This class is amazing. Dr. Cvrkel is extremely engaging and the material is super interesting. But this class is not easy. There are 2 midterms, a paper, and a final and the material is not something you can passively study, you need to understand what you are doing and after a bit of study, it can feel draining. This class was definitely my most challenging course, but I am so glad I took it. Dr. Cvrkel is awesome and hilarious. I felt like I truly learned a valuable skill and while it was a lot of effort, it was worth it and I'm glad I pushed through.

The material is definitely interesting; the class covers topics in ethics such as Kantian ethics, Utilitarianism, and relevant issues in Bioethics such as Abortion, Animal Testing, and Medical Paternalism. Dr. C is a talented lecturer, and I have to admit she is very funny and knows her ethics. Overall, I've taken away something valuable from this class: confidence and knowledge of ethics and how to apply it in real life situations.

However, fair warnings to those planning on taking this class:

1. You have to score at least a 93.5 for an A, that is in my opinion, a unnecessarily high cutoff point
2. The essay assignment is difficult. I get the feeling that the TAs are told to intentionally withhold assistance to let you struggle through it yourself. As a result, I assumed the essay would primarily be graded on effort. This is not the case, the TAs will mark you down for an argument they disagree with yet at the same time will not help you with building up your arguments in Office Hours nor via email. I understand the large number of students in the class making individual assistance difficult, but in that case I do not feel the level of help given was sufficient for the rigor in grading.
3. The professor has a clear philosophy of "no memorization, DO ethics yourself", yet the way exams are graded is very "memorize the course material, regurgitate what you've learned". This leads to an inconsistency between how the material is taught and how you are expected to apply it. For example, I suspect TAs are told not to explicitly give answers to concepts taught in class, the reason being (I suspect) this robs students of the opportunity to come up with their own answers. First, if a student comes up with an incorrect answer this obviously will hurt them on exams. Secondly, in many other classes solutions are given for problem sets/questions, this does not mean the student does not learn how to solve these problems themselves. Conversely, an example can often prove helpful and guide students' independent learning.
4. The professor is fairly assertive and will not hesitate to shoot you down during group Office Hours and toward the end of the quarter I felt like the TAs didn't really know the course material as well as even some students.

But overall, the class teaches valuable skills and I don't regret taking it. It does have these problems though, so be warned.

Don't be fooled by the name. This is actually a PHILOSOPHY class. Professor Cvrkel introduces theories like culture relativism, utilitarianism, Kant theories etc. She would later apply these theories to some medical cases. The grade is not curved. You need to get 280+/300 to get an A, which is pretty hard. TAs are very helpful. There's one midterm and one final, each has 3 essay questions. The final paper topic is kinda tricky. She asked us to write about the biggest moral conflict in our lives. Overall, it's a good class and will give you a lot of new perspectives. But I don't think I would take this class again.

Best class I have ever taken at UCLA.

Cvrkel was a very... VERY... interesting professor

I didn't think this class would be a philosophical class and, well, I didn't know much about philosophy to begin with. However, Cvrkel made this class pretty cool. The lectures were engaging and cool, but it was so difficult to keep up because she talks sooooo fast and moves on soooo fast. I typed all my notes and struggled, and I feel bad for those who were writing them. Attendance was mandatory, which was a good thing because she doesn't upload notes or anything like that and everything she goes through in lecture is very important for the midterm and final.

There was also weekly quizzes during discussion but those were pretty easy.They're based on whatever she went through in lecture and whatever was on the readings. The TA's are chill af and help you out, and Cvrkel uses the same TA's so they know their shit.

Here's my advice for the midterm and final: READ THE RUBRIC. A lot of people from my class didn't do so well on the midterm, mostly because were weren't detailed enough and no one actually read the rubric lol. I got a low C on the midterm, but the TA's help you out on what you'd need to improve on and I ended up getting an A on the final, which btw is similarly laid out like the midterm: 3 essay questions.

There's also a term paper: 5-7 pages and is based on a moral issue based on your life. Be careful, because you can't make that shit up. They also require a 1 paged paper topic proposal halfway through the course so they can see and approve your paper topic.

Overall, pretty cool and interesting class. Cvrkel is definitely someone I'd take again.

This class is a very good introduction to philosophy and ethics for a science student. Dr. Cverkel is very engaging and able to get points across in ways that make sense and teach students how to think about issues such as these. She doesn't preach - nothing is right or wrong. Everything she discusses is factually provable or disprovable - she teaches systems of ethics rather than declaring specific acts good or bad.

Super sick class - Cvrkel is amazing and very passionate about her work. Her lectures are crazy engaging. It is difficult, but if you pay attention in class and work on argumentation, you'll be fine!

Very interesting and engaging class! Would highly recommend it.

Selling all course materials (course reader and Slack book) for a very cheap price!

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This was a class I took twice, and I have to say it was entirely worth it.

Lectures and material taught three, almost four, years ago are still poignant, memorable, and have impact on who I am as a person today.

Should she ever teach this class again, I entirely and wholeheartedly recommend this class. At the very least, she guides you to the tools needed to engage in meaningful dialogue about modern ethical issues. This isn't a "STEM" course; its more akin to a logic or philosophy course, but presented in a way that's relevant and immediately applicable.

In that sense, the course wont be easy. You can't skip classes here, not that she takes attendance consistently, but you'll absolutely be behind if you dont have prior knowledge about the things discussed in classes; you wont know what you dont know.

That being said, I did receive an A in the class, so it is absolutely doable. Her "final" paper is one that I still am proud of four years later. Take this class. But be prepared.