Prof Shorter is a prime example of what a university-level professor should be like. Class/Lecture wasn't class where students are forced to sit down, jot notes, memorize facts, and regurgitate them on exam dates. We got to sit, think, discuss, and read. The conversations were engaging and Prof. Shorter is such a great speaker that I rarely dozed off in class.
Everyone says "oh wow a class about aliens what a joke so easy"...except this class isn't about learning about aliens and ghosts. It's about creating your own POV on paranormal activities, critiquing pieces of "evidence" and coming to your own conclusions of why or why not some one might believe in these paranormal activities. It's a class about how to think, analyze, and read material...we just happen to use aliens, ghosts, and psychics as examples.
As for the assignments, just follow the rules (like you should do for any class) and do ALL THE E.C he literally gives you 15-20 points of extra credit which bump your grade up by 2 letter grades (the class is out of 100 pts only). They were very straightforward assignments and all the TAs are extremely nice and awesome. I basically had over a 100 pts before the final paper so I didn't put much effort into the final but because of my E.C I wasn't worried and I still ended up with an A+.

This class was awesome and it's a GE + Writing II! Prof. Shorter puts on this huge front in the beginning and even admits that he wants to be a bit of an asshole at the start to get people to drop so people on the waitlist can come in. After about week 1, he's awesome and engaging and I really appreciated all the lectures, and guests be brought in to expand our view on seemingly illogical and unscientific topics that academic institutions such as UCLA tend to disregard.

Dr. Shorter is the reason I pay so much money to attend a college like UCLA. This was the first class where I actually felt like I learned something valuable. The review below describing the grading scheme is 100% accurate.
This class is not as easy as mentioned in earlier reviews, but it is definitely not an unfair class. Your whole grade revolves around 4 writing assignments and that grade is very dependent upon your TA, although all the TA's this quarter were phenomenal (shout out to Jackie Davis).
Lectures were discussion heavy and really made you think.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO TAKE THIS CLASS BUT GOT SCARED DUE TO OTHER REVIEWS- DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM.
No, there is not an extra 30 points of extra credit but this quarter alone he gave out like 12 points ec.
TAKE THIS CLASS.
I am a STEM major and this has been my favorite class thus far.

Do NOT take this class if you are basing it off of previous reviews because it has been completely changed this year. The professor grades extremely harshly on rules that aren't applicable outside of the classroom. A day or two before each essay, he'll randomly make up new rules or new structures that you have to apply to your essay. Missing any small mistakes or grammatical answers can result in you getting C's on your essays simply because each small mistake will be worth an entire point (each essay is around 15-25 points so the points add up). The lectures were more of discussions and were only interesting the first 2 weeks when he was actually teaching. If you are looking for an easy A or an interesting class, I suggest taking any other course.

This class was one of the best classes i have taken here at UCLA. Prof. Shorter is super engaging and funny. After some classes, I was literally at the edge of my seat, because the lecture was super interesting and eye-opening. You do not have to come out of the class believing in aliens, but I think one will gain deeper, valuable insight and understanding on existence, life, and what is considered "truth." But tbh, this class got me believing that aliens are real lol.

Prof. Shorter has high standards, though. Do not think that this will be an easy writing 2 course. You literally have to comb through your essays, looking at each and every line for possible mistakes and places where you can lose points. Plan on finish writing your essays a couple of days before the deadline. Then, proofread on your computer with Shorter's writing rules open. Ask your TA for help (shoutout to Christina for being the greatest TA!). Have a classmate peer edit your paper. Print out a hardcopy of your paper and further edit it. Then, literally read it out loud in your room and see if you can catch any mistakes. You can then copy and paste it into a text-to-speech program on the internet and have your computer read it to you. (Or if you have friends, you can ask them to read it out loud for you.) Despite the high writing standards, after taking this class, I feel like I became a much better writer and I feel confident in my writing skills going forward.

If you want to actually learn something valuable in your time at college, take WL ARTS 51W. Highly recommend!
If you want an easy A writing 2 course, this ain't it.

Professor Shorter is tough and has high expectations for his students, but he cares deeply about this course, his students, and being a great professor. He is very smart, and therefore has strong opinions, but he is also very willing to listen and change his epistemology if need be. You need to read and write a lot in this class, but it is worth it. Shorter also offers lots of extra credit opportunities. You will learn so much in this class. Highly recommend.

