Loved this class, probably one of the best ive taken at ucsb. jannete and john are super sweet, and make class extremely interesting. midterms and final were not too bad, as long as you go to lecture, read the textbook and study, you will be just fine. open response and multiple choice. i ended up taking 152B after, since i liked them so much.

I don't know why people hype up 152A, it's a really poorly taught class, probably the most disorganized class I've taken in 3 years here. The lectures are unnecessarily graphic to the extent that it doesn't even contribute to the course material. I don't get why they haven't retired yet, they cancel class like half of the days.

Openly cares about his students, but his lectures and study guides are almost like two separate courses. Very little correlation between the two so when it came time for tests I felt very overwhelmed and confused. Interesting course, but really needs to revamp his teaching method for this class.

Follow the study guide and textbook and you'll do fine. Lectures were unnecessarily graphic so I never went and still did fine. My biggest gripe was the heavy generalization of men throughout the course and little to no mention of male SA victims. And when it did come up it felt very patronizing. Course can be triggering for SA victims!!!!

Baldwin cares about his students and encourages his office hours a lot. But, his writing is like chicken scratch that you can barely read from the first 1-4 rows let alone the back, and it's a lot of material for just 3 tests. Do the readings, go to lecture, ask questions.

This course is a joke, cancelled in person lectures within the first couple weeks of school. Resumed in person lectures the last WEEK of the quarter and didn't even address his absence. The lecture hall was filled with blank, confused stares bc this prof doesn't make any sense. Deleted all study material without notice before the final. Scammed.

Horrible class and teaching. Lectures are so confusing, notes written illegibly on the whiteboard of a large lecture hall, slides have little to no info. And the lectures do not follow the readings and are filled with lots of random information. Blatant fatphobia was present in lectures and especially in the textbook. DO NOT TAKE

Awful experience:1/4 of the way through the course, he couldn't teach the rest in person, and put lectures online. Sunday night after Thanksgiving he emailed that we would meet in person that week (starting Monday). Without warning, he removed all of the online lectures, that people needed to study, leaving us without notes for the final exam

At first, I did enjoy the concept of the class as it's important material, however, the professors and how this class is structured did not prepare the students for success. Most lectures were CANCELLED, leaving us to asynchronously watch videos and teach ourselves. 2 midterms (30%) and one final (40%) for the overall grade. Outdated info as well.

The classroom culture and the material are outdated. This year, they changed the grading criteria from three to two midterms (30% each) and one final (40%). The professors missed most of the lectures due to medical emergencies and they offered no extra support for students. It's time for them to retire...

Prepare to put in the work for this challenging but interesting course. Attend lectures, study the textbook, and utilize resources like unstuckstudy ai to ace the exams. The material is engaging, but the tests require serious preparation.

Outdated content. Sweet guy, but the class is just not really relevant anymore. Don't think he realizes how many people are part of the LGBTQ+ community nowadays. Also he interrupted the other professor quite often.

Not an easy GE. Graded on 2 midterms and a final. Tests are all short answer, based on his very disorganized lectures and an outdated textbook that has little to do with the lecture material. His grading scale only allows 30% of students to get full credit on each question.

John was very dismissive during lectures. He never had a clear, backed-up response when questions arose in class, he just disregarded questions tbh. Shows how outdated their content is. They just read from the slides. Added a bunch of unnecessary and offensive comics that wasted time. Also, he would start lecture before the class started. AVOID

The first day of class, I thought this was going to a be a super light course. It turns out that it is likely the hardest GE that I've taken at UCSB. Your grade is entirely dependent on the tests, and don't count on the tests being easy. If you want a class to just cruise by with, do not take this class.

3 midterms and a final and they aren't easy due to the unclear lectures. the concepts are interesting, but not taught in a way that's helpful for the exams. the textbook is required and is hard to find for cheap or for free. the review sessions are helpful and the graders for try to give points in any way they can, but overall really hard class.

I took this class as an elective, BIG MISTAKE. Get ready to learn a lot of useful information. But you NEED to go to lecture or else you will fail. They grade based on 3 midterms and a final all in person and questions are from lecture. Don't recommend taking this as a GE.

Worst professor paired with the worst class I've taken at UCSB. Lecture is so scatterbrained, expressed on the whiteboard by his chicken scratch scribbles that are literally unreadable. Outdated material, outdated classroom culture, outdated professor. Do yourself a gigantic favor and avoid both Baldwins

Not as hard as some of the reviews say, just go over the charts and vocab before each test and you will be fine. Fairly interesting material

avoid!! this class is outdated and the amount of materiel is absurd. they don't give sources for the information provided and half of it is simply not true. the lectures were pointless it was just half naked pictures and memes half the time. freaky professors with outdated views lol. I learned absolutely nothing and just stressed about my grade:/

John's teaching is experienced but disorganized, with lectures hard to follow due to rambling, stock photo slides, and illegible notes. Grading relies solely on two tests (25% each) and a final, emphasizing rote memorization over comprehension. Interesting material, but overall hard to stay engaged with due to the way the class is taught.

This was the worst class I have taken at UCSB. They require you to buy their (expensive) textbook and ramble in lecture and read off random "funny" cartoons and expect you to cover the bulk of material yourself by reading their book. They use offensive and outdated terms and are not inclusive. Had to study for this class more than any other.

I really enjoyed the content of this class and learned a lot. There is a lot of reading and the tests are hard, it really is helpful to go to review sessions and form study groups with friends. There is a pretty decent sized curve, so don't stress too much about your grade.

For 152A: Incredibly hard class if your taking for upper division credits. Grade only based on 3 midterms and cumulative final that are written response. Tons of reading, and studying for each midterm will be a grind. Class was really interesting, and he is pretty funny at times, but I would avoid this class specifically at all costs.