This was one of my favorite classes I've taken at UCLA and Kicenski has been one of my favorite professors. A the other reviews say, this class is more focused on rhetorical analysis than what one might think of a pop culture course. I personally loved literary analysis is high school, and enjoyed it in this course as well. The course reader readings were all very short (3-5 pages each) and very doable. She also reviewed all the important concepts in lecture. Her lectures are super engaging, and she provided so many external examples from YouTube, real life, etc. She also was super helpful whenever anyone was confused about a topic or concept. The midterm was easy, it involved a rhetorical analysis of a newspaper article. The final was multiple choice, T/F. Both were open book and straightforward. Other assignments were two short memos relating to the course content, which took me about an hour each, and a short partner essay. I really enjoyed her class, even though I never attended it live. I would absolutely recommend this course or any other course taught by Kicenski!

Definitely recommend this class! Kiscenski is super helpful and the lectures are engaging. The workload is heavy around midterm and final time but manageable with readings throughout the quarter. There were 2 tests, 2 papers, and a final cumulation paper. The lectures are very interesting and allow for discussion. I learned a lot and would for sure take this class again as an upper-div comm requirement

I really enjoyed Comm 110 w/ Dr. K. The class was broken into five assignments, two papers (each 100 points), two exams (midterm and final, each 150 points), and one final portfolio project (200 points). You can work in a group on the portfolio and the length remains the same whether you work alone/together, so that was a good opportunity to collab and tackle it together if wanted. I worked alone and it was totally fine. I found the actual lecture to be really enjoyable. They were recorded, ok to skip or not be in the actual time which was nice and made the class very accommodating. In lecture our class actually had many extremely insightful and really good conversations about gender, something I really enjoyed. Dr. K is straightforward and very clear with topics. Readings are helpful, you definitely need to do them for the midterm/final. Honestly, I thought the test were hard. I studied for both of them a lot and got an 86 on midterm and 82 on final. For what it's worth, I thought I got an 100% when I turned my final in and was genuinely shocked to see I got a B-. BUT essay grading was super easy (and the "essays" are two pages double spaced), and the portfolio seemed to be graded as much on effort as content. This is a great class to fulfill requirements for the Comm major, and Dr. K offers extra credit and REALLY cares about her students. She was super flexible, changed dates around to accommodate us, and is always willing to read over an outline, chat during office hours, etc. I probably will try to take another class from her before I graduate, she brings a lot of personal experiences into lectures and I found myself really enlightened in terms of gender and communication, which is the topic. Overall - fun class, learned a lot of interesting things, but NOT an easy/guaranteed A, I definitely had to put in some work for my A- so that is one thing to note, but overall the workload is pretty light until the end of the quarter.

After taking 2 classes with Dr. K (both online), I can confidently say I'd never take her class in person because I cannot imagine what my score on exams would look like. She asks very specific questions on readings and her "study guides" aren't condensed at all -- she just puts everything onto a paper and calls it a study guide. She claims her exams are multiple choice but they are "select all that apply" which really puts you at a disadvantage. Her T/F questions are tricky as well.
She's helpful with the short papers and I feel like she remembers you if you go to her office hours for help. The work is manageable its just the exams.

The real strengths are in the professor through this class. She is able to engage the class a lot. However, a STRONG weakness is the grading of this course. There is only two exams and two papers with the exams being extremely abstract even with its multiple choice nature. I feel as if the teacher tries to make the course harder with those for almost no reason. On the two essays I received nothing higher than a 90 with no comments on my grade and no explanation on how or why I could have done better. I really liked this class before I got my first essay and test back. I think I'm going to end with a B+ or an A-, but I really don't know what I could have done any better.

This class is pretty chill and the professor is really nice. There are 2 papers, 3 exams, and 1 mini presentation with a partner on a place of your choosing that represents identity. The papers are straightforward and relatively short at 2 pages. Her grading is fair, so put some work into it and you'll be fine. The exams are tricky because she asks really specific questions with multiple answers seeming like the right one. The study guide is helpful but make sure to review your notes and really understand the concepts/people involved to get a good grade. The final paper is with a partner where you choose a place that can represent identity and use concepts from the class to prove your point. Pretty easy if you get a good partner and get the work done on time. The presentation is super informal. You talk about your paper with 2 other groups and thats it. Chill class but do the work to get an A.

This class was okay. I assumed it was going to be more about popular culture, but was heavily focused on all things rhetoric. You learn a lot about theories and the people behind the theories. There are 2 papers, a midterm, final, and a group paper. Kicenski is very knowledgeable and a good lecturer (she also provides slides which is nice) but the class was overall pretty difficult. I thought the final was wayyy easier than the midterm but I may have just prepared better knowing how she structures her tests since she has a very specific way she likes things (this goes for her papers too).