Honestly, Dr. Langdon wasn't my favorite professor but not the worst I've ever had. The final and (optional) midterm are very hard and require you to know lots of specific terms, events, and people. It really felt like I was more prepared by just reading and studying through all the terms he provided than actually trying to understand the big picture of the events he discussed. I wouldn't say it was all negative though. He did care about his students and graded quite generously. He also offered a lot of constructive criticism on the midterms and finals. My advice though is to 100% take the optional midterm, it will show you what he wants out of the essays and what to expect on the final.

I've taken Dr. Langdon's courses for the last 4 quarters, and I kept coming back to him because he's a phenomenal professor. I recommend him without hesitation.

He is a VERY engaging professor, and gets really invested in his own lectures. His sense of humor is very refreshing and keeps his students engaged and waiting to hear what he's going to say next. He's incredibly helpful and wants the best for his students, and will always invite his students to his office hours to explain concepts and help them prepare for the midterm and final. The workload is incredibly light; your grade is based solely on an optional midterm and a mandatory final. He's also really passionate about Byzantine and Roman history, and you can tell he genuinely cares about the subject material.

Make no mistake - his exams are really tough. If you don't fully understand the main themes (which he repeats during every lecture, so it's your fault if you don't get it) or don't study the important historical figures for the exams, you're going to have a rough time. But he's very helpful, he puts in the work for his students, and he expects you to put in an equal amount of work.

All in all, I would take a class with Dr. Langdon every quarter if I could. He's a fantastic professor!

Class was ok, lectures were pretty long with just him sitting in front of a camera talking and sometimes showing a map. Would not recommend this class to anyone who prefers a Prof who uses slides during lectures, because he doesn't use any. Grading was pretty generous with an optional midterm and mandatory final. Definitely a lot of reading and the course reader is almost $100, but still a pretty decent class.

Langdon's class has been one of my favorite at UCLA. He tells history like a TV show (he literally ends class with "tune in next time for...") and is super passionate about it. His lectures supplement the course reader super heavily, so he tends to go through material really quickly. As long as you read ahead of the class a little, though, you'll understand what he's talking about. The lectures may be a little difficult to follow if you don't do the reading, especially since he does his best to apply the correct pronunciations to the terms and figures in history. He also highly emphasizes material he intends to add on exams. The entire class' grading was based on the (optional) midterm and the final, but he isn't the strictest grader. Generally, as long as you explain that you understand the events and concepts in the correct chronological order, he won't dock you too hard for not remembering exact dates. I also highly recommend taking the midterm (he lets you see the questions before you have to commit to taking it) just so you see what he's looking for and how he grades. I definitely recommend taking 116A (and probably Langdon's other classes, too) if you can.

Langdon is a cool dude. At first the amount of information he throws at you can be daunting, but dont worry he is not a tough grader on the tests. His classes are set up with an optional midterm and one required final exam. Lectures can be long and sometimes confusing due to him sticking with correct pronunciation of names/terms in the original language, which ranges widely due to the diverse nature of the era, so a quick review of the days terms can be helpful in following lecture. I agree with others on here that lectures are more important than readings, and also reviewing of major themes he outlines in the reader. Overall, what he wants is to see what you learned, so flood the exam book with all the information you can, this is how you can get a good grade. Also, go to his office hours and ask him questions or talk about random stuff, he is a really friendly guy! The coolest thing Langdon did for me, as an example of how caring he was towards helping out students, was that he fished through the trash to find an old copy of one of the readers (I had mentioned how I had to photo copy a friends due to having such little money). Best advice I can give is to replay the lectures, focus on what you find most interesting (i.e. terms you find easy to understand, rulers that stuck out to you), and dont worry about the whole mountain of other details!

Have extra copy of the course reader. Text 3109232470 if interested

If you want the course reader for the Spring 2019 Quarter, text me. I'm selling it for $50. 626-664-4743. It's an essential part of Langdon's classes, and it's usually $78 from the store.

Seriously one of the nicest, kindest professors at UCLA. He is genuinely concerned about the students ability to grasp the material. The class is no cake walk but you will leave having really learned something.
He also gave candy at the final, how awesome is that?

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.

Dont take this class. Dont get me wrong, he is a nice professor, but I have never been more frustrated in my life. Impossible to take notes, he throws so much information at you it will make you want to cry. He does tell you the themes he wants you to talk about on the midterm and final but there is too much information making it impossible to study for. Midterm is optional, I studied my a-- off for it and got a B+, I watched him pass them out and I dont think anyone got an A. Final will be cumulative, hopefully it is easier.