Absolutely my favorite course and teacher I've had at UCSB. He's a phenomenal lecturer and his lectures have a ton of applicable information coming from his background in wealth management. There are student presentations for one class each week which can be a bit dull sometimes but I always look forward to classes where he lectures.
I highly recommend taking Professor Kauffman's Classes. He really cares for his students. He wants them to do well in life (as well as in class). As for the actual class, you learn valuable advice for actual life and I thought his lectures explain everything well. If you show up and put in some work you'll get a lot out of the class.
This prof is super nice. If you participate in class, you'll get an A. Have to be okay with giving presentations (it's 60% of your grade).
This class is graded so harshly, not to mention you have to essentially teach yourself. Do NOT enroll in this class if you don't have a foundation with econ, even econ majors were stumped!
Kauffman is super nice and approachable. If you participate in class, you will get an A!
Not the class I signed up for. 60% of grade was presentations which were graded harshly. He's a very sweet man who clearly cares about his students, but this is a history of economic crashes with no discussion of ethics almost at all. At least 2/3 of the class time is spent on student presentations so most of the material is student-taught.
Professor Kauffman was amazing! He really cares about his students and his lectures are very interesting. I would definitely take another class from him.
"Have Ethics Gone Awry" Excellent class. It's like a history class with 2 easy presentations and a final at the end. Only thing I don't like is the final is tomorrow morning at 8am and we have to turn on our webcams. Only class that's making us do that. However, the professor is really nice and his grading is fair and easy. I would recommend him.
Professor Kauffman is one of the most caring professors at UCSB. He is always there for students and wants each person to succeed in his class. Some may not like his teaching style because it's not a class you show up in and get an A. You have to make an effort to show up and participate. There are presentations, but to me it was easy.
Class feels pretty disorganized, grading rubric is whack. Makes you participate to earn your grade, which for me was the most difficult part. Class material wasn't hard to understand, but it can be boring to follow if you don't enjoy finance and history.
If you're interested in learning about ethics in finance this is not the class to take. The class is mainly about macro econ theory (no math) with no ethics discussed. Each class there's 2 group presentations and then the prof spends an hour repeating the exact same material. Must participate 3x a class for credit. The grading rubric is confusing.