Great professor for this course. Focus on violence in culture. Her tests are a bit unorthodox. Always available to talk. Definitely rewires the way you approach topics/think about them. A lot of students in her classes whine about work but this IS a core class & it IS upper division so get ready for a nice workload. Not a problem for upper division

She is fascinating, intelligent & One of the best professors I've had at UCSB. The work that is expected is valuable and it is a lot. She is the most available professor in terms of office hours, emai, and skype office hours. She creates an atmosphere for discussion that is inviting and safe. You will be challenged intellectually. totally worth it

THE WORST. PROF. EVER. boring boring boring. expects us to do tonne of hw every week (post Q on gauchospace after each lecture, gauchospace online post x3, 2 page [single-spaced] RQTA or whateverthef reading notes) she may be a passionate prof, but you know something is kinda weird when she holds skype office hours.so boring. AVOID HER FOR GPA.

She was a very passionate about her subject. she made it easy for us to do well in her class an got me very involved in the subject she was teaching.

Lezra is knowledgeable and very passionate about the topic. She seems nice and approachable. I definitely needed section to clarify the topics and the lectures but I guess that's why we have them. I would say I learnt a lot from this class.

she is very pasionate

Profesoo Lezra might no be the best but i think she is trying really hard to improve her teaching abilities. We had a 10 page final, and reading notes every week,The reading was very interesting and she even goes over it in class. her exams are based mostly on the reading. In general it was tough but you keep up with readings you should be fine.

This is the worst professor i have ever had. Consistently made historical errors in lecture, had a stubborn limited perspective, and made me reconsider pursuing a global studies degree. How does a global studies professor try to get the class to believe the Berlin Wall fell in 1991? Basically AVOID AT ALL COSTS. btw got an A so i am not just bitter

This class was ridiculous. She is a horrible lecturer and will bore you to tears. All she does is read off of her slides incredibly fast and won't slow down if you ask. She assigned reading notes as 40% of the final grade which did not help because her final was so tricky and she did a horrible job preparing us. Avoid this professor.

One of the hardest class I have ever taken. Ridiculous amounts of notes to take , horrible lectures, you write the entire time paragraphs on each slide and yet don't learn anything. The tests are really hard and tricky, and there is too many reading notes. Horrible teacher in general, though the class material is interesting.

she makes you copy down an insane amount of notes while she stands there and slowly reads the slides to you.. her study guides are reallly helpful though: "make sure you are familiar with history, culture, ideology, and contact zones." really? the exams were unnecessarily tricky and stupid.

Esther has no presence or charisma in front of the class. She reads the slides in a tone as though she doesn't actually care or know what she is saying. She sighs in between each slide. Her first midterm was like taking a high school test, and the final was AWFUL. It was the most ambiguous and incomprehensible test I have ever taken. Spare urself.

horrible horrible teacher. goes way too fast for no reason and is mean when you ask her to go back. writes stupid test questions with vague answers and is a terrible lecturer. she tried to adjust her style so we'd like her, but that lasted about one minute. avoid at all cost because she's just not a good teacher

There is a lot of reading for this class, but as long as you keep up and understand main concepts the tests are easy. Most of the students were completely rude and disrespectful and felt like poking fun instead of paying attention. She has an interesting vocabulary, but you just deal with it. Topics are interesting and she shows several good films.

I DON'T recommend taking this class with Lezra. Midterm and final were difficult. The writing responses were confusing, but the essay assignment was fine. Lectures were extremely boring. Overall I was disappointed and wish I took this class with a different professor.

she discusses interesting material but her tests are ridiculous/dumb/confusing/poorly worded/God Damn disgusting/ if you take her class listen to the cool topics, but don't study for the exam cuz it will be pointless

I can honestly say this is the WORST professor I have ever had in my 3 years at UCSB. She makes absolutely no sense in class and her tests are IMPOSSIBLE. I could hardly understand the questions on her tests because she makes NO SENSE. DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS. you will regret it, i promise.

The professor knows about her subject, but at times her lectures are a little bit boring. Overall, I learned a lot and would recommend the class to those who really want to work hard. The reader is over 500 pages and you need time to dedicate. If doing only for general education then I would not recommend the class. I liked her and she is a pre