Very clear, organized lectures. Attend them because he's good, and because the slides are mostly just pictures. Amazing TA's who had chill sections and were clear on exam expectations. Everything about the class was pretty low stress

One of the best GEs. Straightforward & kind with clear expectations on how to succeed. He mostly posted pictures with no text so ATTEND LECTURE! 2 exams with 2-3 opened ended questions. 1 6-page paper. Weekly self-assessment questions. Workload felt heavy at times, but easy overall. Section leaders are tough on participation. Don't talk in class.

Absolutely one of my favorite teachers here at UCSB. I would love to take another class. He was very clear in lectures, and when it came to midterms and finals I felt like I knew the information. Attend lectures and sections because that will help a lot.

This class was incredibly fair. The best part was the midterm set up. We were able to choose between multiple topics to write on which made the tests surprisingly fun. Biggest advice Id give is to attend lectures and to think of the bigger picture, relating pieces of evidence to the many cool technological concepts discussed. 100/10 recommended!

I took this class in Winter 24, and I really miss it. There was a lot of content, but you're good as long as you understand the key concepts and know examples to back them up during the midterms/final. 10/10 Loved the course. The TAs were awesome too

Great and interesting option for a GE especially if you're a STEM major. Really organized and didn't add too much stress to my quarter. Can get by even if you skim the readings since you don't need to remember specific details from them on exams, most memorization-heavy part is the names of scientific figures from lecture and their contributions

McCray is a great professor. This class was very interesting and his lectures are never boring. Lots of reading every week and an assignment and section discussions based on the readings. 2 in person midterms, an online essay, and an in person final that were lots of writing but not hard if you paid attention in class and did the readings.

Although the workload is relatively large, you can get what you deserve. There is little extra credit that is helpful. The study guide is very very very helpful and well-organized, which you rarely see in other history courses.

Awesome class. Lectures are amazing, readings are easy and interesting, essays are straightforward, and TAs are kind + helpful. Harvard-level class. Highly reccommend everyone takes this class--especially overworked STEM majors!

Prof McCray is definitely very passionate about the subject and this isn't a hard class. At times it can get boring but if you actually go to all of the lectures and keep up with the material (which isn't a lot) the class is super interesting. I learned many important things I didn't know from this class and it was overall a great experience

Really funny and smart guy who cares about his students. Some of the lectures aren't super interesting but he does a great job of making them more engaging. Attendance isn't mandatory but it's important that you go to most lectures and take good notes since the lecture slides he posts are pretty much just pictures.

Prof. McCray is great! He's super funny during lecture, which is great because it is at 9 in the morning. The outside reading was boring at times, but it honestly isn't super necessary to get a good grade in the class. Just make sure you take good notes at the lectures in preparation for the essays.