I am so glad I had Professor Tamai for my first quarter. She was extremely nice and accommodating. Throughout lecture you could see how engrossed with the material she was displaying empathy and energy while she lectured. Every week we would learn about a new community. Because of COVID Professor dropped the midterm so we only had a paper and a final to do. A paper was the main assignment for the class, where you were graded on having an outline, a draft, and the final product. Discussion sections were structured differently where you had to sign up to be the week's leader. The leader would have to read all the readings and summarize/teach them to the group for the week. You'd be put in groups and your written summary would be graded. Along with that you'd have film questions to answer for a film assigned every now and then. The readings assigned weren't terrible but I do recommend getting familiar with a few of them since the final is a timed essay. Overall a great environment Professor has created and would recommend to others.

Professor Tamai is an AMAZING person. Her lectures are fun, and she truly cares about her students. She is very willing to help if you reach out. The readings can sometimes be quite lengthy (but informative!), but it is not necessary to read every single word. Just skim the majority of the text. The movies we were required to watch were all super interesting. There was also extra credit. Overall, I learned a lot about Asian America. Take this class if you're interested in learning about American history through an Asian lens.

To start off, I was already interested in AAS 20, but Professor Tamai really made me even more intrigued in the subject and now I'm considering an AAS 20 Minor. Overall, this class is very manageable, but there is a lot of reading. You don't necessarily have to read all of it, she even says to read the into and conclusion and then the topic sentences of each paragraph in between because she even knows the stuff she gives is long (but also this is a way more efficient way of reading anyways) but make sure to write a sentence or two about the reading when you read it for later on because you will need the readings for the final!! I'm a STEM major, so I'm not too fond of reading, so that I would say was the only part I didn't really like.

Otherwise, I would definitely say take this class, especially if you are Asian American or just want to learn more about this subject because Professor Tamai will really make you appreciate and admire the Asian American community. The lectures were so diverse and engaging and I always made an effort to make it to class live, also because she's hilarious and sometimes her kid comes in and he's so funny and adorable. She gives lots of cool anecdotes about her past studies which I always found super interesting and it really brings the content to life. Each week you basically focus on a different Asian American subgroup so it's a really holistic class on the whole community.

Also, go to her office hours!! She's so helpful and always willing to be there for her students to talk about the lectures, life, anything! She does take the lecture down after one week and doesn't upload slides, but that just made me more on top of my work in the class.

For discussion, attendance is part of your grade (try to get Sharon, she's hilarious and so much fun), but for my discussion section, it was basically a discussion in breakout rooms every week. We also have to write a term paper, but it's not bad at all, you can basically write on anything related to Asian American communities and she has a do an outline, RD, and a peer review to really keep us on track which I really liked.

So, this class isn't the easiest because of how much reading there is, but I would still recommend taking this class, it's so rewarding and so engaging and I hope I can take a class with Professor Tamai again!! She cares so much about her students and them learning and has a heart of gold, I'm so happy I had her!

Prof Tamai was an awesome lecturer. I felt sort of badly for her because only two people out of like 150 kids had their videos on for lecture. Still, prof Tamai always had very engaging lectures that were interesting and eye-opening. I'm a first year who was looking for a good GE to take. I'm glad I took this course because I learned a lot about my own family's heritage. Overall, the class was not super difficult. It consisted of one final, one 6-8 page term paper, section participation, and film responses. (Tamai dropped the midterm because of Covid) The amount of reading for this class is actually INSANE. It wasn't uncommon to have 100+ pages of reading material as homework. However, Tamai advises that you only need to read the intro and conclusion and just skim the rest. This will save a bunch of time and you get a good grasp of course concepts through this method. The paper was pretty chill also. You get to write about any topic that relates to Asian America. Section participation is 30%. Just show up and work with a group one week to discuss the material for the week and you will get full participation credit. (Get Sharon if possible for your TA) Also, Tamai offers Extra Credit opportunities where you journal your life during Covid. Overall, I strongly recommend taking this class. Tamai is such an awesome prof. Hands down my fav prof of the quarter.

Professor Tamai is literally the best professor I have ever taken at UCLA. She is so sweet, nice, and very accomodating to all her students. Her lectures are not boring at all, she is really funny and very passionate about the material. There are lots of readings to do, but they are very easy to read. There is one big essay that is spread out throughout the whole quarter and was actually really fun to write because she gives you the freedom to pick your topic. The TAs are amazing!! I would recommend getting Sharon if you can, she was SOOO helpful and very funny! Overall, I love this class, the material was amazing, and it made me want to minor in AAS! TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU CAN!!

I took this class my first quarter and it made the transition from high school to college so smooth. The class was so engaging and Professor Welty Tamai is amazing (and funny). The lectures were interesting and this class is the reason I'm pursuing a minor in Asian American studies. If you get the chance, take this class! It is not too heavy with the workload, but there's a good amount of reading, but if I'm being honest, you could probably get away with not doing the reading and you'll be fine for the midterm and final. There's one research essay due by the end of the quarter that isn't graded too harshly and you get the entire quarter to do it. Take this class!

