First of all, I am not writing this to bash on Abra because I received a lower-than-expected grade in the class. That's just unprofessional. The truth is that his testing & grading methods are flawed, he has an arrogant attitude about him, and he makes the class unnecessarily hard. The class had great potential but not anymore. AVOID!!!

He is a good person, however that does not mean he is a competent teacher. Tests are disproportionately harder than any I have taken at UCSB. Avoid at all costs, take for elective as PNP if you are interested in subject, but it will still be difficult. Overall a pointless GPA killer in which you teach yourself the material. Worst class ever!!!!!!!

AVOID!!!! Course breakdown: 2-2page papers, 54 question, short answer midterm (took the whole class)(half lecture, half book), 8-10page final paper, 50 short answer final that is cumulative &&& essay question on the final exam. Extremely difficult examsgrading and too much work. He's unclear about everything. Lecture is painfully boring. AVOID!!

Abra does not belong at UCSB. His lectures are too slow and drawn out. Almost as though he thinks his students are not intelligent enough to grasp the concepts. His grading seems arbitrary. I usually get A's on all of my papers but have received poor marks and I don't understand why. He also gave me absolutely no feedback.

Hands down the best teacher I have ever had at UCSB. He makes every class like sitting in a comedy hour where he tells a story for an hour and then relates it to the bigger picture. I have learned way more in this class then any other class because he requires you to actually understand and apply the concepts rather than rote memorization