Why people said he was ridiculously easy I don't understand...nor was it "4 hours of work before each exam". It was hours and hours of work before the midterm and final. My ONLY two suggestions to you: form a study group to split up the questions he provides (as majority of them will be on the actual exam), and attend class on the days of midterms/final, and attend class exactly 1 week prior to midterm/final to pick up the study guide questions. Poor Cleve got irritated that no one was showing up to class that he didn't even post the study guide questions for the final online. Also, if you volunteer to take his evaluations to the history office, he'll give you extra credit. Slightly annoying for people who actually have to go to class after...

Now for his tests: provide whatever years that are applicable, try to provide as many random names as applicable, and try to get down into the nitty-gritty details.

It wasn't a horrible class, just not an easy class. It took my study group and me about 2.5 full days to finish writing up all of our individual material, and then not to mention having to memorize all of it. Also, A+ to A- range is from 100-80%, B+ to B- range is from 79-60% or something like that...gives you a span of 20% for a certain letter, so the curve is included.

The reviewer below me is certainly correct about the multitude of grammatical and spelling errors. I will also agree that the lectures were boring and pretty useless, as all the same information could be found in the book. However, if you're looking for an EASY GE class, this is the perfect class. Grades are based on one midterm and final. Both were essay tests, but the prompts were given beforehand. And all the information can be found in the textbook, which Prof. Cleve wrote himself. He is also generous with grades, with 80% as A-, 60% B-, and so on. I got an A in the class without much effort at all. Also, Prof. Cleve himself is a pretty nice guy, and always enjoys talking to students. Take this class if you can!

I always wondered why there were college graduates who could not spell basic English words or punctuate a sentence properly - now I know why. The textbooks for the class - which HE wrote - are insulting; page after page of misspelled words, typos, grammatical errors, etc. (uses "weather" instead of "whether" repeatedly, "descent" instead of "dissent"). I found his text confusing in addition and ultimately borrowed a text from a friend's hist1a class to make sense of the material. The power point presentations are full of typos also ("Angient Rome"). I got my mid-term back with a grade but no comments. He reads to you the entire time - and it's the same info you have already read yourself so you feel like you're wasting your time attending class. He is a prof. at Cal State Northridge but teaches at UCLA in summer session. If you are a serious student or a foreign student hoping to improve your English - stay away from this class! He is a nice person but the class is not what I expected to find at UCLA.

take it over summer! super easy, you don't have to go to class but it's actually pretty entertaining to go. the material itself is really interesting. just read the textbook and outline the possible midterm and final questions that he gives based on his slides (posted online) but mostly the text (he writes it)--about four hours' work before the midterm and final each, total-- and you'll be absolutely fine!