His lectures are very informative and there's 2 reading reflections every week based on the readings for that week.

Make sure you catch him after class, he is definitely NOT accessible by email. Gets really annoying if you need help or have a question about an assignment outside of class. Definitely an easy-a type class and professor. Nice guy, but seems like he's more focused on promoting himself and his books more then anything.

This is a pretty heavy class with quite a few assignments, like weekly readings and assignments that lead up to your final research project. It is a research class, so it can get overwhelming and heavy, but it is very doable! He's very approachable inside and outside of class, making it easier to get feedback. I highly recommend him!

While I enjoyed this class and attended every discussion, I found that the class was mostly self-guided as we completed our research projects. My grade was an "A—;" however, my grade was entered as a "B" because I did not raise my hand enough or speak up in class, which is an arbitrary reason to mark someone down. This wasn't communicated.

One of my favorite professors here at UCSB. He is incredibly understanding and will help you work through concepts that you are not sure about. His lectures feel inspiring, and the speakers he brings inform us of current-day issues in the system, which I hadn't known about. The workload is manageable, participation does matter, so make sure to go.

Interesting class material, but Dr. Rios is absolutely horrible at communicating. Never responded to urgent emails even after I spoke to him in class multiple times. Never graded any of the assignments we had 2x a week so I had no idea what my grade was or if I was doing the assignments well until the final grades came out.