I entered UCLA as a Sociology major, and Prof. Anderson's Soc 1 class had be seriously considering changing my major. Her class wasn't the hardest class I took, although some of the things that contributed a lot to the final grade was irrelevant to what she taught. For example, I spent approx. 100 dollars to buy two books she wrote that she wrote, one of them she barely (like never) talked about but appeared constantly in her quizzes (20% of final grade).
However inappropriate the above actions may be, I assume that other professors may be the same and got used to it in a while. She had me question if I was fit to study Sociology with her strong liberal beliefs and how she exerted her beliefs onto us in her lectures and her assignments. I understand that she held her beliefs, but it strongly influenced the assignments which we spent a lot of time on. It was mandatory for us to integrate sources like "White women voted for Trump in 2016 because they still believe white men are their saviors" in our papers. Even though I think that I don't have a strong political opinion, her class had me question the Sociology's inclusiveness of diverse opinions. I wouldn't recommend or not recommend this class to others, for some people liked her class a lot exactly for the reasons I listed. But for others, you should consider beforehand how her style will affect you.

You would do well in this class if you jot down all the notes and reading materials and regurgitate the content on papers and quizzes. That said, in my opinion this is by no means an intellectually stimulating class. The professor is biased, so are the course material. Some lectures are more interesting than others, which are flat out boring and unhelpful, and sometimes logically erroneous. She does not leave enough room for discourse, which to me seems important in the study of social sciences. I took this class as an incoming freshman and did not particularly enjoy this class as much as my other classes at UCLA. Think twice before enrolling in this class.

Took this class as a GE, would definitely take again. Although the readings are extremely dense, the material covered is very interesting. The pop quizzes honestly sucked, but I liked how they encouraged me to attend every lecture. She requires weekly journals which are pretty enjoyable to write, just make sure to incorporate the readings well. Doing well in this class requires to do the readings, so if you take this class, make sure to try to at least skim the readings before lecture/discussion or else you will be lost. Many people don't enjoy her style of lecturing (no power points or laptops allowed), but I enjoyed it, I think I retained more information that way.. An A in this class is not easy, you will have to work for it, but this class is worth it.

Worst GE CLASS EVER!!! Do yourself a favor and DO NOT TAKE this class especially if you're an engineering major. Most of the readings were bullshit and went off on irrelevant tangents. The pop quizzes were suppeeeer detail oriented even if you do the readings (it'll be hard to keep up with them trust me i stopped after week 7ish when the work load just got too much and i was like screw it). In terms of learning, ehhh. People complain she's too socialist or too liberal but that is beside the point; she is just really boring and thinks her class is the most important class. Sum it up, if you're looking for an easy or intersting ge, this class is not it. Take geo 5 or astro. Hell to the no no no...the only thing i learned in this class was how to avoid bullshit classes like this in the future. Thank god for bruin walk i learned the hard way.

An absurd amount of readings were assigned for each class period, and it was extremely hard to recall information for the pop quizzes even though I did each reading in depth and took notes on them (certain quiz questions appeared weeks after the reading was assigned). I actually enjoyed writing the essays and journals. Her views are extremely liberal which was fine, but it often sounded like she was trying to change our political views rather than actually teach us anything about sociology.

I would recommend finding another professor for this class. I feel like I would have enjoyed this material a lot more if it wasn't coming from the way she presented it.

I liked this class, but the readings were a bit frustrating. We were required to purchase This Book Is Not Required, which seemed unrelated to the course. It was written by Dr. Anderson and we never talked about it, although very specific questions showed up on the quizzes. That was a bit frustrating but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this class and learned a lot.

I took SOC 1 with Anderson because I am starting on the journey of Sociology, switching my major from Psychobiology. I expected sociology to be a lot more interesting, which it is. But Anderson is not. She was incredibly monotone, and I often noticed people falling asleep in her lectures. She doesn't use powerpoint slides or anything of the sort to keep your attention. She stands at the front of the podium and talks at you for 75 minutes and expects you to retain the information. I suggest you take very good notes. She assigns ridiculous amounts of reading. And then she gives you pop quizzes which are very specific, so if you didn't do all of the reading, you're pretty much screwed. Her book "This Book is Not Required" is actually required because she quizzes you on it. But it honestly doesn't have much to do with the class at all. It was a huge waste of time reading that book, but again... its required.... She is not helpful in office hours and when showing up the first week she looked at me like "seriously, what are you doing here week one?" Not helpful... not kind... and she really thinks her class is the only one you have, judging by the amount of reading she assigns. Make sure you're on time to her lectures because the papers are due at the beginning of class, not 5 minutes after it starts. She will turn you away and you will get a zero. There are two papers, one each for the midterm and final, pop quizzes and almost weekly journals. The pop quizzes lowered my grade.. its really ridiculous trying to keep up with that reading!!!!!! ugh!!!!! take someone else for SOC 1 if you actually want to enjoy it.

Selling:
Course Reader
"This Book Is Not Required" by Bell, McGrane, Gunderson, and Anderson
Textbook "Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life" (4th Edition)

(760) 972-9341

I took this class as an easy GE. Early in I realized I had mistaken the class for Soc 1 with Jepsen, not Anderson. Luckily while this class was not a walk in the park, it was very interesting and I ended up loving it. Do the readings, don't cry if you get 3/5's on the quizzes, put your opinion in the essays (don't just regurgitate the lecture material and add in vocab words-- I learned this the hard way after the first essay), participate in all discussions, and you will do fine. This class made me think differently and I can genuinely say the work is worth it.

Not the easiest A, but it not impossible either as long as you keep up with the readings. I am selling the course reader email me if interested at Gisellemartinez@me.com