Professor Camacho is such an engaging and kind professor. He has a very relaxed attitude and you can tell he cares about students' perspectives. The course material of this class was so interesting. When I enrolled for this course I wasn't sure what to expect but the material was very refreshing and explored history from a non-eurocentric perspective. I took this class the first quarter of my freshmen year and I enjoyed every lecture I went to.

The only downside of this class is that the professor deleted the audio recordings the week of the lecture so when I skipped lecture and procrastinated I ended up losing a lot of key information. The course included three papers (each paper got longer and the prompts more complex) which drew from readings not explicitly related to lecture and a final which was a written essay on the lecture material. The class grade primary consists of the essay grades, which were graded first as rough drafts and then as a final draft. My TA was Fareen and I felt that she graded fairly and gave good feedback on the essays. I have always loved to read and write so all of the essays and readings were very manageable. A peer of mine struggles more in writing and had a different TA and had a really tough time in this class.

The worst professor ever!I have no idea why he get to teach in UCLA! He pretty much just read the material word by word. And he's always trying to be funny but always turn out the opposite.And there's a lot of reading, the tests are crazy.Bad!

I absolutely agree with the other post. There were no reviews on bruinwalk when I signed up for AAS 10...I assume this is only because Camacho has been out of the state recently. He is absolutely the least knowledgeable professor I have ever encountered at UCLA. And by far the WORST. AAS isn't dealing with hard/difficult material by any means but "Professor" Camacho has no idea how to lecture! He types up every sentence he wants to say and reads off of it word by word extremely fast. Sometimes, I think he is just reading off of a paper he wrote because he uses words that you normally wouldn't use while "lecturing." He needs to take a few public speaking classes! Don't they teach you in high school not to read off of a piece of paper (in his case, 6 pages, single spaced). I am second year A/A- student and I absolutely dread this class.

And if you think the TAs are any better, you are so wrong. I got stuck with the &%$#& Mihiri. This guy was checking his phone in section, nothing distracting and she said "Wow, that's a really nice phone, put it away." I felt like I was in high school all over again.

Another reason not to take this class, there is a MANDATORY field trip to LONG BEACH for some Asian American Pacific Islander museum. I've gone on mandatory field trips before to the Getty, which is in a very reasonable distance for a college student. But, how, I ask, am I supposed to get to LONG BEACH? Take the bus on the 405 and get stuck in traffic for 2 hours? This trip will probably require 4+ hours on the freeway and I will probably only spend an hour in the museum. OR I could take the train and pay 30+ bucks. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!! He also doesn't post his useless powerpoints on his website for fear that, and yes, he said this "other professors would steal his research." Here's some news for you "Professor" Camacho: NO PROFESSOR AT UCLA WANTS TO STEAL YOUR RESEARCH!

Took his gender and media in the pacific class, great class! I know most film/media classes seem cool but then you end up watching really boring movies but this one actually wasn't so bad. The movies in the latter half of the quarter were definitely a lot more entertaining and easy to analyze.

The readings were definitely not that bad, we had about 2-3 articles a week and they were usually easy reads (except for Judith Butler, that woman is on some other level). He definitely encourages class discussion and participation which I think is a lot easier to do with movies as opposed to discussing readings since people are more likely to not have read.

The work was very manageable, we had a 10 page research paper on a Pacific Islander related film, which was our final but it was not that bad seeing as how he made everybody team up to write it, so really you're only writing about 5 pages if you divide the work up evenly.

Take the 3 question quizzes seriously, they're usually on the readings, show up to class and contribute to the discussion (which should be easy because Keith is a very talkative guy and loves to hear what you have to say), and you should get an A. Keith is a pretty understanding a very approachable guy, so any concerns or trouble you have he'll definitely accomodate you.

I'm sorry I can't remember the course number-it was in 2010 when I had Keith's class. However, I couldn't believe these reviews so I had to write on of my own. Keith was absolutely one of the most interesting professors I had at UCLA. He is very passionate about the subjects he teaches and maybve the two students who posted here could care less about the subject. I had two classes with Keith-both of which were so interesting and fun. Everyone in the class was encouraged to speak up, ask questions, and really think about what it means to be a Pacific Islander. He is very passionate about the subject of empire and colonialism in the pacific and doesn't mince words about how he feels. His lectures are very fact filled and you have to be paying attention-there is no goofing off or sleeping in his lectures or you will suffer on the exams. His was always available at office hours for help and I was bummed out when he left for a year of research because I wanted to continue taking his classes. He is back now-but I have graduated already. Maybe these two students are used to just basically showing up to a class and sleeping through the lecture-but you can't do that in Keiths classes-I would tell anyone interested in AAS or PI studies that his class is a must take!

