Prof McCracken is the scariest and worst professor at UCSB/Spanish department. There are weekly quizzes from the 100+ pages of readings per week. She also asks for detailed answers. They are closed note and she cracks down on cheating based on nefarious accusations of good grades. She's unapproachable even by email and is passive aggressive.

Easily the worst professor Ive taken at UCSB. Assigns hundred of pages of reading every week on top of boring and long lectures with quizzes on them at the end of the week that are incredibly specific. Stay away from her if you can.

I am an A student and found her very difficult. Weekly quizzes based on readings that she doesnt give you and you have to find. Lots of lectures. Term paper with little instruction or feedback. I had to take this class with her because I am graduating but my advice would be to avoid her at all costs if you can, she is the worst.

Had to miss several classes (for a valid reason) and was threatened to either drop the class or fail- neither of which I did, but was treated very rudely for it. For every class you miss, your grade is dropped 1/2 a letter grade. So, despite my A+ on her ridiculously specific midterm, I barely passed with a C. Doesn't care if students succeed.

I took this class because I was interested in Latino literature, but the professor was awful. Shes very rude and not approachable for help. The content of the books was really good, however we had A LOT of reading! About 8 novels to read in 10 weeks. Her midterm asked about a specific point in a 200+ page book. If you can, AVOID this professor.

She is the worst professor in all the Spanish department. Ridiculous amount of readings. Test asked direct quotes and we had to guess where it came from from the copious amount of readings. Tests are not fair. She is condescending when you talk to her. Study guide was useless and she knows it. She made a study guide from students terms not hers.

The professor failed to take advantage of this class potential. She focuses on whether you read the weekly novel books, rather than going over the valuable themes (machista culture, alienation, Central American immigration, etc), especially during our current world events. Very disappointed with the professor, do not recommend.

Cool books, awful professor. ClassPolitical. Class's 2nd half, 11/5-12/5, assigned 5 books totaling 1608 pages averaging 402p/week or 54p/day. "Shocked" when class didn't keep up in lectures. Missed three classes, threatened failure regardless of test & paper grades. Would not discuss. Very rude to students. VERY poor prep for tests. DO NOT TAKE!

Confrontational, rude, not helpful, unclear, rushed lectures, scary, unapproachable, unorganized, and demeaning. The only positive aspect about her class were the readings; the thing is though, there are 6 books (many 300+ pages), along with a readers worth of readings. Tests are extremely lecture and reading specific. Worst professor I've ever had

As a guy, I dont necessarily appreciate 90% of the readings being angry stories about male violence and sexual abuse. I get it, we should be aware of the awful things men are capable of, but the sheer emphasis on these kinds of stories is grating. Professor clearly has a personal interest in feminist literature. Not what I signed up for.

Okay, so I've done all the reading but I'm currently set to fail the course. Why? Because she grades this like a science class. What was the name of the butler that appeared in that one chapter for like a second on page 134? Don't remember? F!! First class where the structure genuinely sets the student up to fail. Success is totally arbitrary. Dumb

Literally the worst class I've ever taken. First couple months we had weekly readings that were 20 pages. That's how she gets you to stay in the course. After the drop deadline, it became weekly readings that were 300-500 page books. Just because your life is all about reading Chicano literature all day, you don't have to make that our life too

After the first lecture I knew the class wasn't going to be as great as I expected because of the professor. There are mandatory events OUTSIDE of class time and she is not flexible at all about scheduling alternative event attendance, and she's even rude about whether you have work or other classes at that time. Very specific test questions.

one term paper, we choose form readings. gaucho response 2x a week before class. no slides online, take good notes over what she goes over in class. was scared to take her bc heard bad things, but not to bad. get the books tru ILL. no cellphone or laptop use. lol will pick on u in class, so be prepared. failed midterm still passed class lol

Professor McCracken expects far too much of her students without fairly preparing them at all. Don't take her class. You'll hate yourself.

The material in this class was fantastic, unfortunately the teacher was not. She goes so fast through her powerpoints and doesn't post them on Gauchospace. She's nit-picky when it comes to grading projects and doesn't give clear instructions. Haven't taken her final yet but she's expecting us to know minute details about everything from the course

The material for the class is amazing it is just the professor herself that makes the class really difficult. She can be very rude towards students and at times she belittles students. I honestly loved the material for the course I just wished it was taught by a different professor.

She is quite socially awkward, making it hard to communicate with her. She is not very understanding of students needs and wants you to pick the answers out of her head. The class material is fantastic but she has a habit of making students uncomfortable speaking in class.

Her perspective of US Latino Lit. and all these heterogeneous communities is that we are part of the same thing. That´s the criteria that the Reagan administration followed to put as all into the label "Hispanic". Other thing, Dominican and Cuban-American are not worthy to be equally represented in the syllabus. Only Chicano.

worst professor on the face of the earth. went super fast though power points and didn't post them on gauchospace yet required us to have all the info memorized for the final. DONT TAKE HER!

Worst teacher i have ever taken. The topics are very interesting but its so sad that they are taught by her. All she cares is about her opinion and if she does not agree with you its wrong. She is very hard to talk to and will make you feel dumb. I did good work and participated and she gave me a bad grade on false pretenses. DO NOT TAKE HER.

I did all the readings, which were interesting but were big chunks at time. Her test are too detailed you can't remember all that tiny detail. I got a B in the class. She is ok, I wouldn't take her again by choice though.

I did okay, but was walking on eggshells the whole time. She is knowledgeable but seems v impatient & snippy w students; outright mean at times. need to go to every single lecture & visit office hours. ridiculous tests w inane details from lecture- not at all testing comprehension, rather trying to trick you. Treats students a bit like children.

She is a good "teacher". But her expectation of students is completely irrational. Also, when a student approaches her she is very defensive, making it really hard to ask for help on something you may have a hard time understanding. The material she request is good, but impossible to find, and she will not make it easy to attain. Pitiful.