Barker is a fantastic educator! The focus for this quarter was Environmental Political Theory, which was really interesting. The grade in the class was measured by three 3-4 page essays as well as discussion posts due each Friday, except on the weeks that papers were due. The prompts for the papers were very straightforward as long as you paid attention during the lectures (which were recorded and uploaded to the class website) where he discusses the assigned readings. All of the readings were posted online for free and were relatively short, very interesting, and (mostly) easy to understand. For the more challenging and/or longer material, Barker did an especially great job of breaking them down and focusing on the most important aspects. He also has a great personality and was very responsive to emails! Additionally, because of the ongoing pandemic, Barker kept an open line of communication for us through a Google Form where he gave us the opportunity to rate various aspects of the course and anonymously submit suggestions/concerns/etc. throughout the quarter if we weren't comfortable emailing him about them. Lastly, he was very understanding about the news of police violence/BLM protests towards the end of the quarter and adjusted the final paper so that it was optional and no-harm, meaning it didn't count against our grade if we chose to submit it and did poorly. Overall, Barker is an amazing professor and I definitely recommend taking a class with him during your time at UCLA!

When I took this class it was Barker's first lecture at UCLA. Barker himself is clearly very intelligent, so intelligent that I found his lectures for the most part very difficult to follow, especially because he just reads off his notes and doesn't use slides or anything of the like. There was no midterm or final, just 3 essays that he graded pretty fairly, and pop quizzes every week on the reading so you can't get away with not doing the reading or skipping class. The quizzes were what lowered my grade, but as long as you do the reading or at least read spark notes on the books that have them the quizzes aren't that bad. If I took this class again it would be just to retake those quizzes, however his lecturing style really isn't my thing. Political theory is difficult enough without droning and monotone.

Professor Barker’s class is not an easy A, but sometimes it’s good to have a class that gives you a challenge. The class consisted of 3 (3-4 page) essays and quizzes. Attendance matters because the quizzes are not announced ahead of time, but the quizzes are easy if you do the readings, also the quizzes are open book and he drops your lowest grade (quizzes matter because it’s 25% of your grade). Al you need to do is take notes on the reading and listen in class, and that will help you with the essays. The essay prompts were interesting too, he gives you 3 to choose from and he grades them fairly. I enjoyed this class because it made me critically think, and he overall is super helpful when it comes to the essays and helps clarifies questions. He also encourages discussion within the class too. Overall, I’d take his class again but just be aware that you have to actually show effort when it comes to the assignments.

It appears that Kye Barker no longer teaches at UCLA and is now at Smith College. So, those at Smith College who are somehow reading this review, beware! Here is a long-overdue review of my experience in his class. While the reading material of this class is super informative, the same cannot be said of Professor Barker. He's terrible at communication and, on top of that, is not helpful. On multiple occasions, several students on Zoom wanted clarification of the essays and he just left them hanging by dodging their questions. You are on your own. Even worse, although the three essays are YOUR interpretations of the reading material supported by textual evidence, it is ultimately up to Barker's interpretation as to what grade you will receive. Don't write something that is slightly off what he believes/think is right. For the record, I did pass, but the amount of stress I put into reading and writing for this single class is horrendous. I do not recommend taking him at all.

I really enjoyed this class and found that it does not have a particularly heavy workload, aside from the weekly readings, however, it is a philosophy/theory class so that's to be expected. The lectures were not particularly engaging, but the material was interesting and not too hard to follow. This class is very writing-based, so if you know how to write a great essay, you'll likely do well. The class consists of weekly reflections based on the readings, and three short essays (~4 pages). From what I could tell, a lot of essays were in the B range, with a good amount of A's and some C's; so it comes down to your writing. Office hours are a must to make sure your essays and concepts are on the right track, and Dr. Barker is very eager to help! Overall, I enjoyed the class and found the workload to be very manageable with a busy schedule!

I enjoyed this class a lot because grades were based 90% on three essays that you wrote throughout the quarter and then 10% based on weekly discussion posts of about 400 words or so. Essays were weighted 25%, 30%, and then 35% for the final essay. All though he expects you to basically cite all of the information you use, meaning that every sentence should have a source, I felt that it was not too hard to do well in the course.

Barker is a very good professor, he was very clear from the beginning of the quarter with how his class is structured. He is very well organized and he is good at emailing students back. His discussion hours are optional and it allows students to talk with the professor over any questions they may have on the readings or lectures.
There is a good amount of reading involved, but it is manageable. The professor also uses slides and I also recommend you participate or at least attend a couple of his discussion hours to make yourself standout. I personally feel that it was helped me with my essays.
This was a COVID quarter so there were no pop quizzes, just weekly reflections we had to write between 400-500 words as a personal relfection. (he always gives full credit) and 3 essays throughout the quarter.
I would definitely take him again.