Great class! Professor Shorter is engaging and I promise you there is never a dull moment.
Selling all the books for this class
310-774-6042

I am a south campus major who does not have much writing experience or even consider myself as a below-average writer, but I thoroughly enjoyed this class. This class is definitely not as easy as before when the students had a lot of extra credit opportunities. I was afraid of entering this class because of the previous reviews, but I don't think you have to be too scared.
Grades are out of 100 points so if you get a total of 96 points, you get an A. Each point is worth one percent of your grade, so each point you lose on a paper is one percent gone. The grading scheme seems scary at first, but Professor Shorter provides extra credit points through pop quizzes (usually 2 points per quiz) and Capstone Workshops (~5 points). The pop quizzes are based on the readings and are quite tricky, but they can only add to your grade so don't worry. Think of the extra credit points as making up for mistakes you made on your papers. I did not get a lot of extra credit points in the class (~5) but I still got an A (I mostly got 0/ 0.5 points on the pop quizzes). Here is the grade breakdown:
Attendance (you can miss up to three days for full credit) - 15 points
Short Analysis (3 pages) - 15 points
Author Analysis I (5 pages) - 20 points
Author Analysis II (5 pages) - 20 points
Final Paper Introduction - 5 points
Final Research Projects (7 pages) - 25 points
Total: 100 points
Like others have said before, this is not an easy Writing II class. Papers are due every two weeks, so the class is very fast-paced. A large amount of reading is also assigned every week. Professor Shorter has high expectations and very strict guidelines for what he wants in a paper. However, he details them very clearly in his writing guide and college rule sheet. As long as you follow his rules, you should get a decent grade on his papers. His rules seem very tedious at first such as not using “it is” or any of its conjugated forms. You have to comb through your writing very carefully to find every single mistake. Another thing to add is that the final paper is graded even stricter than before. A mistake worth 0.5 points would be worth 1.5 on the final paper, so do not slack off. I recommend you to go to your TA's office hours to go through your papers and asks for their opinions. Your grade mostly depends on your TA, but they do grade it by the guidelines Professor Shorter provides. While I tell you this, I did not go to any of my TA's office hours but I still did fine on my papers ranging from one to two points being taken off per paper. However, I would have done a lot better and I would have been a lot less anxious if I asked my TA for help. All of the TAs are great at their job and genuinely cares about the success of the students.
As for the content of the class, it is very interesting and mind-opening. I have never been this interested or personally invested in a class at UCLA. Professor Shorter makes every single lecture entertaining; he jokes around and provides many personal anecdotes. The lectures feel like a discussion between him and the students. He told us many personal stories that allowed students to connect with him. He even organized a field trip where students could go "ghost-visiting" with him. At the end of the quarter, he shook every student's hand and this action greatly demonstrates his overall character. This class is much more about aliens, psychics, and ghosts even though we did learn a lot about these topics. This class is about learning about what we should consider as the truth and how to look at the given evidence. Professor Shorter has changed the perspective in which I view the world.
I highly recommend this class if you want to be in an extremely interesting class where you can build a personal connection with the professor. As a South Campus major, this class was very different from the classes I am accustomed to and it was quite hard for me. I am not used to writing so much, but his guidelines become easier to follow the more you write. The changes he asks you to make become natural for you as you write. His guidelines teach you how to become a better writer for the outside world. However, this class is not easy. I spent more time focusing on this class (~50%) than I did for my other two classes (including STEM). I would recommend you to take this class when you have an easier quarter because it is quite time-consuming if you are not used to writing. I promise you would have a lot to take away from the class as long as you keep an open mind.

If you do the work and follow his directions you'll get an A. Fun and enjoyable class material. Selling the required books : Communion and The Supernatural. Text @ 9099970987

The title of Prof. Shorter's fiat lux is "Aliens and Ghosts." It seemed like more work than a 1-unit class is worth (there were two books to read, and something like 4-5 papers to write), but overall it wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed the material and always looked forward to his lectures. In class, he got to know everybody's name, brought his dog to class, and often gave us food. Though he made it relaxing to be in class, he made us think. Like other people have posted, his lecture style seems condescending at first, but that's just because he's making you think twice about what you're saying. He's open to all beliefs and doesn't try to change your mind about anything through his class.

I went into this class knowing that it would be difficult, and only wanting to take it because it would be my last GE.

I can honestly say that this was probably one of the most enriching classes I have ever taken at UCLA and I don't regret a single moment of it. This class, like other reviewers have said, has truly changed my worldview and has help me become more understanding of the worldview of others.

Professor Shorter is definitely not one of those professors that is going to take your bs excuses for not going to class or let you walk away with an easy A. You're definitely going to have to work for it, but hopefully you'll walk away with something much greater in value than a grade...or something like that.

His class is sometimes brutal but undeniably fair. His quizzes, in all honesty, are not difficult if you have done the reading. I probably missed only two questions the whole quarter -- not a big deal. The readings are sometimes dense, but they're always gone over in class.

Shorter is one of those professors that truly care and he might even change your life. Take this class, I doubt you'll really regret it.