I have never learned so much in a class. Banks is a great lecturer, passionate, and knowledgable about everything she discusses. However, she expects A LOT from you. The amount of work and the difficulty of the material is way above what a normal intro class would expect. I would not take this class again simply because the crazy high standards.

Amazing lecturer, can tell she's extremely passionate about the subject, however class is ridiculously hard, graded off of a paper, 2 midterms, and a final. No weekly hw, just weekly readings, and you must go to lectures or you will be behind. Won't succeed in the class if you don't do the readings, and understand the lectures.

Prof. Banks is a great professor who is passionate and extremely knowledgeable about what she teaches. However this class requires A LOT of reading, is impossible to catch up on if you miss a single lecture and the prof is a very tough grader. I would recommend the class just bc I learned a lot.

She is very demanding on what she is looking for. Will interrupt students in the middle of asking a question and tell them she doesn't have time for their question. On the first day she told everyone we weren't allowed to use computers. If you are looking for a challenging class, take it but I wouldn't recommend if you're looking to fulfill a GE.

This professor made my life so hard... you have so many readings to read and if you fall back by ONE reading you are in trouble. Do NOT procrastinate!! Literally the hardest course ever which is ridiculous considering it is an introductory course, and you need to be so specific it is so ridiculous i dont recommend it. Professor is very smart tho

tread with caution

I can see she is tough and can possibly be "caring" on the inside, but I don't appreciate her rude tone. A lot of her rules are a bit unnecessary. I was only explaining to her my circumstances of time, and she had audacity to be condescending. Do not take this class if you do not have to, and if it is required, good luck Hun.

No computers and any digital devices are allowed in class. Hand written everything, EVERYTHING. All the papers and tests must be hand written. OMG... She said that treat the class as 20 century class. Unmeaningful to even put that much effort as an introductory GE course. 2 midterms and one final. MIDTERM ONE is just after the Halloween. Seriously?

This is one of the hardest classes I've taken at UCSB but I loved it. Banks is an amazing teacher, hard on the outside but she really cares about her students and cares about them learning the material. It's tough, but this is a department that should be taken seriously, not just for an easy A. The material is important and relevant.

She is an amazing teacher a lecturer however this was the hardest class I have ever taken. You have to know the material inside and out in order to do well, not for the faint of heart but I learned more than I ever have and enjoyed the content immensely.

incredibly interesting material, incredibly difficult and confusing class

Professor Banks is the hardest teacher I have ever had, like unreasonably hard for no reason. She is not clear on the grading. She also assigned a 6 page paper that was due in a week and we hadnt ever learned the material in the paper yet. The class was interesting just she made it awful