This class was my favorite from this entire quarter and I am a math major gosh darn it. The class was very insightful and I found it very insightful to the history of Latin America. While the lectures were not always the most interesting I was never tired in the class, but maybe that was just me. It is very easy to tell that Prof. Calderon was very knowledgeable of the subject criteria. Her tests are fair and simple. Homework consists of short readings of which she provides PDFs of them all so you don't need to buy anything.

This class was really reasonable. If you are looking for an easy GE, this is it. Also, if you need this class for your major, this class is extremely fair. There is a good amount of reading at the beginning, but the amount starts to decrease through the quarter. Presentations are very detailed so even if you missed something during lecture, you can go back to the slides and reread them. She gives A LOT of extra credit which is awesome. Each extra credit you complete counts for 1% of your grade and I think she ended up having around 5 opportunities (so an easy 5% boost to your grade). 1 Midterm 35% of your grade and 1 Final 35% of your grade. Final was not cumulative. 2 film reviews which are pretty easy, watch a film from her provided list and write between 500-1000 words (3 pages double spaced) on your thoughts on it, and how it relates to the topics in the class. Each film review is worth 5% of your grade. Participation and attendance to discussion are each 10% of your grade. Professor Calderon does a great job explaining what is on her slides. 10/10 would take again.

I absolutely loved this class and having P. Arroyo-Calderon as a professor alongside P.A. Thomas as my TA. The class can get a little long sometimes but if you want to understand the readings lectures are something you can count on for doing so. She highlights everything about Latin American culture-- from precolonial L.A to current day L.A, helping us better understand why L.A is the way it is today-- and is welcoming to students who are struggling to go to her office hours. The course load was not as easy but it definitely is bearable. She gives 6 quizzes, throughout the entirety of the quarter that are only 2 points each (and she'll drop the lowest grade), two film reviews that are due on week 4 and finals week, and her exams are literally what we read/ go over during lecture. It's a very straightforward class, with exams that aren't too back-breaking, that makes you reflect on how Latin America and it's current dilemmas, past revolutions, and overall history impact us all. I loved this class and having Prof Arroyo as my instructor.

Good class, but I wouldn't say this was an "easy GE." There is a worksheet every week and you have to complete at least 6 of them. However, the TA's graded the worksheet every harshly and the worksheet took a lot of time and effort because the TA's were very particular about even the smallest details. We were lucky to have the TA strike this quarter which meant that the worksheets after week 5 were graded on completion (thank fuck), but it was still a lot of work trying to answer every worksheet question (around 7 question but you with a bunch of parts and you have to define a term and explain what it is, describe a picture in full detail, watch a documentary and answer like 8 questions, etc.) Grading structure: 40% worksheets (6 of them), 5% discussion attendance, 15% discussion board replies (8 of them), and 40% final project. Up to 10% of extra credit, 5% for attending 75% of lectures and 1% for extra credit reports (1pg report for going to the Getty, watching a movie, going to a book review, etc) Overall, good medium-easy GE, but if you're only taking this class for GE or diversity credit, I would recommend you to look for other easier options. PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT an super duper easy class now that it is in person and there aren't as many accommodations, so be careful. It's easy to get an A in this class if you put in some effort, but if you're taking 5-6 classes like me, it's not the easy GE (like musclg 5 where i never even went to lecture or discussion) you were hoping for when you read the other reviews lol

NO EXAMS OR (mandatory) ESSAY PAPERS and extremely easy A, so much opportunity for extra credit (attending 75% of lectures adds 5% to your overall grade, can also attend events and get up to another 5% added to your overall grade). Worksheets every other week that weren't too bad but they were kind of a grind and the TA would grade it a little harshly if you weren't thorough, but it's not bad at all. The worksheets take like 4h per sheet (so if you're doing the math that's about 2h per week) which is not bad at all, especially as a CS major who's so used to being destroyed by my classes. Discussion is mandatory of course but it's only an hour long and (at least for me) it wasn't graded on participation. The grade breakdown is as follows:
10%: Discussion
10%: BruinLearn discussion posts
40%: 5 worksheets assigned every other week
40%: Final project of your choice (it's very chill, I opted to do a presentation)
Overall super pleasant class that is super low effort

maybe it's just my senioritis but the worksheet assignments almost made me start smoking again, overall, the class is easy and doable in that there are no exams.

