Professor
Hannah Landecker
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - To this day, I am still vexed about my experience in this class. My TA, Maris Kamalu, would take off points for such arbitrary and trivial things. It almost felt like she had it out for some students. My classmate received a higher score on a small assignment submitted using ChatGPT than on one she wrote herself. How are you deciding that the substance of AI can surpass the minds of the sentient? I will feel bitterness toward her whenever I remember this class. Dr. Landecker also has a poor attitude. On the first day of lecture, she whistled at students who were leaving prematurely and said that she wasn't finished. People could have places to be or valid reasons to leave. Attendance wasn't mandatory so it was so bizarre of her to point out those students in front of everyone. She has the same demeanor as a strict substitute teacher who felt that she needed to demand respect at all times. When the midterm average was low, she attributed it to laziness. She thought so lowly of her own students and felt the need to remind us that she gives speeches at Ivy Leagues. She's the type of professor to tell students that only 10 students can receive an A in the class. However, the readings were very interesting and helped enhance our understanding of the units she chose. The multiple choice portion of the midterm wasn't too difficult as long as you did the readings and understood the main idea of the lecture slides. But the free response section was phrased so vaguely and you wouldn't get credit unless you worded the answer in the exact way they wanted. Professors can test on whatever they want but I don't know how many students will take time to remember the exact year a certain law was passed. TLDR: While the course was definitely more than manageable, the experience felt like being in a class where none of the instructors wanted you to succeed and held the belief that you didn't want to succeed either.
Winter 2024 - To this day, I am still vexed about my experience in this class. My TA, Maris Kamalu, would take off points for such arbitrary and trivial things. It almost felt like she had it out for some students. My classmate received a higher score on a small assignment submitted using ChatGPT than on one she wrote herself. How are you deciding that the substance of AI can surpass the minds of the sentient? I will feel bitterness toward her whenever I remember this class. Dr. Landecker also has a poor attitude. On the first day of lecture, she whistled at students who were leaving prematurely and said that she wasn't finished. People could have places to be or valid reasons to leave. Attendance wasn't mandatory so it was so bizarre of her to point out those students in front of everyone. She has the same demeanor as a strict substitute teacher who felt that she needed to demand respect at all times. When the midterm average was low, she attributed it to laziness. She thought so lowly of her own students and felt the need to remind us that she gives speeches at Ivy Leagues. She's the type of professor to tell students that only 10 students can receive an A in the class. However, the readings were very interesting and helped enhance our understanding of the units she chose. The multiple choice portion of the midterm wasn't too difficult as long as you did the readings and understood the main idea of the lecture slides. But the free response section was phrased so vaguely and you wouldn't get credit unless you worded the answer in the exact way they wanted. Professors can test on whatever they want but I don't know how many students will take time to remember the exact year a certain law was passed. TLDR: While the course was definitely more than manageable, the experience felt like being in a class where none of the instructors wanted you to succeed and held the belief that you didn't want to succeed either.
Most Helpful Review
I took Society and Genetics 5 with Landecker (it didn't let me put this as an option...) She is very sweet and passionate about what she does. However, lectures are boring, and it is a lot of reading. Everything is pretty interesting reading and material-wise, but everything is pretty repetitive. Basically, the process of going to lecture and discussion can be boring, but in the end, you come out of this class with a lot of valuable, interesting knowledge. Honestly, just get on your TA's good side. Your grade is based off of participation, a paper, a midterm and a final. Mostly essays and such, so just try to do well on those and you'll be fine, even if you don't pay attention to lectures and read until the last minute.
I took Society and Genetics 5 with Landecker (it didn't let me put this as an option...) She is very sweet and passionate about what she does. However, lectures are boring, and it is a lot of reading. Everything is pretty interesting reading and material-wise, but everything is pretty repetitive. Basically, the process of going to lecture and discussion can be boring, but in the end, you come out of this class with a lot of valuable, interesting knowledge. Honestly, just get on your TA's good side. Your grade is based off of participation, a paper, a midterm and a final. Mostly essays and such, so just try to do well on those and you'll be fine, even if you don't pay attention to lectures and read until the last minute.
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Most Helpful Review
SOC GEN 5 Dr. Landecker is the sweetest professor! She's always smiling and very approachable. There is a lot of reading involved, but they are all pretty interesting and nothing too dense. It helps to have a little bit of a biology background for understanding certain topics like antibiotic resistance, but Dr. LAndecker doesn't require you to know too much about that. Your grade is based on a paper, a midterm, and the final which are all graded by the TA's. Take this class!
SOC GEN 5 Dr. Landecker is the sweetest professor! She's always smiling and very approachable. There is a lot of reading involved, but they are all pretty interesting and nothing too dense. It helps to have a little bit of a biology background for understanding certain topics like antibiotic resistance, but Dr. LAndecker doesn't require you to know too much about that. Your grade is based on a paper, a midterm, and the final which are all graded by the TA's. Take this class!