Breakdown of this class: 2 quizzes, 2 short papers, 1 midterm, 1 final.

I'm a south campus major who took this class, and if you're looking for an easy GE, this is NOT the class to take.

Prof. Camacho, I believe, was the first Pacific Islander to become a UC professor, and while that's highly impressive, his lectures are not. His lectures consist of very few PowerPoints slide, which he goes into further detail by literally reading off of a piece of paper. Thus, you really have to pay attention. I'd say use a laptop to take notes, because I type way faster than writing down notes.

His lectures really center around the Pacific Islands, which I didn't mind, but some of his transitions were weird. In one lecture, he attempted to draw parallels from the Vietnam War and 9/11 attacks. Uh, what? There's no reading in this class except for a new novels which don't really fit in well with the lecture material except to maybe create awareness

The TAs grade very harshly. The quizzes demand a lot of detail (knowing dates). The exams aren't too difficult, but it's basically a lot of regurgitation to get a decent grade, and an "insightful analysis" to get an A.

All in all, I don't recommend taking this class, and I'm sure there are better Asian Am classes out there that are more fulfilling and engaging.

Having read all the negative reviews on this website, I was fully prepared to drop the course, but I needed a History GE to graduate and my friend convinced me to at least show up on the first day.

I am so grateful I didn't listen to these reviews. I'm not saying they're not true, but they're from over 3 years ago (at the time of this review) and let me tell you, the person they describe in their reviews is not the Professor Camacho that I know now. It's possible after all the bad reviews, he got a lot better. People can change in 3 years!

Anyway, this class was super easy. And being a graduating senior, I am lazy as hell. Like, uber to class when I live within walking distance kinda lazy. So if I'm saying it's easy, you honestly have to actually not be trying at all to think it's hard. If you like numbers, the average for the midterm was a 96.

Professor Camacho usually takes the first 15 minutes of class to ask if anyone has announcements and to chat with the class. His lectures are pretty straightforward. He tells you which keywords you'll need to know for the midterm/final, and there are usually 3 or 4 per lecture. He is literally telling you these are the only things you'll be tested on. Plus 2 of the lectures, we watched Godzilla; 1 lecture, we had a visit from indigenous leaders on canoes; 1 lecture, we had a visit from an Asian playwright. That means 2 weeks out of the quarter wasn't even lectured material.

Regarding the TAs: My TA, Michelle Chang was super nice and helpful - and a VERY lenient grader. She didn't care about dates or specific names, just that you grasped the general concept. She really made me think about the significance of all this history which made me connect with the material more instead of just memorizing it.

If you're torn about taking a class with him, do what I did and go the first day to see for yourself.

Took this class last quarter and enjoyed every bit of it. His lectures go by very fast because of all the interesting information he talks about, and he often repeats himself to make sure people have enough time to write everything down. The assigned readings are great, and the essays, though somewhat unclear, are very manageable. This is one of those classes where effort and attentiveness will get you to actually give a damn about the lecture material. I always looked forward to attending this class (though I missed the Gojira screenings) and honestly wish I could take this class again.

My TA was Christian Gella; try and take it with him if you can!

Keith is, hands down, one of the best professors I have taken at UCLA! At the beginning of class, we take the time to talk about any announcements, birthdays, events happening, how people are doing before going into the actual work for the day. Personally, I loved the collaborative nature of the class. From the beginning, we split off into groups of three and we have to do attend class, turn in reaction papers, and submit the final together! The group work makes the entire class so much more easier. Furthermore, half the class is spent watching a film and then the second half is to talk about the discussion questions we posed in our reaction paper. With meeting once a week and Keith having to cancel a class to go to a conference, we only met eight times. I highly recommend this class for people who want to get to know more about Pacific Islander studies through a cinema!

I took AAS10. One of the hardest classes ever. The TA's grade super hard and are in complete and total control of your grade. In addition,they are super slow at returning back your quizzes and papers. Going into the final, I had NO IDEA where I was standing in the class because I hadn't received two big things back! Camacho reads off a paper EVERY lecture and it is VERY hard to get everything he says. There are almost no powerpoint slides and when he reads, he's not very clear either. DO NOT TAKE.