TAKE THIS CLUSTER. I saw the reviews and genuinely thought I just ruined my GPA for all of freshmen year but this was by far the best thing this year. I went to lecture maybe 5-6 times every quarter just so I could turn in my papers and if I was curious about the material on a particular day. The books are supposedly mandatory but I stopped buying them like half way through the first quarter and did fine. You just really have to spend time twice a quarter, once on the midterm paper and once for the final paper, by really reading the text of whichever books you choose. As long as you go to the writing center to get help and work like 3-4 days in advance you will churn out a 90-94 paper. Granted, this class is almost entirely dependent on your TA. I had a really good and chill TA so I got by with little to no work but I remember hearing about some TA's that just gave you a bunch of work for a stupid GE cluster. PS. A lot of the kids in this class really try hard during lecture and it can be alarming but really it means nothing its all about how well you can read a prompt and write a paper.

My general advise would be to only take this class if you enjoy philosophy and political science. I do, so I'm super happy I took this class and really feel that it made me a more learned and analytical person. These books (like The Social Contract, Leviathan) are some of the most important books ever written so it's cool to take a college class that dives into them.
As far as I can tell, getting a solid A in this class is difficult. Unless your TA is generous and gives out A+s in participation, you have to get a solid A on at least one of the two essays, which is difficult but not impossible. I would definitely encourage you to develop a relationship with your TA and seek out their help.
Professor Dienstag specifically is clearly brilliant and is the most engaging of the lecturers in this class. He often puts things in very interesting ways that you would normally never think about. Unlike other professors (especially in the winter quarter of this cluster), he spends most of his time actually analyzing the texts, instead of talking about the historical backdrop or the life of the author. I can definitely see where reviews calling him arrogant or stuck-up are coming from, but I don't think that really affects you. He's just a really smart dude at the top of his field who won't be fake-nice if you ask a question that isn't very substantive. He is generally polite and does his best to answer any question.
Also, when I was signing up for this class, they already had the TAs listed, so I would suggest you look them up and read about what they study and whatnot, so you can choose one that you think you'd vibe with. That worked out really well for me.

K I got a A- in this class so you know I have to real slighted to be writing a review on BruinWalk, but let me tell you: DONT TAKE THIS CLASS. I went into this class with an open mind, because look I'm a nerd and I like philosophy what about it and I did pretty well in English classes back in high school so I wasn't that scared of the writing-heavy of the class. Like I really felt this cluster was created for people with my niche interests and I was pretty happy to sign up. The class was honestly whatever, like the lectures are boring but it's philosophy what do you expect. But holy fuck the Grading? ABSOLUTE ASS. It's not objective at all. It's so freaking ironic that they spend the whole class trying to be like the Enlightenment was all about using reason to find objective truths about humans etc, but they can't even apply objectivity to grading in the slightest. You're graded on three grades: two paper and participation, so it's like you really gotta make everything you turn in count. I got an A and an A- on my papers, and for participation get this: they capped off participation at A- because of "the curve". Curves aren't supposed to lower everyone's grades????? Like if the highest grade was a A-, then surprise surprise A- is the new A. And as for my A- paper? My TA didn't tell me to make any improvements to my first draft and in fact said he was satisfied with it, so when I got my paper back and I asked him why did I get an A- then, he just said my ideas weren't strong enough, like,,,why didn't you tell me how to make them stronger then???? Also just fyi, this is a 6 credits course so if all your other classes are like 4-5 credits, a A- is gna drag you. The worst part of the worst part was that the other day, I overheard this guy in my class telling me he got two Bs and obviously an A- on participation, and He Got An A in the class. Like what the actual flipping fuck.
tl;dr don't take this class because its grading is complete bull

I hated this cluster. The professors are not engaging at all and come off pretentious. There is SOOOO much reading, but we never even discuss it so you are just left confused. There are a few papers throughout the course of this class. The last quarter you can choose which seminar you attend.

Dienstag is a good lecturer--his lectures are pretty easy-going (he uses slides but posts them all so you don't have to rush to copy everything down) and are helpful for determining what the profs expect you to get out of the readings. I liked this class well enough, but I would NOT take this class if you are not interested in the material. Personally, I really enjoyed all the readings and the lectures were alright, but that was about it. I found the discussion section pretty dull, and I disliked writing the essays because I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of doing them, besides a grade. So don't take the class if you just want a class to fill humanities credits-- if you don't like the material you will be miserable.

Definitely a tough but rewarding class. The lectures are incredibly interesting and insightful due to the variety of professors/ teaching styles/ literature, but the most important to engage in are your discussions because your TAs are the ones that give you your grades. Lots of important readings so it's really helpful to be able to flesh them out in your discussions as to give you deeper reach when you write your essays. I really loved this class because of its intellectual value but if you're looking for an easy A, maybe reconsider.

This cluster is based on your TA's grading, not the actual professor. It's essential that you buy all the books. I only took this class because I am a life science major and needed the GE's. This class requires critical reading and thinking skills for a subject I have never found entertaining. They weren't kidding when they said this was the hardest cluster.

I absolutely adore professor Dienstag. He is so engaging and makes the lectures genuinely fun and interesting to listen to. He is also very good at making very difficult texts easily understandable. Unlike many of my other classes I actually always look forward to going to Dienstag's lectures and would certainly take him again if given the opportunity. Wonderful professor. The reading is a lot and is quite difficult but the class itself is not difficult.

Dienstag is the funnier professor in 21A, and his lectures were on more difficult material, but he gives concise interpretation of readings. I enjoyed his class.