Casillas is really nice and the material was all very interesting! However, most content in the lectures included stuff that had nothing to do with the assignments/papers. Papers and assignments were not that hard or bad though, but it was relating stuff from the material to your own experiences/life. Overall, it was a fun class!
I loved Casillas. Took this class as a GE and ended up really enjoying it. Super engaging, knowledgeable, & kind professor. Assignments prompt you to relate class material to your own life experiences. As long as you go to lecture, sections/assignments are much easier. 10/10 would take another class with her if I could.
Very easy ge with no exams just 2 papers and 2 projects. Never showed up to lecture but section attendance and participation was required.
I really enjoyed taking this class. Easy GE. 2 papers and one visual map assignment. I found the lecture topics to be very interesting and the paper topics as well. I am glad that the PowerPoint are posted because I personally think the slides go by too fast to be able to take proper notes. I think the reading amount was acceptable.
Dr. Casillas is the sweetest! Her lectures aren't mandatory, but they're pretty interesting. She's a really nice and caring prof and there are no exams. This class was super fun and I'd recommend taking it as a GE.
The lectures have nothing to do with the assignments that are painful. So far we wrote 2 single-spaced pages about our favorite songs (a lot more painful than it sounds) and 5 pages about your favorite piece of clothing. Ridiculous. Somehow despite almost graduating college I'm having to do assignments that feel like they belong in grade school.
Easy GE but get ready to write 5 pages about a sweater
If y'all couldn't get an A or complain about not getting an A, you're the problem. Prof. Casillas was the best professor I've had at UCSB. She cares about students, is super accommodating, and overall just a great person in general. The material was super engaging and interesting, and the class was just fun to be in. I'm sure the majority agrees.
the due dates for all assignments are in the syllabus from day 1, but she doesn't release any instructions at all about the assignment until 4-5 days before its due. super frustrating. how easy this class is depends entirely on which TA you get
Very nice and caring professor, pretty easy class. Super easy to pass as a GE, as long as you follow instructions for the writing it's easy to get a good grade. Lots of reading but for the most part you don't have to do it.
Recorded lectures plus in-person instruction. The lectures are hard to follow if you don't do the reading. I don't recommend this course to any international students, because you would feel very detached and foreign to the subjects discussed. TAs are important. They grade all the assignments -- concept map, paper outline, paper, short essays.
Interesting Course, Good GE Choice. 50% easy quizzes if you take great notes and do the reading stuff. 10% events attendance. 40% (section, paper, outline) is graded by TA but it is also easy and interesting topic.
Super interesting & not difficult at all -- solid GE choice. Lectures were prerecorded, some readings were pretty long but nothing horrible. Quizzes were based off reading & lecture; pretty detailed MC questions but open note (take good notes!). Dropped lowest quiz. Paper also easy & interesting. Accessible to students & receptive to feedback.
Professor Casillas was AMAZING! She was really understanding with the circumstances and classes being online. Her lectures were always interesting and she was highly accessible. Reading quizzes throughout the quarter, all of which are completely passable, and final is an essay.
Course in interesting. But papers are graded entirely on formatting. My pdf would format into a .doc incorrectly, pushing everything a line down, and I'd get 15 points off. Almost seems like they don't care about the actual content of the essay. Final/quiz is online. Take good notes in lecture. A good GE. Prof and TAs are accessible and nice.
Expects you to recall exact sentences from very long, very heavy readings. Doesn't post slides, doesn't let you take pictures, and goes through slides way too fast. The tests are poorly written, and you'll lose points because multiple answers are correct or the questions themselves are worded ambiguously. Mostly recites from the readings.
Online midterm and final exams, which were hard if you didn't do the readings and go to all of the lectures. Two simple and straightforward papers. Pop quizzes in section. TAs and Prof are accessible. This class was great and I definitely learned a lot!
Easy writing class. really loved this class. straightforward and interesting. She's a great professor. This class def has become my top favorite! a lot of readings but i only did half of them, missed some lectures but overall did really good in tests.
I loved this class so much! Dr. Casillas was amazing! She opened my eyes to a whole knew subject, that I had never explored before. Lectures were always fun and interactive, and I never got bored. She always let us out of lecture early, which was cool. My TA Marina was intimidating, but really cool, caring, and helpful throughout the quarter.
Get ready to write papers for this class since this class fulfills the writing criteria. But honestly, you would get at least a B if you wrote something. I enjoyed going to the lecture because Professor Casillas is an amazing lecturer. I did not do any of the reading, and I ended up with a B in the class. Easy GE class!
The professor was absolutely amazing! The worst part was that there was no midterm but, there were 4-5 writing assignments and one cumulative final. The TAs are basically in charge of grading and if you could avoid Pinheiro, you should. Her grades were miscalculated and she had unclear grading criteria. I didn't do any readings but passed with a B!
Funny lecturer that tries to stay "hip!" No midterm, multiple choice + essay for the final. 3 different writing assignments throughout the quarter with somewhat clear rubrics, though I feel that the TAs are pretty subjective. No iClicker and lecture attendance is not mandatory, though it definitely helped with the final.
So enthusiastic and fun! Makes the class very interesting and easy to keep up with.
She made this class so much more difficult than it needed to be. She posts all of her lecture slides online, but typically still just reads straight from the slides and theres no iclicker making it easy not to come to class. There is not clear criteria for grading, and it is all up to if the TA likes you. The final is ridiculous and way too hard.