Alan Liu

32 reviews
Get ready to read Lots of homework So many papers Skip class? You won't pass. Tough grader Lecture heavy Respected EXTRA CREDIT Amazing lectures Inspirational Caring Accessible outside class
Past quarters
ENGL 197
6 / 15 Enrolled
Upper-Division Seminar
Alan Liu 2.6
T R
14:00 PM - 15:15 PM
69.3% A
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ENGL25 . 1 Year, 5 Months Ago

Alan assigns an abhorrent amount of reading each week. The grades break down to 3 essays, 2 midterms and section. 2/3 of the midterm and final are fill in the blank from one of the countless readings and author identification. Many students had no idea what they were getting into here, and only one grade was back before we could change P/NP.

4 helpful 0 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 1 Year, 5 Months Ago

While Alan is a perfectly nice man who clearly clears about what he is teaching, the material in this course is just not engaging. Unending readings about the history of computer technology and little else. There are also weird "ungraded" assignments which you nevertheless need to pass the course. Find a different GE/course.

4 helpful 0 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

While Professor Liu seems very interested and informed on the topic he teaches, this class went way over my head. Many people would struggle with this class. The content of the reading is very complex and difficult to understand, especially for someone with no knowledge of computers. And just in general there are too many readings assigned.

5 helpful 0 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

Professor Liu's approach to teaching an English media class is utterly disappointing. The excessive amount of reading assigned is completely absurd and it's evident that his intention is to overwhelm students rather than foster meaningful learning. The lack of consideration for students' time and energy is truly disheartening for a lower division.

1 helpful 1 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 1 Year, 7 Months Ago

Alan is a nice guy, but it's one of those scenarios where the teacher is far too into the material to actually teach. He acknowledged people are taking this class as a GE but, he assigns 50+ pages of reading before every lecture which is 3x a week. He has about jack all on his lecture slides and continuously goes off topic. Avoid this man.

4 helpful 0 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 1 Year, 7 Months Ago

He is a good professor, but he zooms through the slideshow and doesn't post it online. Lectures might not be mandatory, but you have to go to even partially understand the course.

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ENGL25 . 2 Years Ago

Professor Liu was very passionate about this class.. Except the class should be titled something else because it is literally only about computers so if you aren't interested in computers DONT take the class. He also assigned an insane amount of reading homework and two novels required to pass. Mandatory attendance and THREE LONG PAPERS w/ 2 tests

1 helpful 1 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 2 Years Ago

This class is really overwhelming as a GE with massive weekly reading, weekly essay (300-500), three essays (1200-1500), one midterm, and one final. The lecture presentation has a crazy amount of information. And the test was focused on specific details in reading materials or lectures. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS CLASS.

2 helpful 0 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 2 Years Ago

DO NOT TAKE ENGLISH 25! Absolutely insane workload for a GE, so many people are trying to get out of it right now but courses are too impacted. My TA talked about how they needed to curve up the course the previous quarter to avoid mass failures in a LOWER LEVEL ENGLISH GE. 600+ words of writing a week, a full midterm/final, massive papers.

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ENGL25 . 3 Years Ago

Lots of reading, but the class was fun. Get ready to write papers, but other than that and a midterm and a final, there's nothing else. If you spend time reading the material there's no reason you don't get an A.

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ENGL25 . 4 Years Ago

Alan is a really sweet old guy who is VERY distinguished within his department as he has contributed lots of work to the internet. This class was taken over quarantine so the workload, while a bit heavy, was manageable. Quite a lot of reading but not really required, just skim them. 3 essays that are 4-5 pages each. Interesting, but boring at times

0 helpful 1 unhelpful
ENGL25 . 4 Years Ago

The professor is definitely passionate about his class and the material. However, the amount of reading per week plus essays are overwhelming just like there is no other homework for students. Taking as a GE is absolutely not recommended.

1 helpful 0 unhelpful