Took everything out of me not to drop this class. I didn't continue the cluster after completing the first quarter because it was so demanding and boring. The professor reads giant chunks of text off his slides, which you are expected to follow and take decent notes from. He seems to ramble for hours on end with very few interruptions. Discussion sections are also a fair amount of work and require participation. Difficult to get away with this class without doing the copious amounts of reading.

It took me every bone in my body to not fall asleep in this class. I thought I was the only one, but I looked around, and it was clear that it was not just me. Fink and Vavreck were the only interesting professors in this class. I don't hate Decker or this class, I just can't stand being in it. The assigned readings were boring, the lectures were boring, and the "mandatory" course reader readings were boring AND super long (they aren't actually mandatory). I thought I was doing myself a favor for taking this cluster, but now I realize how torturous it actually was. Do not take this class if you're prone to falling asleep in class or can't stand boring lectures.

If you feel like you're missing out on sleep, just go to his lectures. He makes everything he talks about boring.

Decker was the most boring professor I've had so far at UCLA. The guy goes on and on about minute details, somehow managing to drain the class of the very little 9:30AM energy we have. Warning: he's extremely rude and unhelpful if you have questions about grades. I would recommend speaking with someone else if you have questions. Overall, he gave me about 60% regret taking the cluster, but I hope winter is better.

This is definitely the best of the clusters, but Decker is by far the worst lecturer. He also probably teaches the least interesting of the four topics (the English/semantics). There's one midterm fall quarter and a final winter quarter, with four papers total. The work is pretty manageable overall, and the topic is super interesting! I would still recommend taking the cluster strictly for the other professors.

I came into this class with really high hopes and ... in some ways they were met. The reading is numerous and heavy, but usually pretty interesting. Lectures can be super engaging depending on who is teaching, but not all the professors are that way (because class is taught by four different professors, it rotates who lectures). Fink is absolutely amazing, a trip in all the best ways -- I always went to lecture if I saw him on the syllabus. Main thing to be aware of is the midterm and papers are all graded what I thought was pretty harsh. I felt like I turned in two solid A papers and a great midterm and barely scraped by with an A-. There is no final the first quarter though, which is pretty nice. The second paper is basically spoon fed to you which is also rad.

Okay honestly, compared to other clusters, this cluster is NOT that bad at all. It's perfect for STEM majors that want to knock out 4 GEs (Literary, Visual, Historical, Social) but don't want to be bored to death. Attendance is not required/taken during lecture, but the lectures aren't posted online so I recommend taking the extra step to just go every lecture so that you're not making up for it later. I took this class because it seemed like the fun cluster, with music and politics, but don't forget about the history and English aspects! Professor Decker, who teaches the Literature, Film/TV lectures is so dull, but I'm surprised I haven't fallen asleep alongside my friends. His voice is very monotone and he often goes off on unrelated tangents that stray away from what he is trying to say. He means well, but sometimes it's hard to focus on the words he says when you've just woken up. Professor Reiff is only slightly more interesting because she sometimes discusses interesting topics, but most of the time its just a bunch of words - like full-on paragraphs - on a lecture slide and before you know it class is over and you have no recollection of what she said. The best Professors are Vavreck and Fink because they like to engage with the class with questions or opinions, they seem excited and awake, and they make jokes as best as they can. There is no final for this class, only a midterm, and the TAs usually prepare their sections pretty well with what to expect. The Literature Paper and Political Science polling paper are designed to be vague and open-ended, so just remember to specify your topic a little bit and make sure you have something to say, theme-wise. Overall, I didn't think I was going to get an A because I'm not that great at papers...and also because they never posted the grades for the assignments online....but anyway it's possible!

I chose the 60s cluster because my schedule only fit two of the clusters and the other one was the myth cluster and I've heard it's a lot of reading and not very enjoyable (if you're not into it -- it's not just Greek mythology like Percy Jackson lol). People say 60s cluster is one of the easier ones (I've heard that the food one is easy and maybe the old age one). Personally, I struggle with time management and "studying smarter" so I had to dedicate a lot of time to the course and it was a struggle for me to get an A. There are two essays per quarter (one assigned by each professor), so fall quarter we wrote a literary analysis paper on a book we read and a polling data paper about survey trends in the 60s and winter quarter we wrote a paper analyzing Jimmy Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower" and a paper about an oral history interview. If you are comfortable with writing and manage your time well then they shouldn't give you too much trouble. The essays are 4 pages max. Personally writing is not my thing and I struggled with it (for various reasons) but there are many resources for help with your writing and I was able to get A's on them. There's a midterm, no final in fall quarter and a final, no midterm in winter quarter. The average amount of reading is about 40 pages per week, and if you keep up on that, you'll be set for discussion. It also depends on who your TA is because they're the ones grading your papers and tests.

Looking back on it, I'm glad that I took it because I learned SO much about American history and just general knowledge that I wasn't taught (I practically lived under a rock before college). As you've probably seen, you're taught by four professors who all specialize in different fields, and seeing it all come together really rounds out your education and it's really special. You also learn about culture and some really important events and that affected how things are today. The 60s were such a rich time in history with so much turbulence and changing ideals so it really just makes you more aware and gives you a deeper understanding of today. For me, this was a very valuable course for these reasons. There's so much to gain from it.

Spring quarter is completely different for the clusters because instead of two lectures for an hour and 15 per week with 200ish people taught by four professors and one discussion for two hours per week with 20ish people taught by your TA, you just have one seminar for 3 hours per week with 20ish people that you get to choose the topic for. I chose a seminar on film (with Patrick Craven) and it's very easygoing and fun but informative and I really enjoyed it! (I'm interested in a film and TV or theater minor). Again, it'll differ depending on your TA (they teaching the class now)

Professor Decker is so fucking boring; by the end of the second quarter I hated his lectures with passion. The other professors were somewhat better, specially Fink, but overall the class gets really tiresome by the Winter quarter. However, I would advise sticking with it until the end, as the Spring seminar was quite fun and enjoyable (I took it with Tom, but it is different for every TA and year, so YMMV). Personally, I think it's worth the extra credit.

If you have in interest in any of American history, 60's music, or contemporary politics, this is definitely the cluster to take. However, this class is interesting in spite of Professor Decker, not because of him. His lectures are dry and full of black text and white backgrounds. A slight improvement on Decker is Professor Reiff but if you don't love looking at slides full of blocks of text that are not essential to the material you need to know, you probably won't be a fan of her either. Vavreck and Fink are both stellar lecturers and manage to make complex topics approachable and engaging. They are the reason I enjoyed this cluster through the first two quarters.