Professor Menjivar is a great lecturer who genuinely cares about the material she is teaching.

Her class consists of the following: midterm, extra credit, newspaper report, and section participation.

There is no final exam but rather a 10 page (minimum) research paper that consists of research that will be conducted at an approved field site over the span of 4ish weeks. This may sound intimidating initially but the professor and TA will provide you with plenty of references and guidelines in order to successfully complete this.

The midterm exam was multiple choice with 3 short free response questions (few sentences each). The professor will guide you in class during a review session on what exactly you will need to know. Just make sure to spend adequate time reviewing the in class readings and the authors of those texts. This exam is also curved!

Extra credit points are a maximum of 4. There are 2 separate extra credit assignments each worth 2 points. These assignments are based on events hosted by the UCLA Center for International Migration. If you plan accordingly, you will be able to sign up for online webinars that take place before the extra credit due date. You just need to get the events approved by a TA or the professor prior to attending them. The extra credit assignments are a 2 page write up connecting the information presented at the events with in class materials (lectures, discussions, readings, etc.).

For the discussion section, attendance is required. Make sure to raise your hand a few times throughout the quarter and participate as this is a factor of your grade. You also have weekly "reaction papers" due which are ultimately discussion board questions on BruinLearn. Make sure to complete all of the weekly questions.

Overall, this class is based on a point grading system. Even if you aren't a great test taker and don't do that well on the midterm exam, you can still get an A in this class! Just make sure to complete the extra credit and attend all of the discussion sections for extra grade cushioning. This class also satisfies the Interactions category for the sociology major which is a plus. I highly recommend this class!