I absolutely LOVED this Cluster class. Fink was the best professor and all of his lectures were really interesting. All of the professors were great though and the class was really rewarding. This cluster is quite a bit of work though so I would only take it if interested in the topics.

I didn't like this class very much. But I'm more of a STEM girl than a history or writing girl. There's a lot of reading, honestly more than I think is possible to realistically do. That being said, I don't think you need to do all of the reading to do well in the class. You learn really niche, interesting things but don't expect it to be easy.

Fink undoubtedly was the best professor in the 60s cluster and truly made students excited to go to lecture. Because his material is so novel (musicology), it was the only part of this course that didn’t feel like a repeat of APUSH and was incredibly engaging. I actually learned so much from his lectures and often wished he lectured more; he is funny, has participatory activities, and was just plain fun. For his portion of the 60s cluster, start studying early for the midterm and later the cumulative final in 60b. There are plenty of musicology playlists on Spotify to help you start differentiating between versions of songs, artists, and years. I would shuffle those playlists and try to identify the songs by short snippets by paying attention to instruments. This course is also very TA-dependent because TAs grade all assignments, so make sure you pick a good one. From what other students have said, do NOT pick Holland as a TA. Finally, the readings are not all necessary for this course, but it’s still good to at least skim or read the first and last sections. I felt that the musicology readings were often the hardest to digest but were also the most interesting and helpful since they directly provided the context/significance of genres and songs, so if you have the time and want to learn something new I really recommend them. They are also great study materials for the musicology portion of the exams.

Taking this cluster is one of my best experiences here at UCLA. For those of you who are deciding whether or not to take this class: there will be 2 lectures (75 minutes each) and 1 discussion (1h50min, ik it's long). There will be 2 essays (poli sci 30% + English literature 30%), a midterm (20%), and discussion score. For 60A, there is no final, but for 60B, there is no midterm but a final that is cumulative. Now I've finished taking 60B, and I'm grateful for how much I learned from this class. This class is really interesting and enriching if you are interested in this period, but the workload can also be pretty big (that's expected for a 6-unit cluster, though). Personally I think if you are a humanities/social science and good at writing, go for it. But if you are a STEM person and hate reading/writing, you would probably have to spend more time considering whether to take this class and going over other reviews. Here are some suggestions: (a) I don't do the reading ever since week 2. Trust me you don't have to do the reading because professors will cover all you need to know during the lectures; b) go to lectures and take notes; c) your essay scores are TA-dependent, so go to their office hours and ask for suggestions; d) some TAs are strict about grading participation in discussions but some are not, but I would say participate; e) for each of the professor: Vavreck (polisci) is clear and interesting and organized; Avila (history) is clear but sometimes boring; Fink (music) is really interesting but sometimes unclear; Decker (English) is the most boring prof, but try to stick to his lectures as he is also knowledgable.