Professor
Veronica Herrera
1 of 2
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - I really enjoyed the structure of the course lectures and how time was dedicated to lecture and lecture concept workshops (discussions). I felt that I truly got to interact with the concepts that were taught by Dr. Herrera. I agree with the other review because I felt that she was definitely left-leaning but did try to make a way to discuss a movement and its respective counter-movement. Show up to lectures. Show up to the discussion. Plan and outline your assignments days and weeks in advance. There are 4 assignments in total that spanned about 4-6 pages (with the final being 10-12). If you really take a few hours each week to write the body paragraphs, you will thank yourself. The third assignment will require you to attend a social movement (zoom/in-person) and you will need to reflect on It. So, if you’re not at all passionate about social movements then I would not recommend taking the class. Even if lecture attendance is not taken, she will bring up super helpful extra tips for the essays so do attend them because she does not post her slides after class! Sometimes, Dr. Herrera would make statements that may come off as brash and intimidating to students. In addition to this, the presentations felt unorganized and there were many instances where she felt unsure of what she was lecturing about, asking students to verify claims that she would make. Despite this, the times that I did approach her, she was very kind and receptive to my concerns, even offering her advice on how I should approach my essay. She challenged us in many ways that helped us expand how we interpret movements throughout history and just critically evaluate academic material in general. The readings she selected and her breaking up readings from lecture and discussion-specific sections were absolutely great, as it meant you could split them up during the week. Not only did it spread out the readings throughout the week to make it less heavy for students, but it also helped me and my peers absorb the concepts better. She is surely an expert in her field and has extensive knowledge to share on social movements throughout history. It was also great being able to interact with peers who were genuinely passionate about the social movements that they chose to write about in their assignments.
Winter 2024 - I really enjoyed the structure of the course lectures and how time was dedicated to lecture and lecture concept workshops (discussions). I felt that I truly got to interact with the concepts that were taught by Dr. Herrera. I agree with the other review because I felt that she was definitely left-leaning but did try to make a way to discuss a movement and its respective counter-movement. Show up to lectures. Show up to the discussion. Plan and outline your assignments days and weeks in advance. There are 4 assignments in total that spanned about 4-6 pages (with the final being 10-12). If you really take a few hours each week to write the body paragraphs, you will thank yourself. The third assignment will require you to attend a social movement (zoom/in-person) and you will need to reflect on It. So, if you’re not at all passionate about social movements then I would not recommend taking the class. Even if lecture attendance is not taken, she will bring up super helpful extra tips for the essays so do attend them because she does not post her slides after class! Sometimes, Dr. Herrera would make statements that may come off as brash and intimidating to students. In addition to this, the presentations felt unorganized and there were many instances where she felt unsure of what she was lecturing about, asking students to verify claims that she would make. Despite this, the times that I did approach her, she was very kind and receptive to my concerns, even offering her advice on how I should approach my essay. She challenged us in many ways that helped us expand how we interpret movements throughout history and just critically evaluate academic material in general. The readings she selected and her breaking up readings from lecture and discussion-specific sections were absolutely great, as it meant you could split them up during the week. Not only did it spread out the readings throughout the week to make it less heavy for students, but it also helped me and my peers absorb the concepts better. She is surely an expert in her field and has extensive knowledge to share on social movements throughout history. It was also great being able to interact with peers who were genuinely passionate about the social movements that they chose to write about in their assignments.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - It is clear that Professor Herrera put a lot of thought into the design of this course, which is engaging and well organized. The grading breakdown was 15% discussion section (participation and in-class assignments), 35% midterm essay, 25% group podcast, 15% individual paper and annotated bibliography on the podcast topic, and 10% lecture engagement quizzes. We were given one week to write the midterm essays, for which we were asked to respond to two of three prompts using the course readings. While I didn’t love the format of the podcast final project, I did appreciate the opportunity to examine the concepts we were discussing in class through an analysis of a water-related problem. The individual paper and annotated bibliography assignments changed slightly in the middle of the quarter (the individual paper was originally a brief that was 1-2 pages, and was adjusted to be a 3-5 page paper), but weren’t too bad otherwise. The lecture engagement quizzes were one-question assignments posted on Canvas that were graded on completion and attendance -- if you were in class and responded to the prompt, you got credit. The readings were relevant and interesting, and needed to be completed by discussion section on Thursdays (they did not have to be completed by lecture on Tuesdays, which was very helpful). All course due dates were before the conclusion of week 10 (so nothing was due finals week), which was great. Overall, this course was very interesting, and I would definitely recommend to those who find the topic interesting.
Fall 2022 - It is clear that Professor Herrera put a lot of thought into the design of this course, which is engaging and well organized. The grading breakdown was 15% discussion section (participation and in-class assignments), 35% midterm essay, 25% group podcast, 15% individual paper and annotated bibliography on the podcast topic, and 10% lecture engagement quizzes. We were given one week to write the midterm essays, for which we were asked to respond to two of three prompts using the course readings. While I didn’t love the format of the podcast final project, I did appreciate the opportunity to examine the concepts we were discussing in class through an analysis of a water-related problem. The individual paper and annotated bibliography assignments changed slightly in the middle of the quarter (the individual paper was originally a brief that was 1-2 pages, and was adjusted to be a 3-5 page paper), but weren’t too bad otherwise. The lecture engagement quizzes were one-question assignments posted on Canvas that were graded on completion and attendance -- if you were in class and responded to the prompt, you got credit. The readings were relevant and interesting, and needed to be completed by discussion section on Thursdays (they did not have to be completed by lecture on Tuesdays, which was very helpful). All course due dates were before the conclusion of week 10 (so nothing was due finals week), which was great. Overall, this course was very interesting, and I would definitely recommend to those who find the topic interesting.
AD
AD
1 of 2
