This class isn't that hard to do well in, but it's so vague. Here are the pros and cons:
Pros: Not very hard to get a good grade. Class talks about many issues relevant to today (Flint, MI, Puerto Rico not having power, financial crisis of 08), no tests (just two papers), points for coming to class, Professor Kelley is passionate about the material.
Cons: This is class is very unclear in prompts. It was difficult to ascertain what the professor and TAs actually expected. The first paper was difficult because it was so hard to figure out what they actually wanted you to do. The group project was hard to navigate. Our group was our entire discussion section. So you have to coordinate with 20 people and make a website and write a 10 page paper. It was very frustrating to deal with.
That being said, at the end of the day this class did have a lot of material relevant to modern issues and Kelley really cared about the material. Most people get a pretty good grade, but get ready to ask a lot of questions to figure out what they actually want.

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.

One of the best classes I've ever taken! The reading is a little dense but the workload isn't too bad. There are two papers (first one was 5-7 pages, second was 4-5) that are graded by your TA and then a group project graded by Dr. Kelley. The papers aren't too difficult and he wants you to only use readings from the class, so stay on top of your readings! I just split the readings with one of my friends and we took good notes and just shared them, and I did well on the papers.

Workload aside, Dr. Kelley is passionate, engaging, and a really interesting person. I'd highly recommend taking a class with him. The subject material of this class is also really interesting and provides a unique perspective on the roots of inequality.

I loved this class. I learned so much from it, especially the last five weeks of this course. Professor Kelley is a great lecturer and the class has no tests, just a group project and two papers. Some of the reviewers are a little salty that Kelley changed the syllabus so many times, but he did that to shut up all the students who complained about how much readings we had .. so he decreased the amount of reading we had to do - and hey - I'm not complaining about that. Try to get TA Christopher Null if possible. He is really informative and makes you participate in class for points, but he is an easy grader on the essays. On my first essay, I thought I would get a 85% and instead ended up with a 94%. Overall, this is an easy GE that is very eye opening.

Taking History 12B with Kelley was honestly life-changing; I dropped accounting and decided to minor in history after taking this class. If you're interested in understanding the current political climate, I definitely recommend this class. There is a lot of reading but like another reviewer said, you can get away with skimming/skipping it if you pay attention in lecture. Most of the grading depends on the TA so make sure to communicate with your TA and find a TA, who doesn't grade too harshly.

This course was very eye-opening and inspiring! The materials were exceptionally interesting, and the Prof Kelley showed several films in class. The workload is heavy if you don't enjoy reading, as we had a good amount of articles to read and had to write 1-page weekly responses, but for larger assignments we only had two papers and a group project for the quarter. However, my TA was a hard grader, and I wish I could have gotten a higher score for the amount of time and work I put into this class. Maybe a different TA would make a lot of differences. Overall this class would be great if you want to learn more about Neoliberalism and the economic/political aspects of it.

Grade Breakdown:

20% Attendance
25% Paper 1
25% Paper 2
30% Group Project

Attendance counts for 20% and it's pretty easy to secure - you can get friends to sign in for you (although I would recommend attending class). Kelley's lectures are funny and eye opening but they can get boring at times. He assigns a lot of reading material but you can get away without doing it if you pay attention in class. You'd have to pick out 2-3 readings to do before your essay submission though, as essays are based on lecture/readings only. Overall, the material he covers is very interesting and I'd recommend it to anyone committed to understanding the current socio, economic and political order. It's an easy GE if you put in a little effort, and the knowledge you gain is definitely rewarding.

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.

I loved this class. The other reviewer clearly just didn't show up to class, it's what you make of it. He was extremely engaging in lecture and the readings were interesting. At times he would make changes to the syllabus, but that was always to accommodate the students complaining about too much reading, so it was ultimately in service to us. The assignments were reasonable and the grading wasn't too harsh because his emphasis was on learning the material, not earning a grade. Overall, I loved this class and enjoyed lectures and would highly recommend it.

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.