I just came here to say read the long review posted on spring 2024, it very accurately describes everything. Also just to add I sent 8 emails to him throughout the quarter and not a single response, when I told him about it in class he just gave some random excuse... just don't take it.

Don't take this class with this professor.

The lectures are based entirely on the book and they are not recorded nor are notes posted for future reference. So if you miss a class you better hope you have a friend that can take notes for you. Lectures were sporadic and had little structure to them. A student would usually have to remind the professor where we left off the previous day. When we actually did get back on topic, we would start on a random line in the text and skip around while the professor tried to explain what it meant. Lectures were even more frustrating when the professor would go on a tangent and then suddenly start explaining a concept during the story. It made it difficult to understand what was a silly story and what we actually had to know.

The syllabus said that we would have 3 papers and 9 reading responses (thoughts on weekly readings). During week 5 or 6 we got our FIRST paper topic. He didn't even talk about the paper before or after releasing the first topic so all we got for direction was "write how you normally write a philosophy paper". Well apparently most people did so bad that he gave them the chance to rewrite it for a better grade, which was nice. However, we got our rewrite grade back DURING finals week. This means that most people didn't even know what grade they had in the class going into the final paper and didn't know if their understanding of the concepts were even right. The reading responses were also never graded and we ended up only doing 8 instead of 9. Its also frustrating when most of the comments on my paper were "?" or "explain" or "this is not right" when I literally took the phrasing directly from my notes from a recording of the lecture. I even answered all the comments on the first draft and rewrote the entire paper only for it to be slightly better.

Since this quarter was full of protests, there were a lot of times when classes were canceled or moved online. But the professor didn't communicate that classes were canceled or moved online until late the night before. Its such a slap in the face for students to be left in the dark about their classes during polarizing times.

Honestly this class was so frustrating as a philosophy student. I have taken notoriously difficult philosophy classes at UCLA before but I have never felt like I was set up to fail as much as this class. There was little communication about EVERYTHING and I've never felt more blind going into assignments as much as I did in this class. Its honestly really disappointing for me personally because I loved existentialism but now I think I'll stay away from it as much as possible. Maybe other classes with this professor are better but I would never take one again because I would rather keep my love for philosophy intact.

I took a class on Sartre & de Beauvoir with Professor Johnson. I enjoyed it, and I'm actually taking a class taught by him next quarter. Professor Johnson is an engaging lecturer, but make sure to keep your ears open and don't *just* write down what is on the chalkboard.
He approaches existentialism in an analytic way. There are 2 papers, one midterm (35%) and one final (50%). The first one was about 6 pages, while the second was about 10. There are also weekly reading responses due, graded check/no check. Professor Johnson is an honest grader, and he is quite helpful if you approach him with any questions. You definitely have to work hard in this class and attend lecture, since they aren't podcasted. The papers, for me, took a lot of time. I didn't turn in 3 of the weekly reading responses, so that might have hindered me from getting an A. Overall, I highly recommend this class.

This class is challenging but very rewarding. Professor Johnson is extremely clear, even though the subject matter is sometimes unclear because it's a course on Nietzsche. Most of the class is spent studying two of Nietzsche's books and analyzing a few arguments he's making. Grading is based on mandatory weekly reading responses (15%) and two short papers (85%). The prompts can be difficult, but if you show up and take notes you will be prepared. Attend office hours, ask questions, and you'll learn how to read Nietzsche. I only wish he had podcasted the lectures.