Prof Hiltner is amazing. The classes aren't very personal because they're so big but it really is an inspirational class. I've taken ENGL 22, 23, and 24 with Hiltner and I learned so much. He's an amazing professor and I took these classes as electives but they really changed my life
Well well well look who we have here. Another person looking for an easy filler class. You have come to the right place. Easy midterm and final, but the most boring lectures ever. Also the weekly comments are just time consuming. The TA's for the class are not very nice. Ken seems like a good guy though.
BEST PROFESSOR EVER!! I want to give him a hug he is the best person ever.
Ken was such an inspirational professor with such genuine lectures! His classes were set up well and beyond informative. All around, left me so aware of the environmental impact I had, and even inspired me to go vegan. This is an incredible course at UCSB, and additionally, it is super easy to pass!
His lectures were awful as he just played his covid videos and expected us to attend every lecture for our grade. He used the TA strike as an excuse to not teach even thought he once had to hold lecture without the help of his lead TAs. Grades sucked since that midterm basically determined it. Only take him for an easy pass/no pass GE course.
You can tell that Professor Hiltner is very passionate about the course topic and material, and I personally learned a lot of new things from this course surrounding the climate crisis. However, his tests are very specific from the weekly videos and readings you must comment on and do so I highly suggest preparing well as I found them a bit hard.
Ken cares a lot about his lectures and helping people learn about the climate crisis. I changed a lot in my own life because of this class. However, while I felt I learned a lot (attended all lectures, read + watched everything) I didn't do so well on the exams. Study for these HARD and WELL. Questions are very specific.
1 midterm/final: both mc, in person; take notes, Qs very specific. Weekly YT comments (easy af). iclicker mandatory. Content is interesting and inspiring. Encouraged me to change some of my habits + appreciate the environment. Hate to give mid rating bc as a person Ken is great, but the lecture/test content + format so unideal and stressful.
a LOT of reading, tests are hard if you didn't read and watch all the stuff so take notes and pay attention if u want an A. the documentaries that he provides are actually interesting and everyone should watch them because the climate crisis is real.
Ken and this course were very informative in regards to the climate crisis. The tests were hard, but doable if you study properly. This course is pretty self paced, as you can get multiple weeks worth of work done whenever you want. Attendance is mandatory, and his lectures are not recorded, aside from the YouTube videos he plays in class that is.
Hiltern's very passionate about the environment. The material was inspiring, but the readings are kind of unevenly distributed (we had to read a whole book after weeks of short stories). Unfortunately, his lecture style and deep, quiet voice are very sleep-inducing. He is very bald. Accessible and enjoyable material but make sure to study for tests
Ken is a good lecturer definitely enjoys teaching this class. You'll definitely get the most out of it if you're actually interested in climate change. If you want an area G with minimal writing, this class is for you. The only catch is the midterm and final are ridiculously specific, and they make up 60% of your grade.
Ken is a good guy. You can tell that he really likes teaching this class. However, I think the grading for his course is a little unreasonable. Your grade is basically determined by two tests with oddly specific questions. He will mention something once in lecture, and it will be on the test. The tests are too hard.
Lectures were incredibly boring and texts were difficult to read. Weekly documentaries were interesting, though, and professor was nice. He just plays recorded lectures during lecture and posts them so you can always watch them again. Midterm was okay and he gave a really generous curve.
I wouldn't recommend taking Hiltner. He expects us to sit and watch his boring youtube lectures as his ta takes attendance through iClicker. Although I took this class as P/NP, he claims he "curved" our grade to the best of his ability when HE was the one who didn't want to continue on due to the strike. Our whole grade was based on one midterm...
Regardless of the grade I got (which still I haven't got back bc strike) I wouldnt recommend Hiltner at all. Reading heavy, attendance mandatory, watch movie every week; he just plays a YouTube vid of himself every lecture & expects u to show up for iclicker attendance. Midterm was so hard for no reason... it's a 700+ person GE class man
The class I took with Ken completely changed my life and also the way I look at literature (I'm an English major). The lectures were engaging and thought provoking and I was never bored. There were a lot of readings, but they were mostly fun, especially the first few. The tests were pretty hard but if you did the readings you are probably OK.
Very chill professor that puts a lot of thought in what he's talking about. The downside was the pre-recorded lectures, it made the class very boring and not interactive. I enjoyed watching the documentaries and the content I learned last quarter. I don't know if I would take a class again with Ken unless he changes the way he runs lectures.
The readings are extremely important. The TA strike impacted our quarter quite a bit and our final grades are being determined only by the midterm, attendance, and our weekly youtube comments. Attendance is overly prioritized. He takes it through iclicker and if you miss more than 1/5 i clicker questions then you miss attendance credit for that day
This was one of the worst classes I've ever taken. The midterm was extremely specific and had questions that almost no one would know, and that were very different than the example questions he gave. No one got a good grade on the midterm, everyone's scores were so bad he had to curve it by 6 points and that still isn't enough.
A really good professor. Attendance is mandatory but the class is very insightful. I really enjoyed the class and as long as you study lecture material and keep up with the readings you will do fine
it's easy to fall into sleep during his lectures. But it is quite remarkable that he keeps refresh my global view and teach me philosophies and global crisis and thinking.
He just shows recorded lectures from COVID but forces you to go to lecture because of iclicker. Extremely dry and boring class and insanely hard tests. Terrible GE. Do yourself a favor and don't even think about taking a class with this narcissistic professor
MY FAV PROF SO FAR! His exams are m.c. and are pretty straight foward if you actually do the readings and pay attention to his lectures; this isn't hard to do bc they are so interesting. It's easy to get an A. Aside from his amazing lectures, he is genuinely so cool. He has a new and facinating take on everything regarding the environment.