I took this class as an "easy GE" and did not regret one thing. The teachers and TA's are truly there to help you throughout this class. As my lectures were posted all online, I was able to go through the class at my own pace, while given the chance to ask questions during live discussion. I enjoyed discussion because it was more a class discussion rather than another lecture, allowing everyone to communicate with one another about the new topic. Definitely take this class if you are interested in the topic or want a class that will fit nicely within your busy schedule.

Wow, I really loved this course. The workload is NOT bad at all and there is an absence of quizzes and tests. There are only essays, which really worked for me as someone who likes writing. Perhaps if you don't, look elsewhere but the writing is not too demanding at all and I felt that my TA graded fairly. Professor Kelley is also brilliant and passionate about what he teaches, which makes the lectures interesting. I found myself super engaged when listening to them, which is great especially considering the online aspect of it.

I am not a history person nor a reading person but I passed this class with an A after almost barely reading the books. This was the only class that required participation during discussion so that felt uncomfortable, but overall Javier (my TA) was extremely knowledgeable and helpful as well.
What really killed me for this class was that Professor Kelley mentioned we will be using one of the book that we read as a final project in the syllabus and on week 9, he completely changed that to a group essay that did not even necessarily need the book. It was tough having one week to come up with a 9 page-ish essay with people you barely or did not even talk to at all during discussion without having enough clarity on what the final prompt wants from us.
However, I still did pass with an A so I guess I have to say this class was easy compared to the work I put in.

This class was super chill. For my TA we really only had to participate in discussion plus the midterm/final papers and some notes we had to take for the book discussion. I spent like no time on this class apart from the readings and got an easy A. Basically my advice would be: participate 2-3 times in discussion, spend some time on the essays and you'll get an A. I didn't have much interaction with Professor Kelley, but he was well organized and very reasonable with the assignments. Good class.

Best class and professor I have ever had. Lectures were super interesting. I highly recommend going to Prof Kelley's office hours because he is extremely engaging and will answer any questions you may have.

I do agree with some of the things said in the negative reviews. I hated the group project and my TA kinda sucked so it was annoying that my grade ultimately relied on him. But overall, I think this class was interesting as hell. While it was a history class, it wasn't just a boring regurgitation of dates and legislation and it covered some important, relevant to life shit. Not to mention Professor Kelley is the man. He is knowledgable, engaging, and very personable, and I enjoyed his perspective on the content of the class.

This class is easy. My friend signed me into the lectures, I went to discussions and didn't do the readings; I ended the course with an A-. However, the easiness of the course is offset by the lack of structure. I was always getting emails about a change in the assigned readings, or a due date being moved up because some students were complaining. By the end of the quarter, the course looked almost nothing like the course that was outlined by the syllabus during Week 1. Overall, I found this to be disrespectful of me, and my time. Take it if you want an easy A, but be prepared to change your schedule according to other people's desires.

This class was amazing. I loved Mr. Kelley. His lectures were engaging, funny, and informational. Easy class, definitely a good GE. I would 100% take it again and will be looking to take more of his classes in the future. A lot of reading but you can get away with skipping some, and the assigned book was pretty good. The only completely required, turned in assignments are the midterm 8 page essay which, really when you consider that it's basically the only assignment was not too bad and you have a week to do it (I actually enjoyed that assignment), a group project where you make a website, and a group paper as the final. Basically if you do most of the readings you'll be fine for the essays and discussion section, and most of the readings are interesting. Great class highly recommend.

It isn't too hard to get an A in this class, but the fact that lectures were long and the reading was boring destroyed any interest I had.

I loved this class and Prof. Kelley! This class is super interesting and provides a great look into neoliberalism and I learned a ton of stuff I didn't know before. Even if you disagree with Kelley's ideology (he is very leftist), you will still get a lot out of this class. The class isn't too difficult. The readings can be a bit heavy and tough at times, but as long as you participate a bit in discussion you'll be okay. And there are two papers, graded pretty easily, and a group project with your section at the end. As long as you put a decent amount of work in and get through most of the readings you should be okay with this class. It may be a bit much for a history GE for non-history majors, but if you are a history pre-major looking for lower-divisions classes I'd definitely recommend this one.