Professor
John Langdon
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Most Helpful Review
I really enjoyed this class. The subject was WWII and Langdon did a wonderful job of getting the class to cover it in depth. He lectured a few times, but most of the class each of us students took turns presenting an aspect/event of the war. It was great fun and we had a good time with each other. Our grades were based on our presentation and a final. The final was very thorough, so I would recommend studying in a group so you can best grasp the material, but he certainly did not set-out to trick us or anything. I ended up getting an A- without excessive effort, but even better I came away actually having learned something worthwhile from that class (unlike some of the other history classes I've taken at UCLA).
I really enjoyed this class. The subject was WWII and Langdon did a wonderful job of getting the class to cover it in depth. He lectured a few times, but most of the class each of us students took turns presenting an aspect/event of the war. It was great fun and we had a good time with each other. Our grades were based on our presentation and a final. The final was very thorough, so I would recommend studying in a group so you can best grasp the material, but he certainly did not set-out to trick us or anything. I ended up getting an A- without excessive effort, but even better I came away actually having learned something worthwhile from that class (unlike some of the other history classes I've taken at UCLA).
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - This man is wonderful. I take his class in the afternoon which is usually my nap time so i am almost always tired but his lectures are so interesting and so engaging. His lectures are like story time. He is a brilliant and wonderfully nice man however this is NOT AN EASY CLASS. There are hundreds of latin terms and names you need to know. It is hard to follow along in the class because ,like i mentioned before, it's story time and he does not always teach it chronologically and you get lost in the mass amounts of material. So many of my classmates are struggling right now, as am I. I do not know what I will end up with in the end, small chance of an A, probably a B but that is because i am working my ass off. Reading is a must, there are 4-5 books and i suggest u read all of it. I have learned so much but i am here to warn those that think taking a history class is an easier option- WRONG.
Fall 2016 - This man is wonderful. I take his class in the afternoon which is usually my nap time so i am almost always tired but his lectures are so interesting and so engaging. His lectures are like story time. He is a brilliant and wonderfully nice man however this is NOT AN EASY CLASS. There are hundreds of latin terms and names you need to know. It is hard to follow along in the class because ,like i mentioned before, it's story time and he does not always teach it chronologically and you get lost in the mass amounts of material. So many of my classmates are struggling right now, as am I. I do not know what I will end up with in the end, small chance of an A, probably a B but that is because i am working my ass off. Reading is a must, there are 4-5 books and i suggest u read all of it. I have learned so much but i am here to warn those that think taking a history class is an easier option- WRONG.
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Most Helpful Review
I would not call it an easy class, AT ALL, but if you are up for a challenge and really wish to LEARN history, he is the way to go. He is the most friendly and genuinely concerned professor I have had; for one thing, he always asks your name and tries to remember it if you ever happen to talk to him or ask him questions before/after classes. His lectures are unbelievably overwhelming at first, but if you get a hang of it and do your reading before the class, you should be fine. There are tons of stuff to memorize and quite a few themes you have to keep in mind. He didn't give us any study guides but he held a review session which turned out to be very helpful. Important themes for midterm(optional) and finals are pretty obvious as he states them over and over again in class. But still, in order to get an A from this class you should study really really hard (that's for sure). For final, I recorded all his lectures from the beginning and re-listened to all of them- basically I started studying for this class 2 weeks before the final- and that's how I managed to get an A. I think lectures are way more important than the readings, because readings are just there to help you better understand the lecture, so I urge you not to skip any of his classes. Overall, it was a hard, time consuming class, but I enjoyed it a lot in the end.
I would not call it an easy class, AT ALL, but if you are up for a challenge and really wish to LEARN history, he is the way to go. He is the most friendly and genuinely concerned professor I have had; for one thing, he always asks your name and tries to remember it if you ever happen to talk to him or ask him questions before/after classes. His lectures are unbelievably overwhelming at first, but if you get a hang of it and do your reading before the class, you should be fine. There are tons of stuff to memorize and quite a few themes you have to keep in mind. He didn't give us any study guides but he held a review session which turned out to be very helpful. Important themes for midterm(optional) and finals are pretty obvious as he states them over and over again in class. But still, in order to get an A from this class you should study really really hard (that's for sure). For final, I recorded all his lectures from the beginning and re-listened to all of them- basically I started studying for this class 2 weeks before the final- and that's how I managed to get an A. I think lectures are way more important than the readings, because readings are just there to help you better understand the lecture, so I urge you not to skip any of his classes. Overall, it was a hard, time consuming class, but I enjoyed it a lot in the end.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Langdon is very clear about the topics for his midterm and final, however he does not give any specific study guides for them. He does hand out words/lecture notes at the beginning of lecture, but unless you are willing to sift through over 80 names and places for each lecture, just focus on what he tells you are the main themes for the class (which he will repeatedly state). He is extremely enthusiastic about the topic, which is not boring in itself, however he'll throw so much information at you that you may not know what's important. He is refreshing in his energy, but intimidating in the way he presents information during lecture. I missed out on the midterm (which was optional), took the final for 100% of my grade, didn't follow the instructions, e-mailed him about it, and got a B in the class. Either an extremely caring and lenient professor, or I got amazingly lucky. Recommended if you are interested in the subject at all and willing to do a fair amount of reading.
