I'm in the process of taking this class. The discussion papers (worth 6% total, 1% each) were a living hell because my section ended up having three different TAs due to "technical" complications. Without this complication, the papers and the class is straight forward. There is one 6-7 pg book analysis worth a lot of your grade. The midterm (and I'm assuming the final) is easy if you study the study guide he gives. You don't have to read the readings (just skim for discussion questions) and can still succeed as long as you take notes/pay attention in class. Reading would make it way easier though and probably a lot more interesting... I wouldn't know. I felt this class kind of had a political science approach, which was harder for me because I think sociologically (if its your first time in a soc class, I feel like its not very representative of sociology as a field). We went over sociological theory, but for some reason I felt the readings and lectures had a political science edge to them. Can you tell I'm sleep deprived and procrastinating?

I think the previous reviews are by people who forget that your classes are supposed to be challenging you. With that being said, Professor Walker's class is one of my favorites that I have ever taken. His lectures were engaging, and you can tell he really cared about students understanding the material. Doing well on the midterm and final is completely doable, it just requires a lot of studying and memorizing the material from lectures. The book report is also not challenging at all, as long as you show that you read the book and answer the questions in the prompt then you're fine. I would highly recommend taking Walker!

Despite the many positive reviews posted about Professor Walker, I highly advise anyone wanting to take this class to NOT. The grading is extremely unclear as it seems everything is graded based on opinions and no actual rubric, therefore leaving grading to be extremely unequal and irregular, and largely dependent on your TA. His final is cumulative and has a massive unhelpful “study guide” which he then asks us to look at our past midterm study guide on top. It’s majority things we are expected to know and conclude based on what he’s taught us, but the minority of it is straight forward topics we have actually learned. It will leave you tickling your head wondering if you were in the same class all these lectures as the study guides for the midterm and final are worded so annoyingly and different. The final has 2 essays, 4 “short answer” (quotes because they’re basically essay length, anything less you will not get full marks), and multiple choice questions. Tests are again harshly graded and seem to have no rubric or empathy instilled as some leave with a 100% and others with a fairly similar test leave with a 75%. No regularity and rightful reasoning. The actual professor is an epitome of what you would believe a UCLA professor being, very well endowed in knowledge of the course, intimidating, and talks far to fast for anyone to hand write everything important he is saying (no computers allowed). His lecture notes are an outline at best, and due to his fast talking and vast vocabulary skills, he often leaves us with little time to even process what he was speaking of. Often asking if we have any questions during the middle of lecture, students often never ask simply because they wouldn’t know what to ask since the information is being thrown so fast and at such depth it’s hard to necessarily pin point what we have a question about. Reading is as dry as the Sahara desert, and boy there’s a lot of it. Getting an A is not impossible as I have seen classmates doing so, but I’m unsure how they are (besides the adderall). Good luck to those who venture to take this course, and I promise you by the end of it you will be questioning why you embarked on being a sociology major to begin with and might have quite a distaste for social movements as it has been analyzed in such depth, not getting tired of it is nearly impossible unless you were Monsieur Walker himself. Also, save some money for some hair dye by the end as you will get some grey hairs.

Took this course and truly enjoyed Prof. Walker. His lectures are engaging and the readings are interesting and relevant. Highly recommend. Selling the course reader for $30. 661 803 1740.

The Lectures themselves are fine and the workload outside of exams is doable. The professor really lacks a clear syllabus and rubrics. Walker was never clear if a student can make up points and the information we received on exams was not the best (study guide). He never sent out a grading rubric for anything. He was also not fair in regards to the deadlines of assignments as half of students had more time than the other half for assignments (which mattered in the discussion sections). Exams took a long time to complete, even considering the window of opportunity to complete them. I don't think he's a terrible teacher and I hope he fixes these issues for future classes.

Summary: Class was okay, Structure needs a fair amount of improvement.

This class was definitely challenging but I think that's the point. The first few weeks of the class I was struggling but then I got the hang of it. You have to do the readings to be able to support your midterm and final. If you do the readings, watch the lectures and ask questions, you'll do great. More than fairly graded, easy to get a hold of and open to answering questions.

Prof. Walker was such an excellent instructor! Take him, end of discussion.

I'm selling the course rider for $10! Email me at Lulu.2lukic@icloud.com