CLUSTER M1B
Food: Lens for Environment and Sustainability
Description: (Same as Environment M1B.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Enforced requisite: course M1A. Limited to first-year freshmen. Food as lens for local and global environmental and sustainability issues. Integration of environmental, social, economic, and technological solutions for fair, sustainable, and healthy food production, food security, and access. Focus on human impacts on Earth's biological and physical systems, including how food production and consumption contributes to, and is impacted by, global problems, including climate change, pollution, and overpopulation. Laboratory exercises included in discussions. Letter grading.
Units: 6.0
Units: 6.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - I have genuinely never met a group of more flexible and empathetic educators. The food cluster was a wonderful experience all 3 quarters of my freshman year; workload is manageable, exams are fair, and the writing assignments are explained very well and spaced out over the quarter, so as to make sure it's not being done at the last minute. I found the material to be interesting and engaging, and I think if you have an interest in sustainability you will find the same. What sets this cluster apart from any other class I've taken is how much the professors and TA's care about their students mental health, physical health, and overall well beings. Whether it was giving me an extension when I had a fever the night before a major assignment was due, or constantly doing mood check ins at the beginning of lecture, I honestly believe this team would go above and beyond to accommodate the needs of their students no matter the circumstance. I am so glad I took this class, as it gave me an amazing impression of UCLA and a ton of GE credits! Also shoutout to Carlin, the best TA ever!!! - Sara Cortes
Fall 2021 - I have genuinely never met a group of more flexible and empathetic educators. The food cluster was a wonderful experience all 3 quarters of my freshman year; workload is manageable, exams are fair, and the writing assignments are explained very well and spaced out over the quarter, so as to make sure it's not being done at the last minute. I found the material to be interesting and engaging, and I think if you have an interest in sustainability you will find the same. What sets this cluster apart from any other class I've taken is how much the professors and TA's care about their students mental health, physical health, and overall well beings. Whether it was giving me an extension when I had a fever the night before a major assignment was due, or constantly doing mood check ins at the beginning of lecture, I honestly believe this team would go above and beyond to accommodate the needs of their students no matter the circumstance. I am so glad I took this class, as it gave me an amazing impression of UCLA and a ton of GE credits! Also shoutout to Carlin, the best TA ever!!! - Sara Cortes
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2017 - Overall I really enjoyed this freshman cluster, which was taught by a combination of professors including Nordby. I found the class engaging and a great experience for freshman (on the Hill, field trips and other activities over a year long period). I found some of the assignments busywork but the grading seemed fair to get an A. The structure is three classes over three quarters, the final spring quarter being a seminar, which I really enjoyed as it was experience with seminars and research.
Fall 2017 - Overall I really enjoyed this freshman cluster, which was taught by a combination of professors including Nordby. I found the class engaging and a great experience for freshman (on the Hill, field trips and other activities over a year long period). I found some of the assignments busywork but the grading seemed fair to get an A. The structure is three classes over three quarters, the final spring quarter being a seminar, which I really enjoyed as it was experience with seminars and research.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - This quarter of the food cluster was a real drag. That's not to say it's difficult, because it isn't. It's actually mind-numbingly easy. Like, imagine a class where you learn all the content in the first five weeks then spend 15 more weeks reiterating the same points in a progressively more boring fashion. To be fair, Dr. O'Shea only taught the first five weeks of this quarter; Professor Jay was in charge for the latter half, touching on some novel concepts (if you never took AP Environmental Science, which I did) but only for a few minutes at a time before she moved to the next thing. While Professor Jay's lectures were very fast-paced and covered way more material than you could be expected to remember, Dr. O'Shea's were as close to brain rot as college lectures can get. She would use a maximum of 10 slides (usually more like five) and reiterate the same points every lecture with a slightly different overarching theme related to problems in the food system (we had already learned about these in the first quarter!). Oh, and every other lecture had us split into groups and do a discussion or activity, so it's advised that you attend lectures. Honestly, though, you could probably still do the activities before they're due by not going to class. The grading is almost identical to the first quarter, save for a slightly modified final project that has a portion in which you address someone involved in food policy about your food policy solution. Additionally, half of the online, open-note, multiple-choice quizzes are replaced with a couple of paragraphs that discuss what you learned from readings and lectures (these are for Dr. O'Shea's weeks). Don't stress about the grades. Just do the work with some semblance of quality and you're essentially guaranteed an A. Okay, I would end here, but I have to mention the "labs" from this quarter. They still make up 16% of the grade. One lab literally was just going to the library and taking pictures of books. I'm serious. If you liked the first quarter of this cluster, you may like this one. But if you were getting bored in any way, be warned: you don't even have to think in this second quarter. Take it if you need science GEs that are an easy A, but if you genuinely want to explore interesting scientific topics, you could do better than this book-picture-taking class.
Winter 2024 - This quarter of the food cluster was a real drag. That's not to say it's difficult, because it isn't. It's actually mind-numbingly easy. Like, imagine a class where you learn all the content in the first five weeks then spend 15 more weeks reiterating the same points in a progressively more boring fashion. To be fair, Dr. O'Shea only taught the first five weeks of this quarter; Professor Jay was in charge for the latter half, touching on some novel concepts (if you never took AP Environmental Science, which I did) but only for a few minutes at a time before she moved to the next thing. While Professor Jay's lectures were very fast-paced and covered way more material than you could be expected to remember, Dr. O'Shea's were as close to brain rot as college lectures can get. She would use a maximum of 10 slides (usually more like five) and reiterate the same points every lecture with a slightly different overarching theme related to problems in the food system (we had already learned about these in the first quarter!). Oh, and every other lecture had us split into groups and do a discussion or activity, so it's advised that you attend lectures. Honestly, though, you could probably still do the activities before they're due by not going to class. The grading is almost identical to the first quarter, save for a slightly modified final project that has a portion in which you address someone involved in food policy about your food policy solution. Additionally, half of the online, open-note, multiple-choice quizzes are replaced with a couple of paragraphs that discuss what you learned from readings and lectures (these are for Dr. O'Shea's weeks). Don't stress about the grades. Just do the work with some semblance of quality and you're essentially guaranteed an A. Okay, I would end here, but I have to mention the "labs" from this quarter. They still make up 16% of the grade. One lab literally was just going to the library and taking pictures of books. I'm serious. If you liked the first quarter of this cluster, you may like this one. But if you were getting bored in any way, be warned: you don't even have to think in this second quarter. Take it if you need science GEs that are an easy A, but if you genuinely want to explore interesting scientific topics, you could do better than this book-picture-taking class.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - Dr. Shaked was the first lecturer of the course who was able to make the math/science component of the class make sense. She breaks things down in a clear and concise way, is consistently transparent in her instruction, and encourages engagement in meaningful ways. I've really liked her portion of the course.
Winter 2023 - Dr. Shaked was the first lecturer of the course who was able to make the math/science component of the class make sense. She breaks things down in a clear and concise way, is consistently transparent in her instruction, and encourages engagement in meaningful ways. I've really liked her portion of the course.
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