SOC GEN 5
Integrative Approaches to Human Biology and Society
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Introduction to concept of problem-based approaches to study of biology and society and areas of concentration, such as bioethics and public science policy, evolutionary biology, culture, and behavior, historical and social studies of life sciences, medical genetics and public health, and population genetics and history, and central thematic issues shared across concentrations, such as commercialization of life and public understanding of science. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Soc Gen 5 was one of my favorite classes I've taken at UCLA, and Dr. Allard is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable on the subject material. When I took this class, Dr. Allard taught the latter half of the quarter, which was focused on endocrine disruption. As he has a background in toxicology, he brought in personal anecdotes based on the work he has done and tied them well into our class curriculum. This class overall is very informative and not too challenging. I definitely recommend (even if you aren't pre-HBS) and you want to learn more about some of the biosocial factors of healthcare, medicine, or toxicology.
Winter 2020 - Soc Gen 5 was one of my favorite classes I've taken at UCLA, and Dr. Allard is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable on the subject material. When I took this class, Dr. Allard taught the latter half of the quarter, which was focused on endocrine disruption. As he has a background in toxicology, he brought in personal anecdotes based on the work he has done and tied them well into our class curriculum. This class overall is very informative and not too challenging. I definitely recommend (even if you aren't pre-HBS) and you want to learn more about some of the biosocial factors of healthcare, medicine, or toxicology.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - With the Zoom complexion of a ripe cherry tomato and the demeanor of a jolly uncle, Christopher Kelty is an excellent professor. He taught the 2nd unit of this class, The Science and Politics of Conservation and Eradication, and Professor McEvoy taught the 1st (Antibiotic Resistance). Kelty was an engaging and entertaining professor who made sure that his lectures were never dry, mixing animal porn with goat hunting strategies nicely. Fun fact; he also has a PhD from MIT. McEvoy was also a solid lecturer, although a tad less jolly. The workload of this class was pretty light overall, with 6 weekly section assignments (easy As), a "pod-based" group assignment (also an easy A), an exam for each unit, and a final paper (7 pages double-spaced). Both unit tests were pretty fair, open note open book, and could be completed within the 1.5 hours given. The Unit 1 test did feel harder than the Unit 2 test though. I suspect the Unit 2 test content and perhaps grading were made less stringent to support students because of the attacks against Asian Americans at the time, but I could be wrong. The paper wasn't too challenging and the format was pretty interesting, plus we had a good amount of freedom in choosing the topic. There's a lot of readings assigned for this class, but they're not tested directly and you can get by if you skim them. Carlie Leary was a good, no-nonsense TA who made a point of not wasting anybody's time during discussion sections. Overall, this class was a pretty easy A, especially if you're a good writer!
Winter 2021 - With the Zoom complexion of a ripe cherry tomato and the demeanor of a jolly uncle, Christopher Kelty is an excellent professor. He taught the 2nd unit of this class, The Science and Politics of Conservation and Eradication, and Professor McEvoy taught the 1st (Antibiotic Resistance). Kelty was an engaging and entertaining professor who made sure that his lectures were never dry, mixing animal porn with goat hunting strategies nicely. Fun fact; he also has a PhD from MIT. McEvoy was also a solid lecturer, although a tad less jolly. The workload of this class was pretty light overall, with 6 weekly section assignments (easy As), a "pod-based" group assignment (also an easy A), an exam for each unit, and a final paper (7 pages double-spaced). Both unit tests were pretty fair, open note open book, and could be completed within the 1.5 hours given. The Unit 1 test did feel harder than the Unit 2 test though. I suspect the Unit 2 test content and perhaps grading were made less stringent to support students because of the attacks against Asian Americans at the time, but I could be wrong. The paper wasn't too challenging and the format was pretty interesting, plus we had a good amount of freedom in choosing the topic. There's a lot of readings assigned for this class, but they're not tested directly and you can get by if you skim them. Carlie Leary was a good, no-nonsense TA who made a point of not wasting anybody's time during discussion sections. Overall, this class was a pretty easy A, especially if you're a good writer!
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - I've tried so hard to stay awake in this class, but I immediately fall asleep once Landecker starts talking. Her voice is very unenthusiastic, so potentially interesting topics sounded extremely boring during lectures. The course is supposed to be about both human biology and society, but the focus seems to be mostly on biology. The exams are hard because she includes small biological details that we didn't know we were supposed to study. The questions are also really tricky, where you think two answers are technically right, but one is slightly "more correct" than the other. This professor pretty much ruined Human Biology and Society for me, but I hear that the class with Lynch-Alfaro is really great compared to this one.
