For 145E course: Do not take this class. Save yourself the burden. There is alot of reading and unless you have a cool TA (Gilda) then you will not do well in the class. Don't try to approach her or raise your hand in class because she will belittle you and make you regret any question you have asked. The class is pretty funny at times, especially when she forgets something or just plainly, is her old granny self. She gets off tangent alot too in class. Bring you laptop, if you don't want all your notes to be scattered. Also, Wikipedia will be your best friend, since most of you will not have time to read all your cases. So, good luck if you are dying to take this course. Other than that, stay away.

Whatever you do, Do not get fooled by the theme of the course. I personally picked to take this class because I thought learning about Constitutional Law would be fun and interesting but boy, was I wrong.

First off, Professor Orren does not incorporate any slides, textbooks or even physical handouts to keep retain focus and attention during lecture. She literally just stands at the podium and talks, often times switching between rambling and picking random points from her stack of notes. Normally, I would be fine with a traditional way of teaching, but there is absolutely no structure for this class. The only form of "structure" from this class was the 4-5 cases she assigns every week for section review except she sometimes adds 6 more other additional cases to be aware of randomly in the middle of the week through canvas announcement. You will loose focus during class and you will be confused 99% of the time.

Second, if in any situation class is forced to operate online through Zoom, (as we did during Campus Closure during the Palisades Fire), she will not even entertain the idea of recording lecture for future use, in fact, she will mention how she thinks its "lazy" for students to rely on recordings. So don't even think about asking

Third, for Midterm and Final, she will not let you know in advance what the Midterm formatting would be like because she simply makes it up the day before. The lecture before midterm when someone asked what the formatting would look like, she said "I am unsure, I will come up with something for the day"..... Also there is no study guide for either one, so you just rely on the assigned cases and whatever lecture notes you have. But I can tell you know that you have to memorize facts about the cases assigned and connect them to each other, essay format (i recommend 2-3 pages long). Its manageable but annoying nonetheless.

Lastly, if you still choose to take this class, I hope that your TA makes it easier for you. My TA wasn't horrible but he also wasn't good so it was still a struggle to even comprehend. I just hope that you reading this makes you stay far far away from any classes she teaches. Honestly, she just proved that having tenure doesn't mean anything anymore.

I love Karen Orren. She is a gem in the department and truly a historical genius. A lot of political science classes at UCLA neglect the importance of historical analysis - Professor Orren fills that gap. Some of her arguments are complex and take a bit of energy to discern, but with attendance and relative attention to the assigned reading you will have a delightful intellectual journey.

You have to read, you have to listen to her slide-less lectures, and you have to memorize a handful of important cases/policies/historical events. BUT the intellectual outcome is really worth it if you are curious about American politics, polarization, nationalism, and democratic development.

I would not reccomend Ryan as a TA though - they were not very helpful.

Do not take this class. There is little to no organization other than the case assignments. Professor Orren assigns 5 cases a week for review and there is a quiz on 5 cases during the discussion period. Professor Orren has no slides and no recordings, she stands at a podium and just talks, sometimes it is related to the cases, other times it is not. If you are looking for any sort of guidance from her or the TA, do not. No hate to Professor Orren but she must retire.

If you have trouble focusing, I wouldn't recommend this class. The course is generally taught with no lecture slides to refer back to and you can never tell when the Professor is using notes or not. Most lectures seem like one long tangent.
The TAs are incredibly helpful and if it wasn't for mine, I would not understand a single thing being said. Do the readings, work with people, go to TA office hours.

Selling all three required readings!

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Review is for 191C - Magna Carta

Please don’t let professor Orren’s reviews for other courses stop you from taking this class. I cannot speak for her skill as a lecturer, but she was an excellent leader of this seminar style class.

The subject matter definitely isn’t for everyone. The course covers the social and political conditions in England leading up to Magna Carta and subsequent interpretation and reference to the document.

