Mark is a great guy with a great team of TA's. The class is interesting and its content is extremely useful. Discussions in section are engaging, and homework is straightforward. If you can, definitely try to get in Maka's section, he's also a very chill dude. I'd love to take another one of Mark's classes in the future.

I loved this class! You can tell Mark is such a genuinely good person and the stuff he teaches is so valuable. I recommend his course to any student at UCSB.

Mark was great you could tell he cared. Lectures and sections were very engaging. A lot of busywork hw (quiz, worksheet, and forum) weekly. Easy to complete just time-consuming. One project that spans the course, it is relatively easy with a presentation to your section at the end. Overall an easy but engaging and interesting elective course.

Going to repeat what everyone else has said: really interesting and engaging class, but an exceeding amount of busywork that is more annoying than you would expect. Take it pass/no pass unless you have the time to treat this like one of your major classes.

Great class!! It's not an "Easy A" but if you do all the work you'll be totally fine! I did all the work and studied a bit for the tests (which are harder than you'd think but totally doable) and got an A-! You can do it :) The class was sooo worth it. Great teachers, relatable subject... TAKE IT.

The class is full of very useful material but definitely takes a LOT of time to do all the reading and do the weekly assignments. I don't regret taking the class one bit though (even though I did all readings). The tests are difficult only because there's so much information that could possibly be on the test it becomes a little overwhelming.

Exams are really difficult if you don't do the readings. A lot of tedious homework assignments. Definitely recommend the class because you learn useful life skills, but take with pass/no pass option.

Really fun engaging class but a lot harder than you would expect. A lot of tedious homework assignment and the exams are difficult. To do well on the exams read every single article in the reader and memorize main points. Lecture notes don't help. You will fail if you don't do the readings. 25% final project, 50% exams, 25% attendance and hw.

Class is unlike most other courses. Content is interesting & relevant to everyday life. Lectures/sections are clear & he's enthusiastic. Grades are based on attendance, hw, exams, & a final project. While the content is easy to understand, there's a lot of work. Exams are hard since they're based on details from the reader rather than on lectures.

PROS: What's great about this class is its practicality. Def a good break from all the more theoretical classes @ UCSB. Prof is great and energetic. One nice thing about this class is how connected you get to the students in your section. CONS: The weekly hw assignments get to be annoying after a while and the final project at the end SUCKS.

Took this class for the minor. Thought class would be easy - there is a lit of reading and there are weekly writing assignments as well as a research paper at the end. Midterm and final as well - study! they aren't easy! Teacher & TAs are all awesome and comical - they'll help you however they can.