I loved Professor Alves's class and it was very eye opening. The content can be a lot to process, but if you do the readings you can really gain a whole new perspective. The course was graded on two papers and a final presentation (plus participation). Prof Alves is a leading scholar in his field and I'd strongly recommend taking a class with him!

I've had Professor Alves on two separate occasions now and he's genuinely fantastic. He's super passionate about his work and it translates through the quality of his lectures. He assigns quite a few readings but all are very interesting and eye-opening. I found him to be very approachable so don't be afraid to email or visit his office hours!

Professor Alves is great! He is passionate about what he teaches and makes lectures interesting. The class is overall fairly easy. I would definitely recommend taking this course.

I really enjoyed this class. Learned so many new things and ways of thinking about my own culture. TA helped a lot, but he really tries his best to get you to understand things in class. 3 essays for the entire quarter and a couple of last-minute extra credit opportunities. Overall would take his class again and it got me interested in this minor.

Provides little to no feedback and does not have a clear grading rubric Harsh grader and mandatory attendance and pop quizzes during a pandemic is inconsiderate and risky.

So many readings I felt like he over-complicated so many topics I didn't get to absorb much because every topic felt tangled up and like I wasn't educated enough on? I don't know I guess I was hoping to learn a lot more but he's really unapproachable & I am too scared to ask questions.

Professor Alves is a passionate teacher, one that has influenced me to take up a black studies minor. Some students complained that he graded the midterm harshly and didn't understand the feedback they received. Personally, I got an A and didn't believe the midterm to be too challenging. Only two tests and their both take home!

Literally the worst teacher I have ever had and super disappointing to see that at UCSB considering it's ranking in university. He doesn't give you a grading rubric, no clear instructions, only lectures in class which he tells you not to take notes on, so why are we looking at it? You have weekly discussions and he has no grading rubric for that.

Terrible. Dont take him. He doesnt reply to emails, he ignores office hours, doesnt even use stuff from lectures in papers, has no rubrics for grading anything. 0/10.

I have never had a professor that was more uncaring towards their students. Not only does he not follow mandatory school policies of wearing a mask, but he also requires you to come to class even if you really should not. He also is a tough grader, and did not offer much help during office hours.

Do not take this professor!! He is completely unsafe in this pandemic, teaches without a mask & now weve had a covid exposure email in BL ST 2. Im so sick and I really think its his fault for forcing students to sign in and come to class even if they feel so unwell. One time there was a pop quiz, if covid is still around, dont take him.

Lecture and section attendance is mandatory despite still being in a pandemic (doctor's note required.) The topics are all interesting but it's so many weekly readings that I feel like I'm glossing over and confusing so many important topics for one another.