Professor Langdon is very clear about the topics for his midterm and final, however he does not give any specific study guides for them. He does hand out words/lecture notes at the beginning of lecture, but unless you are willing to sift through over 80 names and places for each lecture, just focus on what he tells you are the main themes for the class (which he will repeatedly state). He is extremely enthusiastic about the topic, which is not boring in itself, however he'll throw so much information at you that you may not know what's important. He is refreshing in his energy, but intimidating in the way he presents information during lecture. I missed out on the midterm (which was optional), took the final for 100% of my grade, didn't follow the instructions, e-mailed him about it, and got a B in the class. Either an extremely caring and lenient professor, or I got amazingly lucky. Recommended if you are interested in the subject at all and willing to do a fair amount of reading.
Most Helpful Review
I usually don't do reviews since I am lazy, but I had to make an exception Professor Langdon since he is the nicest, most caring professor I had ever taken. Like others have mentioned, Professor Langdon's class is not easy. In lecture, he throws out a lot of information so that it is hard to keep up even after you did your readings. But, if you go back home and listen to his lectures again, the information will start to get clearer. As for his tests, I felt it was extremely reasonable. For my class, we had 2 mandatory tests, each worth about 50% of the grade. We had objective questions, an essay and a historical paragraph. He also curved the test, which was very nice of him. This is by far the nicest professor I have ever met. I lost my course reader about halfway through the course and the professor offered to borrow his course reader for the duration of the course. Of course, I ended up finding my course reader, but the gesture was really thoughtful. Also, during class one day, a girl spilled coffee in class and the professor was extremely gentle about it. Another time, someone's phone rang off and he didn't make a big deal out of this either. He also makes a conscious effort to get to learn the students' names. The professor's passion and knowledge comes through in both his lectures and his course reader. You could tell that he put in a lot of time into his course reader and that he cares about the student's learning. Would I retake a class with Professor Langdon? Maybe. I am not sure if I want to work that hard again. Do I regret taking a class with this Professor? No, since I learned so much in a short amount of time. I should also mention that I took HIST 114C, 6 week session during Summer Session A. (I could not find this as an option, so I chose Hist M116C). I would assume that the regular 10 week session is more rigorous.
I usually don't do reviews since I am lazy, but I had to make an exception Professor Langdon since he is the nicest, most caring professor I had ever taken. Like others have mentioned, Professor Langdon's class is not easy. In lecture, he throws out a lot of information so that it is hard to keep up even after you did your readings. But, if you go back home and listen to his lectures again, the information will start to get clearer. As for his tests, I felt it was extremely reasonable. For my class, we had 2 mandatory tests, each worth about 50% of the grade. We had objective questions, an essay and a historical paragraph. He also curved the test, which was very nice of him. This is by far the nicest professor I have ever met. I lost my course reader about halfway through the course and the professor offered to borrow his course reader for the duration of the course. Of course, I ended up finding my course reader, but the gesture was really thoughtful. Also, during class one day, a girl spilled coffee in class and the professor was extremely gentle about it. Another time, someone's phone rang off and he didn't make a big deal out of this either. He also makes a conscious effort to get to learn the students' names. The professor's passion and knowledge comes through in both his lectures and his course reader. You could tell that he put in a lot of time into his course reader and that he cares about the student's learning. Would I retake a class with Professor Langdon? Maybe. I am not sure if I want to work that hard again. Do I regret taking a class with this Professor? No, since I learned so much in a short amount of time. I should also mention that I took HIST 114C, 6 week session during Summer Session A. (I could not find this as an option, so I chose Hist M116C). I would assume that the regular 10 week session is more rigorous.
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