This is not a review for Professor Decker. This is for the Cluster 60 in general. I decided to take this cluster for its credit (satisfies 4 GE, writing II, diversity, etc). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CLASS. Clusters do have the reputation of having a greater workload but it is not the case for this one. I'm so glad that I stuck with this cluster for my freshman year. It's pretty interesting and definitely a GPA booster in my opinion.
It's not the easiest A as you do have to pay attention to lecture, do the readings (at least for the first quarter. I stopped using the course reader after the midterm of fall quarter and was perfectly fine). This class helped me adjust to college along with making new friends and strong bonds with my TA.
Another benefit for this class is that you get priority for Eng Comp 3 (if you need to take it) for your winter/spring quarter. Based on what I heard from my peers, Eng Comp 3 and writing classes general are EXTREMELY hard to get in since everyone needs to take at least one writing class. You won't have to worry about it as you receive your writing II credit during your spring quarter, which is basically a three hour seminar one a week. You also don't have to worry about not getting a class since you are guaranteed enrollment to the course for winter and spring .
I assume that you are reading this review to decide to take this class or not. Well I would like to say TAKE IT because it is extremely rewarding and you won't regret it. I benefited a lot from this class and it satisfied most of my GE requirements as a STEM major.

This review has nothing to do with Jeffrey Decker, but it's hard to find the specific TA who taught it, so I'm just going to leave this here under his name since he's the head guy for this cluster.

So, let me start by saying for this cluster, the first two quarters were very mediocre, I got an A and then an A- and the material was interesting sometimes but it wasn't my favorite class or anything.

For my spring seminar though, I took the one on "The Environmental Narrative" with Shouhei Tanaka, and it made the first two mediocre quarters all worth it. Shouhei is the best. He was so accommodating with the corona outbreak and then the protests at the end of the quarter and he's so nice and just very good at what he does. We got to do a lot of interesting readings, everything from Rachel Carson to Van Life to a book called Solar Storms and we even watched Mad Max Fury Road. If you're interested in environmentalism, this course is for you, and just trust me when I say the workload is very reasonable and you'll have a great time! (Not even sure if he'll be teaching it again, but if he is TAKE IT, it's such a quality class).

I took the seminar about cults and New Religious Movements with Tom Hanslowe, and I have to say, this seminar made me NOT regret taking this cluster. Tom is super funny and engaging, and he makes you be interested in things you didn't know you could be interested in. The workload was not too much either, it was just a final 8-page paper and the previous assignments served to prepare for it. By the second quarter of this cluster I was starting to hate it, so I'm really glad that I took this seminar because it made the cluster worth it.

Decker oversees the seminars but never takes part in them. I needed a PTE and he got it to me. Appreciate it, Prof. Decker!

Selling course reader for GE 60B,

Text me for more details if you are interested :) 805-405-6565