WORST CLASS EVER

I came into this class with an open mind, did all the reading, attended every lecture, etc. I really thought I'd do great in this class, but NO. -_-

She is an unfair grader. When people would ask questions during lecture, she would be rude and arrogant. She DOES NOT care about her students.

I regret ever signing up for this class with her...

Selling all course materials needed for this class for a very low price and am willing to negotiate. These materials include the Newman Textbook, the course reader, and This Book Is Not Required. 920-284-8500

Selling:
- Spring 2015 Course Reader

(510) 329-2650
or
chikoshimizu@yahoo.com

Hands down, this is the worst class I have ever taken at UCLA. If you care about real education, do yourself a favor and don't take this class. You learn literal "BS". I'm not kidding, the concepts in this class are not applicable anywhere and every day you wonder to yourself, "what the hell are we talking about". We once spent an entire week discussing the difference between the "Me", the "Self", and the "I".

If you don't care about what you learn and want an easy A, well this is ALSO the wrong class. This class is no longer an easy A. She switched up the grading scheme from one easy test, to 5 very hard, very specific, very trivial pop quizzes that a lot of people did bad on, (EVEN IF YOU DID THE READING). Worth 5% each. The questions asked can span from the beginning of the quarter even if you're in 7th week.

The readings necessary to perform on the quizzes are extremely long, boring, and repetitive. Anderson literally thinks her class is the most important class every student is taking and assigns TONS of reading that you need to also do your essays. She also expects you to watch a 2 and a half hour documentary on your own time.

This class depends all on your TA and how they grade your work. Avoid Justin Kumar, he was a harsh grader.

Aside: If you are not extremely liberal, or you swing right even just a little bit, you will absolutely despise this class. It is essentially how much LIBERAL PROPAGANDA you can fit into a class. The professor literally spends 2 weeks worshipping Karl Marx and socialism. Are you kidding? The rest of the class is her trying to be a social justice warrior and a white apologist. We get it, your trying to make up for your "privilege".

Overall, try to avoid this class at all costs. It may have been an easy A before, not anymore unless you have photographic memory of bullshit readings.

Don't be fooled by the past grades and distributions for this class. Anderson changed up the class to include 5 pop quizzes that, whether you studied for or not, will detrimentally affect your grade. The distribution that shows that 35% of the class got A's will no longer apply. I got an A on the midterm paper, above average grades on the quizzes, and expected at least a B+ in the class. I find it ironic how a professor who makes you read an article about how grades should not matter in education ends up screwing everyone over. Out of all the GE's I've ever taken (this one being the last), Sociology 1 was the only B I've ever gotten. For all incoming prospects who believe that Sociology 1 will be a manageable GE, DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. GO SIGN UP FOR JAPAN 50 OR SOMETHING. OR ANY ASIAN AM COURSES. Halfway through this course, one of my roommates noted that he found me investing more time in this course than in my major courses (Econ). Big mistake. Also, because this is Sociology, Anderson and the TAs take themselves and the subject way too seriously. If you get tired of that easily, don't take this class. You will definitely regret investing even the bare minimum. All in all, the class was a big waste of my time. Don't take it. Unless you're an actual sociology major, you should not be taking this class no matter what. It'll ruin your GPA harder than a South Campus course.

I loved all the readings and class lectures, but the readings got to be a bit much and started piling up.
Other than that, great perspectives on life, and theories that applied in all my other classes, too!

FALL 2014.

This class was pretty damn fascinating. It's been a few months, but I still think about the things I've learned hear, mainly because you learn about society and identity and yourself, so it sticks with you.

You have 2 papers, the first of which is pretty easy and the second of which is less easy, but still fine (it's like the first essay, but longer / more in-depth). I did both of them a day or two before and ended up with an A-minus on the first one (don't know what I got on the second one, but I did well in the class). There's also one general quiz, which was also easy and focuses purely on main concepts. Study your notes for that one (I didn't even have to look at the course reader).

There are also weekly, 1-2 page journals. Pretty casual, very very easy. Graded for completion. I enjoyed writing them most of the time, actually.

Prof. Anderson is also really cool. She has a quiet kind of voice, but you never struggle to hear her. I liked her a lot because she was so REASONABLE. Sociology can get touchy for people because you deal with a lot of controversial issues (hello, society), but she handles it all very well.

I imagine the person(s) who say this class is liberal or activist propaganda is a conservative who doesn't understand that sociology pertains to SOCIETY, which means you kind of HAVE to talk about race and racism, gender and sexism and transphobia, etc. etc. She was never propagandistic about it (although it says something that people can call wanting equality "liberal propaganda"--but that's not the point of this review). The point is that acknowledging these things and how they work and how widespread they are is clearly not for you if you insist on being racist, sexist, ignorant, etc., but should be fine if you're trying not to be those things.

Oh, and I should mention there's a lot of reading, some of which is a little dense or hard to understand. But she goes over everything in lecture pretty well, breaking it down so we can understand. The best part is that you're not quizzed on these readings beyond that easy, general quiz I already mentioned, so you can just sit and read them without worrying about memorization.

I feel pretty strongly that everyone should take this class to better understand how our society works, how it affects us and how we affect it, but even if you don't care about that, well, then, it's a pretty easy GE with not a ton of work. Definitely recommend it.

Selling the package of Sociology textbook (4th edition) + "This Book is Not Required" (it IS required, don't be fooled) for HALF the original price, so $52 (instead of $104). Good condition, no highlighting. Email sngu5304@gmail.com if you want to buy! :)

Straightforward GE. If you do the work, you can get an A. Grade is made up of participation, 2 Essays, and 1 Test. Not too bad, lectures can be kind of confusing but discussions help to clarify things. A lot of reading.

This was a really easy class. However, your grade is basically determined by your TA - so pander to their interests. That being said, you probably won't learn much about actual Sociology (whatever that is). But, it is an easy class. I'm selling all the material for the class (course reader, Nerman's "Sociology", "This Book is Not Required", and "Brave New World" for 110 (willing to negotiate). Email me if interested: aravartanyan@g.ucla.edu

She was a very fair teacher.

Each of her lectures were pretty interesting and although she has a quiet voice she is able to capture students' attention pretty well.

Overall, everything is graded by your TA so your final grade ultimately depends on your relationship with your TA and willingness to seek help.

I would recommend this class for a pretty easy grade.