Most Helpful Review
SOC GEN 5 I had professor Landecker for the first half of course than professor Alfaro for the last part. Professor Alfaro was the better lecturer. Professor Landecker is really passionate and approachable, but I had a hard time following her lecture--it seemed to me that she jumped from one topic and one topic rather quickly and I always got lost. Going to her office hours didn't help me much either--she sometimes never really answered my questions. Overall, I suggest taking the class with Professor Alfaro who is the better lecturer and keeps the class engaged ! Also her power points were practically all you needed to do well in her class!
SOC GEN 5 I had professor Landecker for the first half of course than professor Alfaro for the last part. Professor Alfaro was the better lecturer. Professor Landecker is really passionate and approachable, but I had a hard time following her lecture--it seemed to me that she jumped from one topic and one topic rather quickly and I always got lost. Going to her office hours didn't help me much either--she sometimes never really answered my questions. Overall, I suggest taking the class with Professor Alfaro who is the better lecturer and keeps the class engaged ! Also her power points were practically all you needed to do well in her class!
Most Helpful Review
I am in the process of taking M164 with Prof Landecker and am writing this only because it is by far one of the BEST classes I have taken at UCLA. The material in interesting (Politics of Reproduction), Landecker approaches it in a nonjudgemental/non-opinionated way, readings are great, and there is an appropriate amount of work. I have not received my grade, but this is one of the few classes that I can say regardless of how I end up doing, I am VERY glad I'm taking it. Also, get Chris as your TA, he's involved, answers questions, and helps with quizzes, etc.
I am in the process of taking M164 with Prof Landecker and am writing this only because it is by far one of the BEST classes I have taken at UCLA. The material in interesting (Politics of Reproduction), Landecker approaches it in a nonjudgemental/non-opinionated way, readings are great, and there is an appropriate amount of work. I have not received my grade, but this is one of the few classes that I can say regardless of how I end up doing, I am VERY glad I'm taking it. Also, get Chris as your TA, he's involved, answers questions, and helps with quizzes, etc.
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Most Helpful Review
I actually took Society and Genetics 5 with Professor Landecker. Professor Landecker is extremely knowledgeable and very passionate about what she teaches. She does a really good job of explaining the concepts and articles for the class. Basically, this class is very interesting for people interested in social and biological problems like antibiotic resistance and diabetes and obesity. The course gets repetitive and the lectures are boring, but if you do the reading and keep up with the assignments you will be fine. There's a a midterm, a paper, and a final. Make sure you are specific for all of these. The TA's are pretty picky in their grading. If you're looking for an easy GE, this is NOT it. It's way too much reading so you're better off taking something else. If you need to take this as a major requirement, keep up on the work and really just try to please your TA.
I actually took Society and Genetics 5 with Professor Landecker. Professor Landecker is extremely knowledgeable and very passionate about what she teaches. She does a really good job of explaining the concepts and articles for the class. Basically, this class is very interesting for people interested in social and biological problems like antibiotic resistance and diabetes and obesity. The course gets repetitive and the lectures are boring, but if you do the reading and keep up with the assignments you will be fine. There's a a midterm, a paper, and a final. Make sure you are specific for all of these. The TA's are pretty picky in their grading. If you're looking for an easy GE, this is NOT it. It's way too much reading so you're better off taking something else. If you need to take this as a major requirement, keep up on the work and really just try to please your TA.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - I really loved the subject matter of this class, but the readings were very long and made it hard to prepare for exams (which were heavily based on small details from the readings). We still watched some documentaries and tried several approaches, but the first half of the course was very dense. I liked how we did short write-ups because they were very personal and easy to think about, but the exams were a bit tough. The midterm was a multiple choice, 35-point quiz on CCLE, but the questions were oddly specific and most of us received a C or lower. The final was open for us to complete for one whole week, and it was written. There were different sections, each of which involved incorporating material from the lectures and readings. The final was much easier because we were able to express our opinions. I loved Prof. Landecker as a person (she's so sweet and hardworking) and this was her first time teaching the class so I knew there would be bumps along the way. If the midterm wasn't so difficult, honestly this class wouldn't be bad at all. I would still take it again though. Hope this helps!
Fall 2020 - I really loved the subject matter of this class, but the readings were very long and made it hard to prepare for exams (which were heavily based on small details from the readings). We still watched some documentaries and tried several approaches, but the first half of the course was very dense. I liked how we did short write-ups because they were very personal and easy to think about, but the exams were a bit tough. The midterm was a multiple choice, 35-point quiz on CCLE, but the questions were oddly specific and most of us received a C or lower. The final was open for us to complete for one whole week, and it was written. There were different sections, each of which involved incorporating material from the lectures and readings. The final was much easier because we were able to express our opinions. I loved Prof. Landecker as a person (she's so sweet and hardworking) and this was her first time teaching the class so I knew there would be bumps along the way. If the midterm wasn't so difficult, honestly this class wouldn't be bad at all. I would still take it again though. Hope this helps!
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