Arbabzadah is a great professor. She really cares about us learning and her lectures are very organized. She shared some stories about her childhood growing up in Afghanistan during the war, and it was really powerful in the context of our class about terrorism. Overall, I learned a lot and I'm so glad that I took this class.

The class has 2 midterms for 25% each and a final for 50%. The lectures are a little boring at times and might seem long because she tends to go overboard. They can be hard to follow, but if you get the main points, you should be fine. The midterms had 3 questions and you had to write a paragraph for each. The final paper was 10-12 pages double spaced, but it takes time. She posts a lot of readings that aren’t super necessary but help with writing the midterm and final. Overall she is a nice professor and the class is fairly easy with some effort.

This class was very interesting -- alot of readings and material covered in lecture. The midterm had short answer questions and was in class - very easy if you studied! The final was take home with short answer questions in an essay format. There were 5 final questions with subsections and each question had to be 3 pages per answer. It took a lot of time writing, but overall easy.

I highly recommend this class. First, Professor Arbabzadah is very knowledgeable about the subject and is very patient and thorough. All of her slides are well developed and she offers "test yourself" questions that clue you in on what will be tested on the exam and help you think back to understand the material.

Your grade is based solely on two midterms and a final take home paper. I would say they were all reasonable, based off both readings and presentations. They were multi-part short answer based on a scenario of sorts.

There were a lot of readings but you can get by by reading selectively and having a general grasp on the big ideas.

Her grading is overall pretty reasonable as long as you are specific in your responses and cite enough evidence.

I have no idea how well the difficulty of this class will translate to in-person, but online it was a cakewalk. Super straightforward class structure. Just attended lecture and understood the material and it was fine

At times, professor Arbabzadah was unclear, however, she was a relatively easy grader and the work required for the course was minimal. There were 2 midterms and 1 final- both were easy. The midterms consisted of 2-3 essay questions that were fairly easy to answer as long as you reviewed the material beforehand. The final was a paper that we were given the prompt for at least a week in advanced. As long as some effort is put in, it's pretty easy to do well in the class. She's also very kind and accommodating of students with special circumstances (like being sick, etc...). Overall, I'd take another course with her because even though she was confusing at times, she was helpful and it was easy to catch up by just going back and taking notes on her powerpoint slides. I definitely recommend taking a class with her!

I actually took Comm1 with Arbabzadah and she was amazing. Super funny, only graded on three speeches, and was a super kind grader. She offers a ton of help workshopping your speeches and this class really helps with public speaking. Highly recommend!

This is the second time I've taken her, but the first time in person. With that being said, I would prefer the online version of this class. Her lectures tend to be a bit long and difficult to follow at times, making it much more manageable virtually. However, she structures them in a very straightforward way, making sure students know the answers to the questions she is posing. Those questions are asked on the midterm and final, so make sure you take good notes when she talks about them. The midterm and final are essays and are not too bad if you start them early enough. She is pretty lenient with her grading and claims you have to do the readings, but I never did and just incorporated some quotes from random articles into my papers and got an A on both exams. The class can be a drag sometimes but is very doable overall, and if you're looking for a pretty easy filler class, I'd recommend.

Nushin is the best professor I have ever taken.
I recommend anyone taking her before they graduate. I have taken two classes with her and it has literally changed my life. The material is important and relevant to what is happening in the world today. There is one midterm which is worth 35% and then a final paper worth 65%. It's an easy class in the sense that everything is interesting and you actually want to learn, but don't expect to just sit through class and still getting an A.
Nushin is a fascinating person and I love that she shares her personal experiences, growing up in Afghanistan.

This was one of the chillest classes I've taken at UCLA, your entire grade is 2 speeches and 10% participation. The professor however has a very unique and out there personality and can be a lot sometimes.