Good speaker, inspiring, interesting, but rude. The most awful thing is to have political related topics in class. PLEASE STOP MENTIONING ANY POLITICAL ISSUES AS "ART" DURING THE LECTURE!

Prof. Spickard is a great teacher & actually cares about helping his students. The only grades for the class come from 2 term papers, which makes it sort of hard to get a high grade if you're not a strong writer, but the lectures & extra reading he offers are really interesting.

An easy P, lectures are interesting. I would recommend my TA Lei Dou, who is pursuing his second PhD in UCSB, very nice guy.

Professor Spickard is a great guy! Has great lectures that are really thought-provoking and inspirational and funny. He genuinely cares about his students and goes out of his way to help them! I haven't finished the class yet but I had to put this down that his class is definitely worth taking in the future.

He takes advantage of the most marginalized students because we are the ones who turn to personal narrative. He pushes students to overshare because his classes are more for voyeurism than expression. Me and a few friends all took his class and liked him at first and due to his conduct we ended up with more trust issues.

I spent so much time on this class because of how much reading he assigns. He records his lectures but he makes them so long and boring. He basically rambles on whatever is on his mind and lecture is done when he runs out of things to say. He basically expects us to spend all our time on this class and he is not understanding at all.

Spickard really cares about his students. The course material is really interesting and his lectures were really engaging. If you do most of the reading and pay attention in lecture you're guaranteed an A.

A lot of reading and depends on your TA how they handle the reading load in section. Very easy to write papers on and he is very passionate and understanding during this time.

Lots of readings in this class for a non-major student. Took this class for GE but it eventually got an A due to the extra credits and the grading system. Spickard really cared about the students ' well-beings and was pretty approachable via email and OH. His lectures could be a bit ambiguous and seemed to be off tangent. But overall a ez class

Prof. Spickard is an amazing professor who is well-informed, and embracing to different ideas in this class. He literally introduced us to various topics of world history, which were easy to understand. The readings maybe a bit too much but as long as you get the basics for that you will be fine. His lectures were also thought provoking !!

There was lots of reading , but if you made sure to read some, and summaries on the others , plus attend lecture, you are assured a good grade ! He is very clear with his grading and the TA is also a very important aspect in this class as section counts for a lot . Paul is such a caring and nice guy, you can really tell he cares about his students!

Spickard made us buy 7 books and honestly none of the readings are useful. Also constantly talks about how great he is.

mans is off topic 110% of the time. rambler. his lectures routinely wayyyy longer than allotted time/ necessary. also opinionated

I will give him credit for being extremely entertaining & thought provoking. His style of teaching is engaging. But I am sorry to say that Spickard is everything wrong with the public university system. He presents his feelings as fact and bends the truth. This class teaches you to feel victimized and oppressed rather than empowered and succeed.

I learned a lot from this class, I definitely recommend taking it! In order to do well though you must be willing to be very vulnerable. The class dynamic is super refreshing because its a lot different from the rest of your classes since its centered around the intersection of art/ life and everything else in between. (No essays or midterm)

Spickard knows how to logically change your perspective about everything you thought about race, religion, and ethnicity. He is downright hilarious, funny, and CARES about his students and subjects. Go to his office hours

Paul is one of the best professors I've had at UCSB. He is hilarious and really brings a positive environment to class. I leave class every day with my mind changed and having really refined my understanding of very important themes about identity, race, and American culture. He has really inspired me to question myself, and has taught me a lot.

cool dude don't get me wrong. I loved everything about the seminar. but I've come to realize he's a little conceited and tells the same stories over and over again which I find annoying. good teacher tho. just needs to be grounded a little. only assignment is to read HIS book about HIS life in the seminar lol

He's a hilarious and outspoken professor. He knows his stuff, "lecture" was mostly the students getting in groups and teaching the class about the readings. The discussions we had was great and he brings up thought-provoking questions. Overall he is a really chill teacher and if you do most of the readings and write a good paper you'll pass.

Incredible amounts of reading. I left lectures knowing more about his own opinions and thoughts rather than the actual material. Oddly strict about having technology out during lectures. I felt he was condescending. He would pose questions only to tell those that dare answer that they were wrong or lacking in information.

Dr. Spickard is a great guy. He really knows the stuff he teaches and genuinely cares about his students, in class and out of class. He is outspoken and has strong opinions but is constantly making jokes and creating a positive class environment. Great guy, great professor, would totally recommend.

Spickard's classes are not your average history classes. He tells it how it is and this probably offends many people. His classes WILL change your perspective on history, race, ethnicity, and social issues. He is a professor who genuinely cares about his students, and is passionate about his subject

Prof Spickard DOES NOT TEACH HISTORY COURSES in the contemporary sense. Took his "History of Immigration" class and we just talked about the weekly news and our thoughts and opinions on it. Barely learned anything in his class aside from his opinion on things. DON'T TAKE HIS CLASS IF YOU WANT TO LEARN HISTORY OR HISTORICAL EVENTS LIKE ME.

Spickard is a great professor!! He makes history interesting and will keep you entertained. His classes are not boring. There is a lot of reading for this class but they are really interesting. Midterm and final are simple IDs and essay(s). One paper that you get to choose the topic for. Better hope you get a good TA.