Professor
Benjamin Sampson
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - If you are not an FTV major, I do NOT recommend you take this class to satisfy a GE. I'm a very studious person, but this class was a ridiculous time drain (Many students took it for a GE but it was definitely designed as a pre-req in TFT). First, the lectures were anywhere from 30min to 3 hours, and were pre-recorded so students could not engage with the professor and ask questions (he did have office hours.) Despite their length, the lectures gave us ~30% of the material we were actually tested on, so our knowledge came mostly from readings. We were usually assigned 2 or 3 readings each week (from textbook and academic articles); be prepared to read 70-100 dry textbook pages each week. Third, be ready to watch about 4 hours of television each week - while this might sound fun, it will get boring very fast if you don't love old tv shows. Next, the midterm was ridiculously long. It ended up being about 10 pages single spaced for most students; the professor made the midterm span over three days because of remote instruction, taking advantage of the circumstances in a manner wholly unsympathetic towards students. The first paper was easy, but be prepared to write the final paper while studying for the final exam. Because of nationwide protests, he made the final exam shorter than the midterm (that's not saying much.) Again, I do not recommend taking this class for a GE - you will find easier, less stressful, and more engaging classes than this. The grade: Discussion participation and weekly homework prompts ~ 1 page (25%) short 3-4 page paper (10%) midterm (20%); final paper (7 pages) (25%) final exam (20%).
Spring 2020 - If you are not an FTV major, I do NOT recommend you take this class to satisfy a GE. I'm a very studious person, but this class was a ridiculous time drain (Many students took it for a GE but it was definitely designed as a pre-req in TFT). First, the lectures were anywhere from 30min to 3 hours, and were pre-recorded so students could not engage with the professor and ask questions (he did have office hours.) Despite their length, the lectures gave us ~30% of the material we were actually tested on, so our knowledge came mostly from readings. We were usually assigned 2 or 3 readings each week (from textbook and academic articles); be prepared to read 70-100 dry textbook pages each week. Third, be ready to watch about 4 hours of television each week - while this might sound fun, it will get boring very fast if you don't love old tv shows. Next, the midterm was ridiculously long. It ended up being about 10 pages single spaced for most students; the professor made the midterm span over three days because of remote instruction, taking advantage of the circumstances in a manner wholly unsympathetic towards students. The first paper was easy, but be prepared to write the final paper while studying for the final exam. Because of nationwide protests, he made the final exam shorter than the midterm (that's not saying much.) Again, I do not recommend taking this class for a GE - you will find easier, less stressful, and more engaging classes than this. The grade: Discussion participation and weekly homework prompts ~ 1 page (25%) short 3-4 page paper (10%) midterm (20%); final paper (7 pages) (25%) final exam (20%).
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - THIS HAS BEEN MY FAVORITE UCLA CLASS YET OMG. I've recommended it to all of my friends, it was SO interesting and engaging. It was also really easy to get an A. Lowkey considering minoring in film and tv bc of this class. Professor Sampson is AMAZING! TAKE THIS CLASS!
Winter 2022 - THIS HAS BEEN MY FAVORITE UCLA CLASS YET OMG. I've recommended it to all of my friends, it was SO interesting and engaging. It was also really easy to get an A. Lowkey considering minoring in film and tv bc of this class. Professor Sampson is AMAZING! TAKE THIS CLASS!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2017 - Professor Sampson knows his materials well. He is open-minded and likes to invite the class to discussions. Some of the documentaries I watched during the class were really fascinating, and the materials are actually interesting if you're fond of race, gender, sexuality, and other social topics. Not an easy A class, but as long as you do the reading and go to the lectures, you'll be totally fine! Selling all his textbooks at a bundle of $30. Price negotiable; text 4245223141
Winter 2017 - Professor Sampson knows his materials well. He is open-minded and likes to invite the class to discussions. Some of the documentaries I watched during the class were really fascinating, and the materials are actually interesting if you're fond of race, gender, sexuality, and other social topics. Not an easy A class, but as long as you do the reading and go to the lectures, you'll be totally fine! Selling all his textbooks at a bundle of $30. Price negotiable; text 4245223141
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