I took this Spring of 2020 during the coronavirus quarantines/protests. This quarter was a bit different in design from the usual in-person class, so the grading may be different in future classes.

Overall, I'd say it was really easy: there were originally supposed to be 5 quizzes (about 1 every 2 weeks) worth 50% and 2 papers worth the other 50%, but Smith was very accommodating and dropped the lowest quiz and paper, so only 4 quizzes and the highest scoring paper counted for your grade. Since I got 100s on the first 4 quizzes and did well on the first paper, I was basically exempt from the last ones. All of the lectures were pre recorded and uploaded so we could watch them at our leisure. They were also shorter than in a normal 1.25 hr timeslot so you can watch on 2x speed.

The quizzes were 10 questions with a generous 20 min time limit that covered only material from the last lecture of the previous quiz to the most recent material, so it was mostly 2-3 lectures worth of material and was also open notes and book. The papers were also manageable, though it does depend on who you get as a TA and what they are looking for in your papers!

There is one book that you are required to get, but it can be found online free in PDF form. You'll likely need it for the papers, but the quizzes themselves were based mainly on handouts from Smith that accompanied lectures. There are also two outside source readings you have to do, but it isn't hard and as long as you take notes in lecture or discussion on them, you don't really need to read them either unless it is what you choose as a paper topic.

Overall, this class was an excellent and easy choice for a philos GE/pre-req compared to some other philosophy classes. The content is not difficult to understand at all either. I recommend taking it!

I took the class my very first quarter here at UCLA, under the impression it was to satisfy one of the philosophical and linguistic GE's I needed. Turns out this class actually satisfies a physical science course for students in the college of LS so that's a plus.

Anyways, in regards to the class, it was extremely easy. One midterm, one paper, and the final. For the midterm we were provided a study guide that was completely comprehensive and had the answers to just about every question for the midterm... same for the final. Definitely collaborate on this in a Groupme with classmates. We had plenty of prompts to pick from for the paper, and it wasn't long at all, probably around 4-6 pages. Due to the TA strike, for the second half of the quarter many lectures were cancelled and bruincasted, and honestly I'm not sure if the paper or final were ever graded lol. Nonetheless, this class was highly enjoyable and Professor Smith is obviously deeply passionate about philosophy and just a kind, golden retriever like guy. Would definitely recommend taking this course when it's offered.

Highly recommend this class as a GE. Class consisted of 5 very easy and straightforward quizzes (each worth 10%) and 2 essays (20% and 30%), plus a point of extra credit (boost grade by 1%). Quizzes took questions directly from the lectures and were open note. Essays had somewhat complicated prompts and not a lot of guidance, but were doable if you checked your ideas with a good TA. Professor Smith’s lectures are clear, even though the material is difficult to fully grasp at times. Would not recommend buying the textbook, as it unnecessarily complicates the material. Overall, a very easy class with little work involved.

This was a super easy GE. Sheldon did a great job of moving everything online during the COVID quarter, and was a cool professor. Two 4ish-page papers, 5 easy quizzes, and he ended up canceling the second paper anyway. This class was cash.

Professor Smith is really knowledgeable about this topic. I will say the topic was confusing if you are not well-versed in philosophy, let alone Philosophy of Science. And I also never went to class after week 4 with the exception of the midterm and final (because I could never get up before 9:30am LOL)... I ended up getting a good grade, primarily because my TA was so nice and helpful during office hours. Please go to office hours if you need it. My suggestion is weekly or biweekly, I regret not doing that. There are many concepts to grasp and it can be easy to get behind while it seems like your classmates understand everything right off the bat. There are also helpful quizlets to use and what not. We had an in class midterm, a paper, and an in class final. Each were 33% which is why it is important to finesse and focus solely on the things that matter. The readings were interesting to an extent but the length made them boring because they were so "academic" if that makes sense lol.

This class was my first class at UCLA and honestly I really enjoyed it. As a humanities major some of the content was hard to follow but if you ask questions in section or even in lecture, he is more then happy to explain. I love Dr. Smith, he is so passionate about what he is talking about it actually makes the lectures engaging. Additionally he gives perfect study guides and even does a lecture right before the midterm and final that is literally him just answering questions about the study guide (even encourages you to just ask him the question on the study guide). He is super sweet and the tests were not difficult. The paper was a bit harder but I went to the writing center and with one session I got an A-

This class was pretty boring. . . but it's a very easy A. There is only one assignment for the whole quarter, and that's a 2-3 paged double spaced midterm paper. The exams are easy too since he gives you a study guide in advance including all the things he might ask about on the exam. He also doesn't check for attendance and records all his lectures. You can also get away with not doing the reading and just attending/watching the lectures since all the stuff on his exams can be found in just the lectures (his lectures are like a summary of the reading). Would highly recommend as a low-stress GE.

Grade Distribution:
Mid-term: 33%
Final Exam: 33%
Term Paper: 33%
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Dr. Smith's class is structured very easily. He doesn't go off lecture slides but has notes about what he's going to talk about. As a lecturer he isn't the most engaging but it's easy to see he is very passionate and knowledgeable about what he is talking about. I personally found the textbook confusing to read so I just used his lectures to learn about what was going on the class (which worked pretty well for me). His exams are formatted so they contain a mix of multiple choice questions, sentence questions, and short-answer questions. Overall, they are pretty easy but the TAs will dock off points if you're not using the exact vocabulary the class is using. I would say the hardest part about the class is the paper, because the TAs tend to be rough graders on it, but if you start the papers weeks in advance and have multiple re-edits of it I feel like it would be fine. This class might be boring for you if you don't like philosophy and sometimes the examples used are incredibly scientific and harder to understand than the actual class material but, I enjoyed the class overall.
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GEs fulfilled by this class:
Arts/Humanities: Philosophical and Linguistic analysis
Scientific Inquiry: Physical Science

Lecture was honestly the worst part of my week. Dr. Smith is very passionate about what he is saying but in my opinion the whole class is extremely convoluted. You could pass this class with an A if you write a great essay (get your TA to help you, they grade them) and cram for the tests, but class is pretty brutal to sit through. In the end, if you truly like philosophy then take the class it might be for you.

This class is a fairly easy science GE. It was very boring to me and I will probably never take a philosophy class again because it is clearly not for me but the class itself is quite easy. There are a few essays throughout the quarter that are not too hard to do well on. For the midterm and final, we were given a comprehensive list of topics to be familiar with and these are comprised of the entire exam so it was easy to study and feel prepared for. The professor definitely knows and enjoys what he was talking about, it just was not for me.