Labs prepare you well for the final project both require quite a bit of thinking. Prof Brewer has the class structured very well and his lectures are interesting although a bit hard to follow if you aren't giving your undivided attention. Make sure you talk to him during office hours hes a really nice guy and a genius.
I've had him for multiple classes, and his worst habit is going off topic. #1 tip: he does not take things personally and it's a much better use of everyone's time if someone politely calls him out to pivot. He's one of the best in the ECE dept but can be a complete fire hose as a lecturer. So steer him with questions/interest & you'll learn a ton.
His lectures are mostly unrelated to the homework topics, it is better to search for the answers than attempt to solve the problems yourself. The labs take another 4-6 hours even with using outside resources like he suggests himself. Don't try to do the work yourself and just study the answers and you will get a better grade.
Awesome class. The labs take time but are also fun. Loved Brewer's lecturing style - he talks about things deeper than what a textbook can teach you - you just have to have an open mind to understand what he is trying to teach. Really helpful class for understanding how to build practical systems. Didn't mind the work because it taught me a lot.
This course take a lot of time. There is no scheduled lab time for this course as you are expected to complete the lab over however long a period it takes. Each weekly lab takes 10+ hours and each homework often takes over 6 hours. The lectures are mostly useless and often unrelated; Dr. Brewer goes off on tangents that don't relate to the material
Donnelly is one of the best professors. He makes lectures engaging and relevant. This is one of the best English classes I've taken at UCSB, highly recommend. Midterm is okay if you go to lectures and do the readings. Come up with original topics for your papers and go to your TA's office hours. Great class, loved that we read the Hunger Games.
Incredible professor and an INSANELY good class. Powerful and analytical lectures that are especially relevant now, but I've heard from former students that he always makes them very timely. Extremely interesting readings, good mix of essays and exams, and I love that he takes our feedback into account. One of the best English classes at UCSB!
He's an incredible lecturer and super funny. He keeps lecturers interesting, entertaining, up-to-date with current events, and relevant. His analysis of the texts are very interesting and relate to pop culture and current events which he explains in class, and they're things I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. I love his teaching and his class!
Be prepared to read read read, and have fun
Terrible professor, TA's are egotistical nitpickers, and the class subject matter is a joke.
I took Professor Donnelly's class last quarter and can't stop thinking about it. I'm not an English major, but his lectures were so interesting that they made me wish I was. If you're considering taking his class, do it!
Don't take this class
He's an amazing lecturer and a very nice person. Truly what all people in humanities should strive to be. I'm loving 103WT. Specializes in Victorian lit and Sci-fi. He's not the type to put down students even when they are confused. We do not deserve this man. I wanted to take my seminar w him but i think he's tired of seeing me every quarter lol
I can go on for DAYS about how much I love Brian. He was not only an amazing professor -- he really stood up for me on a personal level when i was experiencing a housing crisis. He checked in with me and eventually helped me decide to take an Incomplete in his class while I got my affairs in order. He's just an incredible man and so charismatic
Really disappointed since previous classes with Donnelly have been so fun, but this class was so much work out of nowhere. Midterm had a lot of obscure/ambiguous questions and the final is absurdly long. Huge departure from his previous classes and I'm upset that this went the way it did as I was very excited about this subject.
The second class I've taken with him. Great class/content. He knew me by name in a 150-person room. That being said, this class is not an easy A. You need to do the work-- read, write, and come up with good and creative analysis, but that is most upper-div English classes. This course also has a highly specific midterm and tough essays (TA graded).
longest and most ridiculous expectations for a final i have ever seen, not at all understanding of students and their time, really basic lectures that summarize plot of books instead of analyzing, feel like i have learned nothing, he's an entertaining lecturer but i was extremely disappointed in the content of the class, i leave every class mad.
This is unusual to grade because lectures are not really needed in this class so my only complaint about them being off topic is not really legit. other than that he is a great guy, class was easy and fair and we could get a lot of help form prof and TA's on our projects.
He helped almost every group as much as he could, really cared for all the first years and tried to help them make their ideas become reality.
Great professor who obviously cares about what he's teaching and hearing the student. I struggled on the essays, but that was with the TA and not the prof. Only graded on 3 essays and attendance only required for section. Though, attending lecture was still fun to hear all the different perspectives on the reading.
He was a wonderful professor! Made me decide to pursue english further, and was very kind and understanding. He was also amazingly kind and personable! Take him if you can pookies
Donnelly is easily the best professor I've had, his lectures are hilarious and he's amazing at engaging student participation. Attendance to lecture isn't required but you're definitely missing out if you skip. Very lucky to be in the English department, will be taking more courses with him in the future.
TAKE THIS PROF!! He is stellar, I have never been so fascinated by lectures as I have been in his class. His lectures on the books you read in this class are uniquely top-tier. Great discussions. TAs are phenomenal. Mainly graded by 3 shorter essays-- do the reading and go to lecture (not mandatory but oh, so worth it), and you'll be set.
I think I attended less than half of the lectures over the quarter because they never seemed to have much important information that couldn't just be found on Canvas, and I still ended up getting an A-, so if you need the class, take care of something else during the actual lecture time
