this was my first pub aff class I've taken at UCLA and it was very enjoyable. professor akee has insane credentials and is truly passionate about what he's taking about. there are "assigned readings" weekly which are quite long but he doesn't expect students to understand the complex research journals and he ends up going over the most important takeaways in class anyway so you can honestly just skim. sometimes the lectures would get a little boring, but you definitely get what you put in. there are assignments every couple of weeks that are based on the readings, a short policy memo and a group research essay/class presentation on an assigned topic which are due at the end of the quarter. the class is very manageable and if you have a decent group, the presentation shouldn't be too bad. this class also made me more interested in doing a pub aff minor!!