I loved this class. I would sooooo take another class with Professor Leap but I am a sociology major so I don't think it would be towards any credit unfortunately. This professor has awesome stories, guest lecturers, engaging lectures, and interesting experiences. In this class Professor Leap emphasizes that it is about knowledge learned so READ the books as they're interesting, do not stress over the papers, and work on your final project in a timely fashion and you'll get an A. Don't ask her about your grade in class and definitely don't ask her a question she JUST answered. I really wish this class were in person but it was conveniently online as it was a class that ended at 8pm and in the Winter quarter it would get dark earlier. I know I didn't get to talk to her personally enough but I'd say if you have the chance to do it. You can come to her to talk about anything (when it's outside of class) and please participate and ask questions/make comments because it makes the class all the more entertaining.

For this class we met every Monday on Zoom and had 4 books to read, 2 reflection papers, 1 final project. She wanted us to work in groups for the final project and if we did, we got extra credit but you could work solo if you wanted to. You could choose the topic to do your policy brief on and had to do a video component. The books and class material is so interesting! She's super funny, caring, inspiring and understanding. We had guest lecturers and she let students voice their opinions and ask questions. We had TA sections and my TA was a bit serious. TA sections were a bit unnecessary to me and kind of awkward. One day she had us watch The Simpsons for the last 30 minutes of class and she created a safe space for students to share personal stories that related to the material. She's known for having this class be an "easy A", but you still need to put in effort! I highly recommend her!!

super easy class, everyone gets an A but the lectures were all over the place and she lost my attention once she started putting out copaganda, there was a lot of cognitive dissonance tbh. all the books are pretty interesting reads (i actually recommend everyone read caste: the origins of our discontents it was that good) but not necessary to the class

Please keep in mind I took this class during the COVID-19 pandemic, so everything was virtual. Professor Leap is awesome. She cares about her students so much and she truly is focused on student learning and does not grade harshly at all. Grade is based off of just three 2-paged, personal reflections and a final that is two 3-paged essays and one 1-page essay based off of prompts she gives. As long as you pull from the readings and/or lectures and put some effort and thought into your essays, you will get an A in this class. There are 4 books assigned and they are all really good and easy to finish quickly because of how intriguing they are. There was a guest lecturer almost every week of the second half of the quarter, which I was not a huge fan of because Professor barely lectured. I understand she wanted her students to hear from other people and from different perspectives, but I think there were one-too-many guest lecturers.

Jorja Leap is INCREDIBLE! Take this class! Jorja does not care about grades, she cares only about student learning. I learned so much in this class and overall, the class was extremely informational, applicable, and really opened my eyes to prevalent issues. All the guest speakers were very interesting and all of the assignments, minus the final, are reflections on things we learn in class and the books. She does assign us to read some books (which are all very interesting). As long as you have a basic idea of what happens in the books, you should be just fine for this class. The final is worth 50% of the grade and was graded more harshly than the reflection assignments. You get the final prompts on a Monday and the final is due on a Friday. Make sure that your final is extremely descriptive and reflects the books accurately. You want to make sure you answer "hows" and "whys" in your final to make sure its as thorough as possible. Jorja DOES NOT give A+'s, so the highest grade you can get in this class is an A.

This was the worst Public Affairs class I've taken. It is extremely disorganized and the lectures were a waste of time. The assignments were easy but the teaching staff gave no instructions and little feedback. Dr. Leap emphasizes that she cares more about student learning than grades, but it creates a stressful environment for students who are balancing too many things, especially a global pandemic. Reflection papers would be assigned after class ended at 7PM and then due the next morning, giving students only a few hours to work on the paper. The turnaround time for grading was so slow and we wouldn't get feedback on the first reflection paper until the second one was already turned in. The lectures were horribly disorganized and there was no central theme throughout the course, not to mention one of the lectures was completely devoted to copaganda and "all lives matter" rhetoric.

Amazing professor, amazing class. I can’t imagine not taking this class before graduating UCLA. Dr. Jorja Leap is an angel. Her expertise in public affairs and other related fields is outstanding. I looked forward to Mondays because of this class. She has phenomenal speakers, fabulous TA’s, and wonderful assigned books to read. Dr. Leap’s lectures always amazed me and I will never forget what I have learned. This was such a great experience because of all the interesting material presented to us. I recommend this course 100%

Please take her if you want a stress relief class. Her lectures and class itself are just like therapy sessions. We get into serious topics, but you learn so much. She doesn't do tests or midterms. We just do 3 reaction papers (2 pages each) and 1 final which is 3 questions around 8 pages. Honestly it's an easy A, she even says it herself. I had Mike as a TA, he's so sweet and plays music for us. The class also requires us to do 4 readings, the readings along with the lectures are for the reaction papers, and final they help us relate what we read to the lecture. The reading may be a lot but their easy reads and you're fine skimming too. Please take her and take any courses she offers! Guaranteed an A grade.

You MUST read the assigned books. Tests are easy as long as you have read. The books are critical to your success on the written portion of the essays.

VERY engaging class. Professor Leap has structured this in such a way that provides wonderful insight to students about many social issues

Really great class overall. Half the lectures are given by the TA's . Professor Leap is so engaging and speaks about relevant and meaningful topics such as poverty, mass incarceration, gangs, and immigration. Definitely read the books because they are tested on despite not being covered thoroughly in class. No homework aside from reading and lecture attendance is mandatory.