Your participation will make or break if this class is enjoyable for you. There were two required verbal reports (averaged about 30 minutes of report/discussion), so your ability to put in work doing independent literature review and speaking about it is important. The cumulative paper was essentially a synthesis of existing research on a Magna Carta chapter or adjacent topic you find interesting. The class is small enough where the professor will just naturally ask you what you thought of any given week’s reading. I would not recommend this class if you are participation adverse for whatever reason.

That said, this is by no means a hard class. the final paper is 10-15 pages double spaced, and it’s the only real deliverable other than completing the weekly readings and the two verbal reports. You can take the paper in pretty much whatever direction interests you if there’s the existing research to back it up. Professor Orren is very understanding if you communicate your needs to her regarding missing a class or extensions on your reports.

Again, this class isn’t for everyone. I’m not even sure if professor Orren will ever teach it again. But if you think the subject matter sounds mildly interesting like I did and you’re willing to participate in the discussions, I would absolutely recommend taking it.

Although this class started off quite normal, I quickly found out this class is not organized like my previous courses at either UCLA or community college. There are no PowerPoint slides, very few pictures/maps/videos as additional lecture materials. Prof. Orren is indeed lecturing in class; she simply speaks and answers questions, it's up to us to take the notes and remember the information. Slides or more materials during lectures would make this class so much more engaging and enjoyable, instead of just typing or writing things out the whole time. You MUST take copious notes during lectures and if you're unable to attend, since she doesn't record the audio or video on BruinCast, you will need to get them from someone else. The non-use of presentations or slides makes it difficult to keep track of the material being mentioned. Sometimes she will start on one topic and pivot to another point she mentioned earlier so be prepared to move around your notes. Sometimes this can become a little confusing, but she was good with tracking back and clarifying if needed.
Lectures are not too focused on reading. Prof. Orren will follow the reading dates posted in the syllabus (Reconstruction readings paired with lectures on Reconstruction), but she doesn't mention the books very often. This is why the readings (at least for this term) are most important for section since we discussed them exclusively in detail. Professor Orren is indeed knowledgeable on this topic and provides lots of information; it is simply not organized very well which means it comes down to you to parse what is important and what is not. My notes during lecture helped me tremendously on the midterm and final exams. Her essay prompts are pretty vague; some find them to be too much so. I found them to be open-ended enough to allow me to go where I wanted to go and argue what I knew, while also staying within the prompt. I would create a study group early on to discuss readings (maybe even split up the chapters since the readings are quite extensive) and prepare for the essay exams; this vastly helped me in the course.
I believe the course itself is extremely subjective and open-ended -- the course description itself is vague. An "overview" of "American political development" could mean a plethora of things depending on who you ask and is up to interpretation by the professor. Take the facts of history, combine it with the readings and lecture material, and you're good. With readings, as stated in other reviews, do not get caught up in minutia or specific details; simply understand the main ideas with some evidence from the text to back it up. As long as you can do that and combine it with lecture material, you'll do well.

Selling 3 required textbooks for this class all for lower prices than retail:

- Belated Feudalism by Karen Oren [brand new]

- The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch

- American Abolitionism by Stanley Harrold

Email me: *************

Hi, this is a review for her 147A class taken Spring 2022. Honestly, Professor Orren is not as bad as some of the many past reviews suggest. She can be convoluted at some points, and a bit stubborn with her material, but she also has some very intriguing hypotheses of American political development that other classes do not seem to offer. Her main idea is that American political development comes from very ancient, "feudal" social structures that trickle down into American political life.

The trick to this class is to take detailed notes, as she does not use power point slides. Also with readings, try to get an overview but don't invest too much time because the test prompts are general enough where you only need the gist of the book and class material. Your TA is your best bet, as Orren is not always super open to questions (but she can be). Overall, I think the previous reviews are a bit harsh. She's just your traditional loving grandma that doesn't put up with attitude well. If you try with this class, you will get a good grade and learn some interesting things along the way. You will be fine.