Professor Peterson has a lot of experience within the entertainment industry and does a great job of incorporating it into lectures. The concepts of the course are very interesting and the group project gives you a lot of creative freedom to dive into topics you are passionate about. I felt like the exams were pretty difficult because all of the questions were very lengthy, but there were some small assignments and the group project that allow you to maintain a good grade.

Don't let the old reviews scare you from taking this class, as long as you show up to lecture and go through the readings it's an interesting and straightforward class. Class is broken down as follows: two exams (both multiple choice), two small assignments, group project (but you can do it by yourself if you don't want to work with a group) and a bunch of little participation points that you basically get from going to lecture.

Exams are extremely easy, but like I said, you have to actually go to lecture and go through the readings, because a lot of questions will start with "as discussed in class/x reading..." (as long as you paid attention they're easy- he doesn't give any trick questions). He posts the Power Points, but you need to go to lecture for a lot of the slides to actually be helpful for the exams. Take notes in class, even when he brings up news/examples, because those are fair game for the exam (again, as long as you went, paid attention and took notes, the questions are easy). As far as the readings go, questions are about the basic gist of the articles, I can't think of any questions on the exams that were ultra specific. If you don't have time to read through them entirely, he tells you to read the title, abstract, intro and discussion- as long as you read through those (especially abstract and discussion) you'll be fine for the exams.

Assignments are very straightforward- first one is a 1-page mini lit review where you just need to go through 3 articles related to something specific in television (representation, effects, etc.) and the second one is a content analysis. Just make sure you've hit everything he asks for in the deliverables and you should be fine. Final group project is a content analysis research project (intro/lit review, methods, results, discussion, etc.), 10-20 pages- the only variable here is really how many group members you have- for each group member you need to have at least 3 citations for each person, or if you're by yourself then minimum of 5.

Probably the worst teacher at UCLA and most useless person in the Communications department.

Too bad they love him.

Do not be a communications major HE SUCKS! and controls the Communications Department.

I've taken three classes with Peterson (132, 156, and 150), and I can honestly say that he is one of the most useless professors on campus. He looks like he's going to be fun and hip, and he'll bring up current topics in order to seem relatable (he loves talking about Twitter, for example), but 95% of his lectures consist of him rambling about stuff unrelated to the class. He'll get through three or four slides of his planned lecture, and then will spend the next 45 minutes talking about news or some random issue. He assigns readings that he doesn't explain at all, and even if you ask him a question about the reading, chances are, he won't even know the answer. I've learned to accept that when taking Peterson, I'm on my own as far as learning anything of substance.

As far as the structure of his classes go, the assignments that you turn in aren't usually too bad. What bothers me the most is that he'll assign some vague busywork to do over the weekend (Ex. "Think about a topic you might be able to do research on... Oh, and take notes on it.") and then he'll actually waste class time to collect everyone's pieces of binder paper with three sentences scribbled on them. Like everyone's said here, 150 is a pain in the ass. Try to take the class with a friend so you can partner up together, or at least partner up with someone you know, because a slacker can really bring your grade down.

Bottom line: Prepare to sit in the back of class, rolling your eyes for 10 weeks if you're going to take one of Peterson's classes. Of the three classes I've taken, 132 was the most interesting--probably because Peterson's area of "expertise" is actually television... although it boggles my mind that he actually contributes anything worthwhile to academia.

I advise you....do not take Peterson. One of the worst professors I had here, like seriously. Acted like he was all fun and games, lectures were vague, readings too long and he never went over them and he cannot explain anything. and then BAM the midterm and final hit you like a bullet with super specific questions that you had no idea had anything to do with the class. And the projects are pointless busy work. I expected a lot from this class and was VASTLY DISAPPOINTED. Spend your time taking classes where the professor isn't a wishy washy prick.

How was his 132 exam?? It seems difficult to study for this class with his lack of structure. What should we focus on?

Professor Peterson is really articulate. I liked listening to his lectures. As long as you come to lecture and take notes, you'll ace the exams (all MC). He emphasizes key points that will be on the exam and often times repeats them so there's no excuse not to get an A in this class. I really enjoyed the brief research assignments he assigned. I'm glad application was taught in addition to theory. Afterall this is a research-based university. You can't survive UCLA without doing research. He made me wish I was a comm major (I'm a bio major). The course was refreshing for me. Take him!

Steve is really laid back...wayyyyyyy too laid back. All his lectures are vague, abstract and unorganized. Even power point presentations don't make sense as there is no format, layout or outline or ANYTHING.... I got A's all quarter, then i guess did bad on the final...who knows?! no one does...not even the professor