I took this class as a first year Spanish major, but most people in my class took it for gen eds and an easy A. The class is easy and relatively low stress but I still feel like I learned and remembered a lot. The course is easy to do well in as long as you finish all your work and make a clear effort. She even gives extra credit for attending lectures. The only thing that was a bit overwhelming was there is a worksheet writing assignment you have to complete every 2 weeks, but this kinda takes the place of a final exam and there are a couple extra credit questions so it’s worth it imo. I loved this professor and hope I can take a class from her again for some of my upper divs in the future.

Participation not required so I only showed up to class the first week. Very very easy I actually barely did any of the readings. I just attended my discussions and was able to understand everything. EASIEST GE.

I'm a STEM major and took this class because I might want to do a Spanish minor, but it's also a fairly easy GE if that's what you're looking for. I'd been exposed a little bit to Latin American cultures from high school Spanish, but I learned a lot from this course and found it really interesting. Prof Calderon is a good lecturer and has really detailed slides; lectures weren't recorded, but the content on the slides covered perhaps 80% of it. Admittedly, there was a not insignificant number of times I was falling asleep in class, but I'd attribute that to the class being in the evening time. Attendance to lectures is optional but gets you extra credit, and attendance is required and taken at discussion section, as well as participation (and there are plenty of opportunities to participate in discussion as long as you're familiar with the week's content). There are also optional events she promotes throughout the quarter that I didn't go to, but they provide you with generous amounts of extra credit if you need it.

There are readings to do before each class, which she provides on BruinLearn so you don't need to purchase anything, and some of them can be kinda long but nothing too insane. I sometimes missed the readings before each lecture, but as long as you catch up before discussion everything is good. There are people who straight-up don't do the readings and probably get by, though I dunno how their discussion participation grade is impacted (but regardless, don't take this class if you're not interested in putting a good faith effort to engage with the content cos that'd be pretty rude of you). Other than that, the things you get graded on are a weekly discussion board post which is pretty open-ended and completion-based, and five bi-weekly worksheets that go into the content of the past two weeks. The worksheets can get kinda long and require some paragraph responses, but everything draws from lecture, and the stuff you go over in discussion is really, really helpful. It's quite manageable to finish in a day or two if you already know your stuff, but if you go back and read through the slides you'll be able to do it regardless. I think I put a reasonable amount of effort into my responses and got full score on all the worksheets.

There are no tests, but there is a final project worth 40% of your grade for which you submit a proposal around halfway through the quarter. Your TA will provide you with the expectations and guidelines more specifically, but it's overall very open-ended, can be any format/medium of your choice kind of thing that just has to engage with Latin American cultures in some way. It obviously depends on your project, but I think it's a reasonable goal to at least start working on it before Thanksgiving so that it doesn't pile up with your other work. I did not start mine until the beginning of Week 10, a week before it was due, so that was kind of just looming over my head for the entire second half of the quarter, but I was at least was comfortable enough in my other classes such that I could spend the majority of week 10 working on that project. I chose to do something creative which was probably why I put it off for so long, but I was never worried about my grade while making it, had fun with it, and ended up with something I'm pretty happy with.

Overall, I really enjoyed this course.

the easiest A i have ever gotten. there's no exams at all and the 'final' is a project that you can do by yourself or with a group. there's weekly worksheets, but you can miss up to 4 LIKE???? you don't need to attend lecture since the professor posts the slides, so definitely take this class if you need a GPA booster