there's just a lot of tedious busy work in this class. if you start early each week, then you will be fine. the readings are often really long and just repeat the async lecture videos, but you are expected to write at least 500 words for each reading (and there'll be 2-4 each week). this goes along weekly discussion responses and sometimes even more, such as the midterm and final projects. TAs grade a bit too harshly. you rarely ever get to interact with the professor since we only have 2 large zoom office hours (1 of which is cancelled due to the ta strike). class isn't really enjoyable in terms of content, but it's definitely easy if you just put in the effort

Extreme amount of homework. More than any other class I've taken yet as a senior.

This class was definitely an experience. It being asynchronous with an online discussion, fulfilling a GE and being an upper division made it a very enticing choice. Every week we had a Reading Journal to complete along with your Insights, and they were due by Wednesday night. The Reading Journal was meant to include an analysis of the readings for the week, and we were required to do one for each reading which usually meant we did about 3. They were between 250 to 500 words. The Insights were simply you reflecting on the readings and lecture videos. It's not too much when you think about it, but the fact that it was due on a Wednesday night made it really annoying to complete, especially since I had a lot going on in the beginning of the week. Furthermore, the rubric and grading for the reading journals were not fully clear, as what my TA said kind of contradicted what the rubric said. Everyone basically bombed the first reading journal which was quite anxiety-inducing to be completely fair. It was also almost impossible to receive a 96-100% on them because they had to defined as Graduate level work, which as an undergrad was kind of strange. However, after speaking to my TA on how to complete them (shout out to Iman), the class wasn't so bad. We also had a midterm and a final to do, and they were multiple choice/true or false and open-note and open book, so they weren't too bad at all. If you manage to do all your work and follow what your TA is saying to do, as well as take notes on the readings since they come in handy during the tests, you should be able to do well in the class. Just keep in mind that it is a fairly good amount of work, at least for me since I took time to do it all.

Very unclear with policies, with some students not receiving multiple emails and TA's not addressing people for discussions. The class was already in shambles after Week 2 when she announced that A+'s were only for students who were completing work worthy of "ready for graduate school" status. At that point, I just took the class for P/NP since it was too big of a risk. Getting an A- or A is definitely hard if your TA is not favorable towards you, passing however takes a lot of stress off. Very enticing as it is both an Upper-Division and GE course in addition to being asynchronous other than one discussion a week. Still, do not take if you can avoid it.

This class is EXTREMELY time-consuming. The professor said they would never hand out an A+ on the weekly reading journals (she requires you to do one for every reading assigned that week, there are typically 3) unless you are doing graduate-level work. This is unrealistic to expect from an undergraduate class. On top of the reading journals you have to do weekly insight papers where they ask for your opinions and what you learned from that week but they are graded harshly (which makes no sense because they are supposed to be about what you found most interesting LOL). The midterm and the final were both multiple-choice tests which made the class bearable. Overall, I do NOT recommend this class and would only take it if I ABSOLUTELY have to. If you manage your time and stay on top of the readings you will be fine but if you are looking for an easy A GE then THIS IS NOT THE ONE.

Easily worst class I have taken at UCLA. I never write reviews but feel I had to for this one, do not take. As people have said there is an excessive amount of homework (weekly reviews + journal entries). On top of all this the material is repetitive, not engaging and the worst part are the TA's. Heavily relies on who your TA is and they were so unclear on what was required grade would go all over the place. If you miss two discussion sections you get a fail on your participation points. It is ridiculous and I urge everyone to stay away.

I would not take this class again. Readings and reading journals were long. My TA graded them very harshly and discussions were awful. This class was asynchronous but then we were required to attend random live events. Overall, the class was not good.

This was by far the WORST class I have ever taken at a UCLA. The Professor is a joke and is extremely unhelpful. There is and INSANE amount of homework in this class and it is extremely boring. Do not recommend.

insane amount of homework; weekly reading journals (500-750 words per article) + weekly discussion posts. midterm was a short essay style test with 3 questions which we had a few days to submit. the final project is also a huge amount of work with like 3 different components. i wouldn't take this class unless i had to