Professor Gelvin is the best professor I have ever had. He is knowledgeable and interested in the material, extremely helpful during office hours, a great lecturer and writer, and lots of fun. He is very biased, but he makes that known beforehand and does not care about what your politics are, only your argument skills. If you have any interest in history, take this class immediately!

Pretty straightforward class. I took the course during Fall 2020 while everything was online and I still feel that I gained a good amount of knowledge from the class. The course consisted of two papers (~1200 words) and a "take-home" final exam that was structured like an Op-Ed article. No tests or quizzes but I enjoyed the papers. Sections were also incredibly helpful, and I recommend you to attend if you want to learn.

If you need an interesting History GE, this is the one. I went in expecting this course to be another memorization-based history class and boy, was I wrong. Professor Gelvin structures the course so that you're forced to think critically about different modern topics. I didn't know much about Middle Eastern history other than the small tidbits we learned in middle school and this course truly opened my eyes to how much more there is to know. Not only do Professor Gelvin's lectures touch on the basics of how the Modern Middle East came to be, but he invites us to consider flaws in the Western perception of the Middle East. I also like how we're not expected to remember everything mentioned in lectures, and that most of the analysis we're asked to do is based on a "bigger picture" mindset.
I'm a freshman and this was my first experience taking a GE, so I don't really have anything to compare the difficulty to, but I'd say this course is very manageable in terms of workload. Honestly, I had a hard time keeping up with all the asynchronous lectures and missed a couple here and there. What helped, though, was keeping up with all the reading. Since Professor Gelvin wrote the book, there's a lot of parallel between what is mentioned in lectures and what is written in the textbook, so I never felt lost or behind in discussion. In fact, I have a better time paying attention to the textbook than sitting through the lectures.
Like others have written, we are expected to submit a one-page analysis weekly and two separate 5-page papers on top of an Op-Ed Final (at least in this quarter). For the one-page papers, we're given a list of articles/podcasts to listen to and then expected to write a critique on them . These become pretty second-nature the more we write them. Professor Gelvin has amazing article choices and I always learned something new writing these critiques.
The 5-page papers aren't too bad. The first is a little difficult to construct, maybe because it was the very first paper I ever wrote as a college student. For the second paper, we're required to read a novel; I'm not really a reader but the book we had to read was so interesting, I couldn't put it down!
Papers are graded on the easier-side in my opinion.
Regardless of whether or not you're a history fanatic (I'm certainly not), I encourage you to take this course!

This class is mainly about the Modern Middle East (1700-present), if your interest lies in the Ottoman or Islamic Empire, Hist 105A or 105B may be more up your ally.
Prof Gelvin's lectures are very good but the class is quite a lot of work. You are expected to read 10-50 pages a week, turn in weekly writing assignments based on the readings; read a 400 page novel and complete 3 big papers (5 pages max). When I took the class, 2 of the 3 papers were due week 10 and 11 with relatively short notices. It doesn't sound so bad now, but if you're a slow writer, it can get very overwhelming.

Gelvin's lectures are definitely interesting, although I found myself not retaining a lot of the information because the lectures were kind of all over the place. Really nice guy and helpful during office hours. One of the only classes I've taken where the discussion sections have seemed really helpful/engaging. TA Lily Hindy was great and I still keep in contact with her. Grade is made up of 10 weekly reflection papers on the readings, 2 papers, and a final (either take home or in class based on a vote). We voted to have it be take home, and the assignment was two 5-6 page papers. Class is very writing intensive, but I definitely felt myself getting better at the assignments at the end of the quarter. This class was definitely interesting and I walked away a better writer and with knowledge of the middle east, but I would avoid if you are looking for an easy GE. Take it if you are interested in the topic and willing to put in the work.

You don't even need to watch any of the lectures. The only time I watched lectures was for essay materials. This class is relatively easy and the grading for the essays isn't strict. As long as you just answer the questions and have evidence you're fine.
In addition, this course is so weird. The lectures and discussions do NOT coincide; discussions are based on weekly articles that aren't even related to the lecture content. The articles are more contemporary issues regarding the Middle East. So if anything, just focus on discussion material for graded material.

HIST 9D was a great class, however I wish it were in-person and not asynchronous. The lectures were prerecorded and a bit dry. Professor Gelvin is very funny and insightful so I think the class would better if in-person. That being said, the in-person discussion sections were very fun! I would say 60-70% of the class identified as Middle Eastern in some capacity, so it was nice to hear perspectives of others like myself. The workload was a lot. Weekly response papers due before section (1 page on the reading for the week) and two midterm papers (5 pages each) both on books we were required to read. The first was very boring to be honest, but the second was quite short and engaging. The final was an op-ed on virtually any topic of your choosing. That was the most fun. This class is a lot of reading and information, but it is still easy to get an A given you are a decent writer and actually interested in the region. If you want to learn more about the Middle East, especially the modern Middle East, this class is a great one to fulfill your history GE requirement.

This class was a treat and I greatly enjoyed it over the quarter. As with most History and English courses, it is heavily reliant on the TA. I had Ms. Weinman, and her discussions were very helpful and she did a great job on conveying what she wanted us to understand from the readings. We had 2 papers and a short final as well, and as long as you did the work and were thoughtful in your work, you were fine. It helped that I loved the content and the books, An Imam in Paris and The Committee (especially this one), were a treat to read. Professor Gelvin in office hours was fantastic and one of the most interesting professors here at UCLA. Highly recommend taking and am sad that I cannot take this class again.

For Fall '21, the lectures were asynchronous, which was a disappointment, as we did not get to interact with Professor Gelvin much. However, his office hours were a delight every time. He is a very inspiring and knowledgeable professor. The TAs were also amazing, and really took the time to help students with the course material.

Grading this quarter per the syllabus. Assignments were not bad at all, but requires reading every week:
20% Participation in discussion sections
20% 1st Essay
20% 2nd Essay
40% Final

Overall, a very interesting class. Do yourself a favor and expand your knowledge in the Middle East with this class.

I really enjoyed Professor Gelvin's class. During the pandemic, we didn't get many opportunities to meet with him, given that this class was asynchronous. However, I highly recommend going to his office hours. Not only does he help clear things up in a concise manner, but he also cares about his students and the things they find interesting. I will have to admit that he has quite the sense of humor and sometimes it would just be good to see him during office hours. If anything, Professor Gelvin exudes an intelligent, witty, and amiable personality. I never had to overwork myself either. If you just do as you're told, this class will be fine. More than anything, I would come for Professor Gelvin!