He made us go to this conference for class but he didn't tell us where the conference is, so more than half the class showed up late. He sent an email reminding us to be on time after but showed up late to the next class. Huge emphasis on speaking - if you don't talk in class you can't make it up with other assignments. Introverts beware!

If you are willing to put effort into a class, Novak is awesome. He's got a cool background and he's a cool guy. Tests and quizzes were very fair. Not a ton of reading. All in all very interesting and one of my favorite classes at UCSB.

Do not take a class with Novak. By far the worst class I have ever taken at UCSB. Reader was 2 in thick and if u don't know every word of it u won't get an A. Many concepts in the reader were completely made up and he doesn't explain well. Doesn't let you use laptops, class is mandatory w no exuses and he doesn't use any visual, just talks at you.

Do not take his classes. Please I am an educated student and person, this class will make you exhausted, unhappy and confused. I could not bare the thought of going to lectures because he was so hostile, rude, pretentious and just mean. Siegel was also just as unhelpful. This class was the biggest mistake of my college career & made me want to drop

I honestly don't know why the previous reviews for Novak have been so bad; he's fine. He is a little pretentious, but he really appreciates participation and he's done a lot of interesting things. Raise your hand often and give your input and he'll respect you a lot for it. There is a b******* group project. But other than that, decent class.

Wish he was more understanding with students and less strict and rude.

The class is very confusing and he is not helpful. Novak has a condescending attitude towards students and does not answer questions. Look out for group projects, class participation and unclear essay prompts. I could not wait to get out of this class.

He's a terrible professor with a pretentious attitude. Every time a student would ask a question, he would answer condescendingly and not even answer. His lectures are long and dry--boring with absolutely no energy. His voice is even monotonous. Not only is there a LOT of reading material, his tests pick on the tiniest details. Not an easy grader.

Terrible professor, he was very boring and sometimes a bit creepy... The whole class felt uncomfortable. I was looking forward to a music class, but he now made me have my doubts about enjoying music at all. DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM! You can get a good grade, but its going to be a lot of hard, boring work for an overly pompous professor.

I was about to drop this class but a cute girl I knew in the class was there so i stayed. honestly, worst decision. Novak is very unhelpful and very sarcastic when you ask questions. When explaining the midterm and final he was no help. So i beg you even if there is a cute girl stay away from Novak's class.

The class was taught by a different professor previous to my quarter, so I was expecting to sail through the class as my friend had. Novak was overly strict and very unclear with the material that was to be on the midterm and final exams. I had to take this class as a major requirement, otherwise I would not recommend it.