This is the best class that I've taken so far at UCLA. Prof. Smurda has changed my thinking about the world.

She presents everything in an interesting, clear way and she's very patient with students. Her tests are fair, but you do need to study. Overall, I would highly recommend taking this class and really any class with Dr. Smurda.

This was a really interesting class! I definitely learned new things about social life!
However this class was extremely difficult for me. I honestly thought I wasn’t going to pass because I got a low score on my first midterm.
Thankfully she was nice enough to alter the grading scale 35% for lower test score and 45% for higher test score.
20% discussion.
I surprisingly got a B however, I had to study a TON for my final. I’m just happy I passed.
Professor was very friendly & offered 3% extra credit (: without this I probably would have got a C as final grade

Dr. Smurda is a wonderful professor. Her lectures are clear, organized, and engaging. I took this class over zoom but enjoyed every lecture! During the first half, Dr. Smurda goes over content from lectures followed by a midterm. The midterm was a little difficult but you should be fine if you pay close attention to the lectures and DO THE READINGS. The second half involves a group project so you will be split into breakout rooms pretty often. Overall, this class was interesting and I would recommend this class to fulfill your lab requirement.

What a dope class. I've sat in the back of the class for every course I've taken at UCLA and Dr. Smurda is one of the only ones who has the energy to reach everyone in the class. She's really funny too. My bf isn't in the major but even he often sat in on her class because the material is so interesting and Prof, imo, does a great job of explaining things in a digestible form. She even has a Piazza page where you can ask questions to her and your peers... just in case you didn't catch something.

There's no textbook required, but there's like 1 or 2 reading books (I can only remember 1 but I feel like there were 2, maybe I'm crazy) that are super cheap and actually pretty cool. You def want to read the stuff because it'll without a doubt show up on the tests. The material from the books is all thoroughly hashed out during discussion section so I recommend that you go to those. Her tests aren't super easy but they're not super hard either. She's not trying to trick you but she will get you to think a little bit.

I really enjoyed this class and it opened up a lot of new areas of thought for me. I'm not even a particularly smart person and I still managed to do well bc Prof actually cares to make sure that you're learning and not just mindlessly vomiting info on test day.

I 100% think you should take this class.

I loved this class! The lectures were super fun and had many demonstrations and the tests were not that hard (got an A- and A+ without studying too much). There's a lot of questions with multiple answers but if you know the material it's not bad and all you have to do is just watch the lectures to do well honestly. Also a lot of extra credit opportunity.

Fine class. Hard exams. Professor Smurda talks really fast.

Good class. The exams encourage dstudents to memorize graphs and studies instead of actually learning the ideas of the course so mastery of the course will be low for most.

The tests are extremely tricky. It is unfortunate because all the material was understandable and interesting. I did all the readings, quizzes, paper, and study guide. However, nothing was useful in preparing for the exams. It is truly unfair to have tests worded so tricky and the answer choices were all similar as well. She gives 6 quizzes, 1 final paper, and only 2 exams (1 midterm, 1 final). She does outweigh the final more if you do better on the final than the midterm. I would definitely not recommend taking this class with this professor.

LOVED this class with Smurda, took her again because she is such an awesome professor. It is very important you pay attention to her lectures and understand the case studies she mentions and their impacts because that is what you will be tested on. Information can seem ambiguous at times because a lot if it is related to other concepts and it can all seem a little similiar (I know that sounds vague but it is a good representation of the material). Attend lecture, pay attention and go back over the slides and you will do well.

Dr. Smurda is one of my favorite professors at UCLA.
Her classes are always full of the most interesting studies, and class is very engaging (I think polleverywhere is such a great way to keep students' attention)
Her exams are very fair and I had a lot of fun with the final paper, which is to use class concepts to influence others.
She provides resources for prepping for exams and overall I have no complaints.
Also, no spoilers, but she also demonstrates concepts through certain means as well.
One last thing is that I took Social Psychology with her prior to taking this class, and there is a lot of overlap. For those who want only new material, this may be disappointing, but for those who want to knock out requirements with less effort, I would recommend.