to do and I really enjoyed learning more about the genre I chose, also an easy A, just make sure you get your citing in the right format. Lectures are really boring and it would be beneficial if the lecture slides were posted on bruinlearn.

BEST GE EVER. You don't need to attend lecture to do well on the discussion quizzes or the essays. The essays don't have to do with lecture they're just on topics you pick pretty much. Your TA matters a lot because they grade your essays, but I had Ting Ting and she was amazing.

This class is definitely an easy GE. The lectures were not mandatory so I typically did not attend especially since they were boring, but the content itself was interesting. The content reviewed in lectures was not necessary to know in order to do the assignments. I think I had like 5 assignments in total for this class. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an easy and interesting GE!

If you're looking for an easy GE or just an easy class, this class is for you! You don't have to attend lecture to do well.

Here are all of the things you need to do to ace this class:
1. read over the listening notes before the in class quizzes (don't worry they're easy)
2. Follow the prompts for the essays and have as few grammatical errors as possible on your essays (they're graded super generously) -- the essays have very little to do with lectures, and they're super short
3. Show up to discussion

A caviat:
The lectures are super boring but the content is lowk interesting

9/10 experience would take again

TAKE THIS CLASS FOR A GE! This class was generally pretty easy. No midterms or final, just 3 papers and a final paper. Ruskin was pretty boring during lecture, so I didn't feel the need to come to class since our papers were opinion-based and basically had nothing to do with lecture. The only lecture that was interesting was when Ruskin brought in a guest Bollywood lecture. He also cancelled class for all of Week 1 and a couple more times throughout the quarter, so I wasn't used to waking up at 9am to go to class. He does require you to go to discussion, and there is one listening quiz on the songs we talked about in class, but it is a VERY small percentage of your grade. I believe the quiz was about 1% of your grade and I skipped discussion 2-3 times and still got an A. My TA (Maya Blair) was a pretty forgiving grader. I am very STEM-oriented and did not give very strong opinions on the topics given, but as long as you have correct formatting and grammar you should get a good grade.

Ruskin is super nice but he's just kinda boring and as a result only like forty people ever came to lecture. My friend and I would go sometimes and some classes were really fun like when our guest lecturer was a Bollywood/modern dance instructor/choreographer Achinta and we had a blast learning from her. A good amount of classes were just Ruskin rambling through slides with a LOTTTT of background. The class depends mostly on your TA and mine (chris rorke) was very generous in giving my a 90, 95, 100, 95 on the first paper, second paper, playlist, and final paper respectively. I however fully wrote them under the wire and did not even proofread before I submitted them (in fact I finished my final paper within ten minutes of it being due and then did the extra credit in five minutes). Ruskin did offer 3% extra credit at the end for a super quick summary/opinion on any reading from the class. There was one listening quiz; I failed but still got an A in the class. Would recommend if you never want to go to class and are willing to write like 3000 words total for the whole course.

This is definitely one of the easiest GE's that I've taken. Professor Ruskin is not a super engaging lecturer, but if you are into music then you'll enjoy the material. There are a lot of assigned readings, but you don't need to read them thoroughly as long as you understand the main points. The papers are not graded toughly and the quizzes and tests are not difficult either as long as you've prepared. He also had a lot of cool guest lecturers, which kept the class more interesting. If you've never taken a music class at UCLA and are looking for a GE, I highly recommend this class.