She pretty much just gets up there and talks about whatever comes to mind for the entire lecture and Im not kidding. The student panels that happen later in the quarter are valuable. The grading is non existent and they give you whatever grade they think you deserve and dont expect her to show up for office hours or respond to emails ever. AWFUL

Weekly essays called SWAPAs which she will not explain nor will she give guidance on until later in the quarter. She goes on long tangents and uses academic jargon that makes absolutely no sense. She will frequently interrupt you when you're speaking, so be prepared to never speak a full sentence in this class without her having an opinion about it

Have to turn in 2 one-paged papers a week called SWAPA's. Chela as a professor is eh at best. She goes on long rants about nothing and does not like to be challenged. For everything that she preaches, she doesn't really actually practice it in real life. This class is just exhausting, but it was a great learning experience so I recommend it.

Chela is wonderful. In this Decolonizing Feminism class she really has you think about what counts as knowledges and gets you to tap into parts of yourself you never thought mattered. Wonderful class that makes you rethink a lot of things you have been taught. Great atmosphere and definitely memorable.

Mental, physical, emotional roller coaster of a course that will leave you shaken in the best way possible. Don't be scared to begin the decolonization process.

Took him fall quarter for CHST1A and I loved the class so much. He is very passionate about what he teaches and sometimes gets emotional during class about certain topics which makes the class feel special and inspirational. There are readings and some are long but they are very interesting.

Professor Ralph is a very honest, down-to-earth professor who takes the time out of his day to connect with each one of his students. I took Chicano Studies 1A over the summer and it while it was a bit reading-heavy, the assignments and "exams" had clear expectations. He also provides amazing feedback.

This class was so interesting and included awareness of important topics such as immigration, politics, the wars in Gaza, Lgbtq+, and women. I felt inspired and left this class feeling more educated. The professor is amazing and really tries to connect with his students on a deeper level.

Great topics and lectures. Readings weren't difficult but could be long, definitely do them if you want to pass they'll likely be on the midterm or final. Professor was very genuine and cared for this topic which made lectures super interesting. He'd get emotional which was slightly awkward, but showed his passion and would definitely retake.

Very passionate about what he does, great lectures except the class is VERY centered around his perspectives/opinions even if he does acknowledge others at times. Inspirational at times but loves to talk about himself...Lots of reading, suggest you do all of it. Just go to lectures and you'll be mostly prepared for the two exams and the one paper.

Definitely one of my most favorite professors. He's very passionate about what he teaches (gets emotional pretty often) and works diligently to engage with all his students. Heavy topics so don't take if you're not interested in actually learning and doing work outside of class. There's no graded homework but said material can be put on the exams.

Vastly knowledgable on CHST, making Ralph a great prof- speaks from his huge heart. Covers harsh realities, goes above & beyond by including the similar experiences of other marginalized groups & how they are all intertwined + why u should care. Life changing. If u can shrug off the mistreatment of other humans and want easy A: THIS IS NOT FOR YOU.

Professor Armbruster's Chicano Studies 1A is one of the best classes I've ever taken. He is so passionate about what he teaches and his lectures as well as guest speakers have been so powerful. I am an engineering student so this class was so eye opening--I even spoke to my family about his lecture.

He is just the most kind, caring, inspirational professor I have ever had. We as a class, including him, cried atleast once each week because of the beauitful, sad, and inspriring stories we delved into. It's hard for me to open up about my feelings but with him it's so easy because he's so caring and I recommend everyone visit his office hours.

very down to earth

Professor Armbruster is very well spoken and educated on what he teaches; it proves in his manner to lecture. Lots of reading to do if you want to do well on the assignments. Subjects he teaches are tough topics—bring a tissue.

The most wholesome person on the planet, love this king so much. 100% recommend!

Most wholesome person on the planet, love this king so much.

Too much work for a GE tbh not worth. Def better ones out there if you want something lighter. So if you're scrolling through rate my professor finding an easy class that you don't have to pay attention to, this isn't the one. I recommend intro to Caribbean studies.

Professor Ralph is my favorite professor that I have had at UCSB so far, he is a very inspiring person and deeply cares for the students and the future. I would recommend 100% he changed the way I have looked at life

I found this course to be highly enjoyable and enlightening, allowing me to connect with my past in ways I had not thought about. Despite encountering some narrow-minded reviews, I would highly recommend this class as a GE or for a Soc major.

The professor is a very passionate guy (cried in multiple lectures) and definitely knows his stuff, but I didn't love him as a prof. Would only briefly mention terms that we needed to be prepared to write a paragraph on for the midterm/final. Homework is movies and readings, not too bad. Midterm and final are essay questions. Overall easy A.

Ralph is such a passionate professor who wants to interact with students. I can see why you might find this class boring if you don't have a genuine interest in chicano studies but I think a lot of people on here exaggerate it. You study a lot more than what's on the test. If you're able to make connections between different concepts you're set.

One of the most, if not most caring professors at UCSB. I took this class as a GE but found myself thoroughly invested in the topics and discussions. Grading scale was 15% Section Attendance, 25% Midterm, 30% Final, 30% Paper when I took it and it was easy to score high on these as long as you followed along with the main topics of discussion.