Selling Raciolinguistics and Linguistic Anthropology required texts (661) 339-8285

The class is pretty easy. There's 2 "Celebrations of Knowledge" which in every other class are usually called a midterm and final exam. They were multiple choice. Also, 2 papers which are 1-2 pages long and that INCLUDES the references. Finally, attendance in section and participation in section (both are 10% of your grade). Some TAs make you turn in 321s (3 main points, 2 questions, 1 criticism or comment about the readings) every week but my TA just had us talk about them in section during breakout rooms and then tell her what we talked about.

Outside of that, there's is LOTS of reading. Expect around 100 pages a week. There's THREE required books but even then there is also PDFs uploaded to read as well. Yes, they are necessary to pass the class because you have to participate in section and the celebrations test you on specific terms and ideas in the readings. It's definitely doable though so don't get too discouraged. If you classes for a given quarter are reading heavy then maybe put this class off until later or put some other class off until later if you can.

Alim himself is a GREAT teacher and very knowledgeable. A lot of the readings were written by himself and are his OWN research. The Raciolinguistics and Articulate While Black required texts are written or compiled by him and some others.

selling textbooks 424-371-4691

Really easy class, prof was super chill, interesting readings.

NOW CALLED ANTHRO 4!

I took this class with Professor H. Samy Alim. He seems like a great guy but this course was extremely disorganized. As a first year, it was very overwhelming to not know what was happening, and also for my TA to not know what was going on because of constant changes in the syllabus. Though I felt like I learned a lot about Black vernacular and ended up finding it interesting, I was not aware that this was what the class was about. ANTHRO 4 changes professors every quarter and going to the test bank to find exams is not helpful. I liked the energy in the class but it was constantly frustrating not knowing what was happening. There's quite a bit of readings and they are necessary to participate in discussions and for the exams. The exams were pretty easy if you attend lecture (since many of the questions are specific to lecture and not to readings). Overall this wasn't my favorite class because of its disorganization and me not knowing what the topic of the class was going to be. I did really like my TA Joelle! She's amazing!

Professor Alim is truly a nice guy. He always came to class super happy, always in a good mood. But honestly, for a GE, the workload was pretty intense. Huge amounts of readings assigned every week. The midterm and final were easy, given that the final had a study guide, but originally our exams were not suppose to be like that. He changed it up because he really enjoyed the class. The effort for the readings were condensed because the TAs were super helpful. If Wesley Wilson is still a TA, definitely recommend taking him. Extra credit was provided, twice if I remember correctly and two essays were assigned. Alim's lectures could improve. His slides are were chunks of text and he doesn't upload. However, lectures can be fun because guests are brought in to present their research and they were always refreshing.

Anthropology 4 was a really interesting class content-wise. Professor Alim is also a very fun-loving professor, however, his slides can be an absolute nightmare to read. He literally copies chunks from the readings and places it onto the slides. Readings were informative and interesting, and the guest lecturers were truly the highlight of this course. His midterm and final were both multiple choice, and relatively easy, however, one must really put in the effort to study the material. This is because, both the midterm and final are very detail oriented based on the reading material. The ethnographic paper was also quite a lot of fun to do.

This class is now called Anthro 4. Alim was a very knowledgeable and compassionate professor. He really cared about engaging and teaching his students. He brought in tons of guest lecturers that were equally interesting. But the class material seemed repetitive to me. It focused raciolinguistics but the majority of the quarter was spent talking about African American vernacular and its effects and left out other racial groups. The tests were not difficult if you study for them and there was opportunity for extra credit. If you try at all you can get an A.

I feel that the below reviews are somewhat unfair. This class is now called Anthro 4.
Professor Alim is very passionate about raciolinguistics, and so, as is his prerogative, he made it the focus of his class. He is very good about making us feel like colleagues, rather than lowly undergraduates, and makes an effort to keep it interesting. He invites leaders in their fields to come speak to us, including Boots Riley, director of Sorry To Bother You, whose panel was extra credit. His midterm was 25 multiple choice questions, which were pretty easy but if you get 3 wrong its already a B. He changes slides super fast, which is kind of annoying, but the TA's were very helpful during discussion to clarify things. There are a LOT of readings, but as an anthro major, i'm used to it. Alim is at the forefront of the raciolinguistic field and I feel lucky to have been in his class.

Hmm, it's really surprising to me that some people write in such strongly negative reviews for Prof. Alim; ie "avoid at all costs". I would recommend ignoring those reviews, as I had a really great experience with the class, and its hard for me to believe that people actually feel that way. This class truly changed my perspective on the world in a really meaningful way, and I still think about things I learned in the class all the time. Alim is a really cool person who cares about student learning and making the class fun. The lectures had lots of variety in media--ie youtube videos, films, etc. This class was not easy, and doing the readings and going to lecture really was necessary, but if you work hard to understand the concepts and examples, you should do fine on the exams. I definitely recommend this professor, and will try to take him again if he teaches another class in the future. My grade: A+.

At first I was not a big fan of this class but as time progressed I started to enjoy it more. It seems overwhelming at first with all of the readings but I realized later that professor alim did not expect students to know every little detail. Nice teacher and nice TA's at least the guys, the girl TAs scared me a bit. Overall good class.

this was a great class! it focused on language inequality, which turned out to be a really interesting subject. a lot of assigned reading but you didnt have to do it all. if you go to lecture and skim the readings, you should be fine. alim is a really nice/cool guy who cares about the students. he's very open to talk to you during office hours, which you should talk advantage of for sure. pretty easy class and a lot of fun.