This course could be very interesting but professor Rios makes the lectures a trauma dump for students to tell stories that take up the entire lecture time. Could work on a getting a proper lecture slides and plan to help students, easy to get lost with little direction with self guiding projects and assignments

His lectures are very informative and there's 2 reading reflections every week based on the readings for that week.

Make sure you catch him after class, he is definitely NOT accessible by email. Gets really annoying if you need help or have a question about an assignment outside of class. Definitely an easy-a type class and professor. Nice guy, but seems like he's more focused on promoting himself and his books more then anything.

This is a pretty heavy class with quite a few assignments, like weekly readings and assignments that lead up to your final research project. It is a research class, so it can get overwhelming and heavy, but it is very doable! He's very approachable inside and outside of class, making it easier to get feedback. I highly recommend him!

While I enjoyed this class and attended every discussion, I found that the class was mostly self-guided as we completed our research projects. My grade was an "A—;" however, my grade was entered as a "B" because I did not raise my hand enough or speak up in class, which is an arbitrary reason to mark someone down. This wasn't communicated.

One of my favorite professors here at UCSB. He is incredibly understanding and will help you work through concepts that you are not sure about. His lectures feel inspiring, and the speakers he brings inform us of current-day issues in the system, which I hadn't known about. The workload is manageable, participation does matter, so make sure to go.