This class was completely online for Winter quarter 2022, so this review may not reflect everyone's experience. I enjoyed this class a lot, though I'm not sure it met the high expectations that I had knowing the professor. While Jared Diamond was an interesting lecturer, the lectures did tend to drag on sometimes. Additionally, both lecture and discussion had participatory parts, where speaking was necessary. The workload was fairly easy: the only homework was 10 weekly 'mini-papers', which were about 500 words, centering on the weekly readings. While they took a bit of time to write, they were fairly straightforward and graded easily. Everyone also had to do a presentation for one of the 10 weeks, though this was fairly easy as well. The midterm and final were both two short essays (about 1-2 pages) regarding overarching themes from the course. They were very easy, though this may partially be due to the course being online. Otherwise, participation was also graded during the discussion sections. Overall, I'd recommend this course for anyone who wants a fairly easy GE with an engaging professor. Be prepared to participate in discussions and have some minor work on the side, however.

Great class and great professor! Prof Diamond doesn't use slides but listening to his lectures is a treat. This class is really well-organized and stress-free. Each week there's some engaging readings (not too much) and a 1 page reflection on the reading, and the midterm and the final are both composed of two short take-home essays (1-2 pages each) encapsulating the main ideas of the course. Really simple and a very interesting class, and Prof Diamond is a really nice man and so approachable and knowledgeable. Can recommend!

By far my favorite class AND professor at UCLA. Prof. Diamond is extremely knowledgeable and friendly. GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS!!! He is such an interesting guy and it’s always a pleasure to chat with him. Took it during covid so everything was online, but the experience was amazing nonetheless. Readings for this class are really fun, participation matters.

This was probably the most interesting class I have ever taken. Professor Diamond is really interesting to listen to and has so much knowledge about geography. He is clearly teaching the class because he enjoys it and for someone who is so famous in the academic world, he is incredibly approachable and easy to talk to during office hours.
The class format was a bit strange, as discussion section was worth 1/3 of your grade and tests accounted for 1/6, which could be good or bad depending on the TA and whether you cope well with exams. Shout out to this quarter's TA, Jason, who was great.
The exams were leniently timed essay exams with very broad prompts, and the grading was generous. Content-wise, the class is essentially based around Diamond's most famous book, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and overviews geographic reasons why certain regions have been more successful than others.
This class is overall really chill and interesting and I'd recommend it to anyone when it's offered.

EASILY one of the best classes at UCLA. Professor Diamond is a stud and one of the best geographers in the world, so it is in everyone's interest to take this class regardless of whether it's in your major.

The class is basically a 10-week summary of his most famous theses and publications. Like in Guns Germs, and Steel, he explains why the world is the way it is based on geography. Each week of the class focuses on a different geographic region (the Americans, New Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa, etc.), and he does a deep dive into that regions biogeography, physical geography, history, culture, language etc. The lectures are 3 hours long without slides, which sounds daunting, bu the material is so interesting that you don't really notice.

Take this class!!! This was possibly the most interesting class I've taken so far at UCLA. It basically explains why the world is what it is today due to geography. We learned a lot about the history of different places (a lot more history than I was expecting) and modern day topics too. There are quite a few readings, but they are manageable. You need to read them as there are weekly 'mini-papers' where you discuss and compare the readings in 300-500 words. The weekly lecture is long, slides are not used, and you definitely need to take notes. It is quite tiring and my hand usually hurt afterwards, but we got a couple of 10 minute breaks and it was only once a week. I found it very difficult to catch up on a lecture, even if you have someone else's notes, so I'd really recommend trying not to miss any. Discussion sections are student-led, so one week your group will have to prepare a presentation on the lectures and associated readings. The discussion sections are not the most interesting 2 hours, but as long as you answer/ask 2-3 questions per week you'll get 100 for participation.
Overall, I recommend this class. Professor Diamond is a legend.

Jared Diamond is a genius and you should feel lucky to to go to an institution where he is a professor. His book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, is a Pulitzer Prize winner. He's really smart, go to his office hours he's so chill! In regards to the class, it's easy!!! Sure the papers once a week can be annoying but I found the papers to be pretty easy. For us, they were a 300 word minimum but I often wrote close to 1000 each week lol. You should focus on analyzing the text as it relates to current events or your daily life, don't focus on summarizing the texts. The exams were easy. I got 95% on both the midterm and final exams. It's just a lot of information and it's kind of annoying since 100% of the test material comes from his lectures. But if you have a friend and compare each other's notes you should be fine. He often gives you a lot more questions than you have to answer so it guarantees that you'll be able to answer some things lol. Overall phenomenal class, easy GE with a world-class professor! Highly recommend.

The class is definitely one of the better ones offered at UCLA. Make sure you go to Office Hours whenever you can because that's where you can actually get something different out of the course as Prof. Diamond has quite a few interesting stories to tell you about his work that don't normally come up in class. Pay attention during lecture and you won't actually have to study for the exams. You can usually just skim through the readings and get away with it. You won't regret taking the class.

Definitely an interesting class, and professor has great knowledge on the topics covered. He can literally answer every question any student throws at him!

However, it is important to note (that I feel other students haven't emphasized enough) is that this class actually has a lot of load. First of all:
*Lecture is 3 hours long. Basically no power points. This means that you have to take effective notes and pay attention for 3 hours long (albeit with two 5-10 min breaks every hour so, and short slide shows)
*Discussion is 2 hours long, have to raise your hand and give a thoughtful response each week. Also, there you have to present for around 1.5 hours once during the quarter on the topic of that week.
*One Homework every week, around 2 pages double spaced. There are actually 4-6 different reading that adds up to around 100 pages, and you must analyze all the article into one coherent essay. Once you get used to it, its fine, but had difficulties at first.
*A LOT to memorize for midterm/final. Literally had 100 pages of notes purely from the lecture by the end of the quarter.

Though there is a lot, honestly its manageable. Had a great time. However, since I took 4 classes, it was too time consuming for me. At the end, got a solid A though. Basically, if you put in the effort, you'll get an A!

Jared Diamond is an amazing professor. His class is very interesting and engaging! Lecture is only once a week but it's a three hour lecture and a two hour discussion. Students can send it questions for the midterm and the final! He's very caring and cares what his students has to say. Even more impressive is that he takes note when students are talking to him and he really listens to you:) Take his class if you have a chance!