I loved Professor Alves's class and it was very eye opening. The content can be a lot to process, but if you do the readings you can really gain a whole new perspective. The course was graded on two papers and a final presentation (plus participation). Prof Alves is a leading scholar in his field and I'd strongly recommend taking a class with him!

I've had Professor Alves on two separate occasions now and he's genuinely fantastic. He's super passionate about his work and it translates through the quality of his lectures. He assigns quite a few readings but all are very interesting and eye-opening. I found him to be very approachable so don't be afraid to email or visit his office hours!

Literally the worst teacher I have ever had and super disappointing to see that at UCSB considering it's ranking in university. He doesn't give you a grading rubric, no clear instructions, only lectures in class which he tells you not to take notes on, so why are we looking at it? You have weekly discussions and he has no grading rubric for that.

He is clearly passionate about course material but I felt he lacked essential attributes that is imperative for a professor to have. His expectations are not clear on assignments, ignores emails, does not show up to designated officer hours that he has stated. This course was all over the place and there was no clear expectations for it.

I just finished Professor Alves' course, it was by far my favorite in all my time at UCSB. Alves is extremely passionate about the topics and provides well-developed insight. even during the tough online situation, the class was extremely interesting. if i wasnt graduating i would def take more of his classes, I have never loved a class more.

Professor Alves is great! He is passionate about what he teaches and makes lectures interesting. The class is overall fairly easy. I would definitely recommend taking this course.