Fall 2016 - I've tried so hard to stay awake in this class, but I immediately fall asleep once Landecker starts talking. Her voice is very unenthusiastic, so potentially interesting topics sounded extremely boring during lectures. The course is supposed to be about both human biology and society, but the focus seems to be mostly on biology. The exams are hard because she includes small biological details that we didn't know we were supposed to study. The questions are also really tricky, where you think two answers are technically right, but one is slightly "more correct" than the other. This professor pretty much ruined Human Biology and Society for me, but I hear that the class with Lynch-Alfaro is really great compared to this one.
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Winter 2018 - Beware of the amount of reading required for this class. The exams are alright as long as you did the study guide and understood all the terms. Overall, this was a pretty generic GE. I am also selling the printed book of Island of Dr. Moreau for 5 dollars. Feel free to message me at 661-292-9419.
Winter 2018 - Beware of the amount of reading required for this class. The exams are alright as long as you did the study guide and understood all the terms. Overall, this was a pretty generic GE. I am also selling the printed book of Island of Dr. Moreau for 5 dollars. Feel free to message me at 661-292-9419.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Professor McEvoy is a fairly good professor. She's helpful and will meet with you for other things if necessary - she met with me for advising on a potential project I was going to take up. Though she didn't contribute very much, she still took her time and energy to meet with me. Most of the class was primarily structured with lectures (recorded and posted, attendance not required) and assignments (I believe we had 8 in total to pick from, each week you chose one - you could do repeats, just had to add up to 8). The exams were easy and straightforward - couldn't really get them wrong as long as you absorbed the content you learned, took notes, and reviewed them prior to the exam. Not too intensive on studying. I don't necessarily feel like I learned much important information from this class.. I did take it during spring 2020 when a lot of final exams and projects were called off. Professor McEvoy taught the class with Professor C.M. Kelty - I think a lot of the information I learned were all covered by previous biology and environmental science courses, which is somewhat to be expected. The book that we had to read was somewhat interesting but also mildly boring at the same time (I think it's a department chosen thing though..). I wasn't particularly attracted to the department either after this course, just because the content was (personally) a little uninteresting. But, we did cover some interesting articles and information about topics like antibiotic resistance, which I definitely enjoyed. Overall, the course was good for the purpose of fulfilling a GE, but it was by no means super intriguing or beneficial to me in any further extent.
Spring 2020 - Professor McEvoy is a fairly good professor. She's helpful and will meet with you for other things if necessary - she met with me for advising on a potential project I was going to take up. Though she didn't contribute very much, she still took her time and energy to meet with me. Most of the class was primarily structured with lectures (recorded and posted, attendance not required) and assignments (I believe we had 8 in total to pick from, each week you chose one - you could do repeats, just had to add up to 8). The exams were easy and straightforward - couldn't really get them wrong as long as you absorbed the content you learned, took notes, and reviewed them prior to the exam. Not too intensive on studying. I don't necessarily feel like I learned much important information from this class.. I did take it during spring 2020 when a lot of final exams and projects were called off. Professor McEvoy taught the class with Professor C.M. Kelty - I think a lot of the information I learned were all covered by previous biology and environmental science courses, which is somewhat to be expected. The book that we had to read was somewhat interesting but also mildly boring at the same time (I think it's a department chosen thing though..). I wasn't particularly attracted to the department either after this course, just because the content was (personally) a little uninteresting. But, we did cover some interesting articles and information about topics like antibiotic resistance, which I definitely enjoyed. Overall, the course was good for the purpose of fulfilling a GE, but it was by no means super intriguing or beneficial to me in any further extent.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - This class was fantastic. When I took this class, Dr. Shapiro taught the first half and Dr. Allard taught the second half, and I absolutely loved this class. Dr. Shapiro had a great understanding of antibiotic resistance and environmental racism, the topics that the first half of the quarter touched on. The class wasn't difficult and was very informative. It's very interdisciplinary and great if you're interested in healthcare.
Winter 2020 - This class was fantastic. When I took this class, Dr. Shapiro taught the first half and Dr. Allard taught the second half, and I absolutely loved this class. Dr. Shapiro had a great understanding of antibiotic resistance and environmental racism, the topics that the first half of the quarter touched on. The class wasn't difficult and was very informative. It's very interdisciplinary and great if you're interested in healthcare.
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