This was my favorite class this quarter! The lectures were pretty engaging and you could tell that Prof. Tamai has a lot of passion and interest for the material taught. The subject matter was relevant and well taught with clarity.

The exams were all pretty straightforward, and as long as you know the key concepts, terms, and legislation and can explain them, you're pretty much set. For the essay, you can choose any topic you want related to contemporary Asian America, so there's a lot of freedom there to research something you're genuinely interested in. The grading on the midterm, essay, and final was also pretty fair and most of your grade is based on these components.

Professor Welty is an amazing lecturer, and I would recommend anyone to take her class. She is a lot of fun, sweet, and you definitely would not regret it. She's a very clear lecturer and seriously is concerned about every one of her students and their learning. In a class of 80-ish, she also remembered quite a few names, especially if you participate. I also had a great TA, Angel, so that also contributed to the experience. The workload isn't that bad - there are a couple readings that you should do each lecture (which I honestly only skimmed or even skipped), but everything you need is gone over in detail during class anyway so you can get by not really doing most in that field. I was rather on the lazier side, but I always looked forward going to lecture even if I didn't do the reading.

Psst...the reading is from books you CAN get from the store. It's definitely on the cheaper end, and if you don't want to get the books, she uploads the parts you need onto CCLE, and there are a few copies you can check from in the library.

There's paper that is divided into a rough draft, peer review, and final draft, and you can get a lot of guidance if you want. The midterm has an essay (which prompts are discussed during discussion section) plus a few key terms, and the final has a similar format. As long as you go to each lecture and take notes, you'll be fine. Be sure to discuss the significance of each term because it is rather emphasized. Generally it's rather easy if you go to lecture.

She never posts her slides online or uses a podcast, so do yourself a favor and attend lecture each time. You might have to take quite a bit of notes (but she tells you what you need/don't need for the most part), but I can guarantee you that you'll have a great time anyway. Best GE professor so far, and it was definitely worth it!

From what I've heard about other GE's, this is definitely one of the more work-intensive ones. According to the syllabus, students are expected to read 4 hours per lecture, which in my opinion, is a lot of reading in addition to weekly reflections, tem paper, and other small homework assignments. The professor was very nice, but she was not the greatest at lecturing. The TA's were ok at best, mostly because they didn't help much, even at office hours. There were a multitude of extra credit assignments and other random assignments to pad your grade. Participation during discussions is important as well. They did not post individual grades on myUCLA, but I assume that our quarterly reflection on the grade we deserve in the class is heavily considered in assigning grades. I would do this class only if you are super passionate about Asian American studies. I did learn a lot, but there was a lot of effort needed.

Lecture:
Professor Welty uses lecture slides as a foundation for her lectures, and she comments on the slides. Her slides are not posted online, so I would recommend attending lectures. She tells you when it is unnecessary to copy down the information, such as statistics and quotes. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and found the topics interesting and relatable. Sometimes, she would show videos to illustrate her point. There will be some lectures where she would show a film and have you answer some questions and turn it in at the end of class. In general, Professor Welty is very engaging, and I looked forward to going to her lectures.

Discussion:
The discussion is made up of a short presentation by students each week and a discussion about that week's readings. I had to write six one-page reading reflection journals, which were graded very easily. Attending discussions is crucial to your grade, and you should try to engage in the discussions to earn more points. One absence = 3% marked off your grade, two absences =9% marked off your grade, three absences = 27% marked off your grade, etc.

Grade:
This is an essay GE to get an A in as long as you put in a little bit of effort. There is a midterm and a final. They both include passage identifications, which ask you to identify the key term and you will need to write about what it is and why it is important. Then, you also need to write an essay to answer one out of a few prompts. You will need to relate these to specific examples from the readings or the films. The midterm and final are both pretty easy as long as you study a little bit. There is a 6-8 page essay, and you are allowed to write about anything related to Asian American studies. Part of your grade for that is based on turning in an outline and a working draft. Discussion makes up a large portion of your grade too - this includes attendance, participation, and a group presentation. Also, there are occasional worksheets to fill out based on videos that you need to watch for homework. There are readings assigned that you are supposed to finish before each lecture, but they are really only to aid your understanding of the topic. The readings assigned are very long and sometimes boring, but Professor Welty will teach you that you only need to read the introduction, conclusion, and the first sentence of each body paragraph. You will need to buy a textbook called Contemporary Asian America, The New Chinese America, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. There are several opportunities to earn extra credit, such as going to a museum or attending a guest lecture. At the end of the quarter, you turn in a self-reflection to suggest what grade you think you deserve, and the TA takes it into consideration before assigning you a grade.

Grade Breakdown:
Midterm: 20%
Final: 30%
Paper: 25%
Section: 20%
Film Responses: 5%