Branstetter is my absolute favorite educator in the Political Science department. He's a really fun(ny) professor, genuinely cares about his students' success, and prioritizes learning over grades. There is no hw, exams, or participation credit, just two 10-page group papers with the most lenient grading scale you can think of. The prompts are relatively easy to answer as long as you pay attention to lectures and communicate with your group. Because the lectures took place over Zoom, he recorded them and uploaded them shortly after class along with the slides. Some of the readings (which are free and uploaded online as PDFs) can be difficult, especially if you're new to socialist theory, but he does an amazing job of breaking it all down. Lastly, he was very understanding about the news of police violence/BLM protests towards the end of the quarter and adjusted the final paper so that it was optional AND extended the due date. I definitely recommend taking at least one class with him (any of them, honestly) during your time at UCLA because he really is the best!

This class was so interesting. It prioritizes learning over grades, and I felt so connected to the materials and my classmates because I didn't have to constantly freak out over getting good scores. Such a great class and professor!

Professor Branstetter is someone I'd love to sit and talk to at length about political issues for hours or days. He's fascinating and intelligent.

However, he's not a very good teacher.

While I appreciate a philosophy that grades wouldn't matter to the Frankfurt School of thinking - the world we live in isn't that one, so his options in the class of earning an "A+" or "F" (basically everyone gets a participation trophy that shows up), is insulting and inspires laziness and lack of thoughtfulness.

It was a particularly tough quarter, and in this course I knew that I would earn an A+ for minimal effort, so I put my efforts elsewhere that required more focus. I can honestly say that everything I learned in this course came off the syllabus.

Branstetter is simply the best. If you have the chance to take a class with him, do it.