He’s very old-school will not work with you very stubborn terrible greater

The reviews for this class make it sound a lot worse than it really is. Yes, this class does require you to study for the midterm and final, but it's really not the end of the world. I did well on the midterm but due to external circumstances, didn't have time to study for the final. Definitely felt like the final was significantly more difficult, but studying would have made it easier. Make sure to start the readings early because there are a LOT of them.

Here's the thing, I really wanted to like Suman. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt especially after seeing how harsh some of these reviews were. But at the end of the day, the reviews were right.
Suman doesn't allow technology in class, all notes have to be hand-written. He doesn't provide slides, you simply have to listen to what he says and write it down. Lecture is fine and can be fun. There are interesting topics and Suman cracks jokes that are entertaining. 2 hours seem to pass by really quickly so that isn't an issue, but if you ever miss a class it's impossible to know what happened unless you have friends who can send you their notes.
The material itself is easy to understand, but Suman knows that so he purposefully makes the tests and essay hard. If you are thinking of taking this class as a GE, don't. If you're taking it to be a Comms major, make sure you keep up with the readings and lecture. If you don't it'll bite you back during midterm and finals season.
One example that I believe perfectly describes this class is the fact that you get notes for exams, but the notes can only be from the readings. Suman and the TA's will walk around during the exam and read every. single. person's. notes. to make sure there is no lecture material. If you do have lecture notes, they'll literally confiscate them during the test leaving you with nothing. So yeah, although the content may seem easy, the set up of the class is not.
Overall Suman is a nice guy who's lectures are interesting, but the structure/grading of the class itself sucks. So be wary, be prepared, and don't get caught using your phone during class, he'll call you out!

I'd only recommend taking this class if you either have a super deep interest in both interpersonal communication and mass communication history or are planning on being a comms major. if you think you got an easy GE, that's not true. Suman knows what he's talking about (albeit, some of his lecture material is a little out of date for the current era, but blame that on the generational difference). I found the first 5 weeks, which focused on interpersonal communication (between people), much more interesting and easy to understand than the second 5 weeks of material, which was on mass communication/history of it.
During the first 5 weeks, I thought I was coasting, and it was a super easy class. That was until I realized less than a week before the midterm that I had 8 articles to read and take notes on for the midterm. That was definitely a rough time, especially since 3 of those articles were 15+ pages long. What is the most difficult is trying to learn all the lecture material for the midterm and the final, as you are only allowed notes from the reading during the exams. the exams consist of around 30 or so short answer questions, and then 2 essays (3 essays on the final, 2 on the midterm). For the midterm, one of the essays is on reading material, and the other is on lecture material. The lecture material essay will usually ask you about a list of factors or elements within a main topic and you have to list EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. in order to get full credit for that essay (safe to say, I did not get full credit on that essay part of the final).
The articles to read for the final were much more dense than the midterm articles, and much less interesting (at least to me personally, I'd rather learn about the sub-communication of flirting than the history of the newspaper) since some of the articles were 20+ pages long and you had to take notes on almost every single word in order to ensure the right answer on the final.
As for the readings that weren't articles, they were books that you had to either buy or find a free pdf of, which I luckily found, and didn't have to pay $30 per book.
My TA (Miriam), was a massive help in which she summarized all of the readings that weren't articles in powerpoints, which essentially made reading the books extra work that wasn't needed, so shoutout to her!!
I totally understand where Suman is coming from in terms of not allowing technology for notetaking in his classroom, but I do find it a bit annoying that he doesn't at least record his lectures and post them in podcast form later on. He tends to speak a bit fast and mutter, so it's hard to write down every word he says, and it also makes it a struggle if you're sick, as if you miss class, you truly miss out on a large chunk of material that you could only get if you have a friend in the class.
Otherwise, the class wasn't too painful. I do understand the stress of it only being graded on the final, midterm, and paper (which the paper isn't bad at all if you are able to write a paper without sources and can just speak from experience/make up examples), but it's not horrible/torture even though it was very stressful for me personally.
some tips I have to get through this class:
-rewrite your lecture notes if you can, helps you retain material & makes the notes pretty and easy to read
-for notes for the midterm and final, write down every single underlined phrase/sentence in the articles
-get a good pen/notebook setup
-come up with acronyms for lecture material lists so you remember every point for the essays
-don't let the STEM kids who reviewed this class scare you too much if you're a humanities major :)

WORST CLASS EVER. I have never received a B in my life before I took this class. I took this class to get into the communication major and it was extremely difficult. The only things in the grade book were the midterm exam, the essay, and the final exam. The midterm and final exams were extremely difficult, asking for the most obscure things the professor may or may not have said during lecture. The TAs docked off points for the stupidest reasons. The paper was seemingly easy, and my TA, Tristen Hagen, said the paper is a great way to 'bring up your grade.' However, she GAVE ME A C ON THE PAPER. and could not explain why besides that I was too generous with commas. Nothing about the content of my paper. She refused to regrade it, so I went to Suman about it and he laughed in my face. He said he would lower my grade if he looked at it and dissuaded me from asking him to take a look at what I thought to be unfair grading. He was extremely unhelpful, rude, and did not care about his student's success. not to mention that the entire class was asynchronous, but we had to take our tests in person and closed note.

This class is very tedious and should only be taken if you plan to be a Communications major. The professor has taught this class for many years, and has a very specific set of rules for the class. You are not allowed to take notes on a laptop, so you have to take all of your notes by hand. The tests cover an extreme amount of content, so you have to study far more than you would expect. DO NOT take this class for a Social Analysis GE, because there are far more interesting and manageable options.

Must take with comm 10. Not much work and you get all quarter to finish your one project. There is a lot of freedom with whatever you want to do, but with that there is also a lack of structure so it can be hard to do exactly what Suman is looking for.

Class involves a ton of memorization. It's a lot of information to take it. All notes must be hand written. Material was interesting, it's just taught very fast and you never spend too long on a certain subject.

grade heavily depends on TA. don’t take this as a GE.

As the majority of these ratings suggest, this class is one of the most controversial intro classes you can take at UCLA. Based on the course content alone, Comm 10 was one of the most influential in helping me understand what I wanted out of my four years here. If you are less focused on getting the best grades and more focused on improving yourself as a person, this course will be incredibly engaging and stimulating, and you'll do well in the course as a result. It'll open your mind to basic aspects of life that are overlooked. There is so much content that you have to learn inside and out - enough to be able to teach your friends about - in order to receive good grades. But if you stay focused and interested in the material, it really is not that hard to do well on the exams. Suman's office hours and the TAs as well are essential to attend if you want to earn an A on your paper and the exams. Suman is a brilliant man that loves to share his knowledge with his students, so take advantage of this!