The assignments and texts were unique. He's low-key and explains things really well. I improved my writing a lot.
Very interesting guy. I personally get along with him, but I can see why others don't like him. He has said some extreme stuff before, but I think he at least has knowledge/research to back him up. He gives good feedback, and you can recover if you do poorly early on (I did), and he is very transparent about improving if you show interest.
Reading load wasn't too bad. They're tough readings but super interesting and he's really good at coaching your writing. Gives revision chances and seemed pretty fair. Overall interesting. Passionate guy.
what I liked about gilbert's class was that I'm in a better place to understand all the crazy stuff that's happening in the world. at first the independent research aspect of it was sort of tough but at the end I prefer it. I learned so much about philosophy and government, and how to read / research better with guided personalized questions.
Definitely one of the more interesting writing classes I've taken at UCSB. Explores a lot of relevant ideas between political philosophy, labor, and the environment. He's fun to talk to during office hours. Sometimes I wanted more lectures, but I also like the way he interacts with us in small groups.
I loved this class. It had practical and real world applications in government, policy, ethics, and the environment. The papers are designed to let students jump off of the readings and research their own interests. His lecture style works off of student participation. His comments are sooo helpful.
His Canvas page is kind of a mess. Checking it constantly for random assignments or you might totally miss them.
Gilbert's class was truly so captivating. He's a great lecturer and is super knowledgeable in his field. I felt like I definitely grew as a writer after his class. I will for sure try to take him again; once you understand the way he grades/thinks, it is so easy to get an A.
Doing too much compared to other WRIT 2 professors. I liked hearing what he had to say about the state of the world, but that didn't help when it came to our writing. Constant writing assignments, a lot of peer reviews. He gives back good feedback which I appreciated. Writing definitely depended on text as well. I wouldn't recommend him to anyone.
If you like to read dense policy on politics and economics long with analyzing it to the point of reading the end notes this class is for you. If you want a nice GE class who is challenging enough to help your writing skill, but not stress you out I would not recommend him.
Honestly couldn't tell if it was a writing class or a pol sci one. If you are into pol sci, you would really like it, but I wasn't. Lectures are 95% about social-economic problems and what is wrong with the society. Only attend if you are extremely left and hate the rich people.
He's insufferable to be around and is incredibly arrogant. I cannot count how many times he said he taught at Harvard. Also, don't take him unless you're incredibly far to the left. His whole class is about how bad jobs are. "BS jobs" by Graeber and "the case against work" by Danaher are main texts of the course. I'm quite liberal and it was insane
This class was pretty straightforward, two papers overall and a final paper revision on one at the end of the quarter. There are smaller essays leading up to these papers, which can become a fair bit of work but are overall helpful. Professor was a pretty cool guy who is obviously very passionate and knowledgable about writing.
Reading heavy. Writing heavy. Easy grader and opportunities to fix past papers for credit. Real-world concepts and lots of discussion. He's a cool guy but always working in groups or partners. Manageable workload but very passionateW
He reads your work carefully and shows you how to ask deeper questions. Not too difficult and actually teaches you to write with lots of comments and how do basic research. Great if you want to choose and learn about a topic involving labor politics and environment and some other stuff.
Stay away.
Pretty chill class with long but fascinating readings. He basically uses texts relevant for current events and politics and then encourages students to expand into their own research. Cool guy fun to talk to.
Prof Gilbert is a great guy, clearly very knowledgeable on writing as well as complex ethics/politics. The class has few assignments but is somewhat heavy on reading with dense/nuanced texts. The prof doesnt lecture much but provides invaluable insight when he does. Be prepared to work in small groups. Gives good and detailed feedback on papers.
