PUB AFF 112
Social Movements
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Introduction to theories, real-life examples, and applied skills for understanding and contributing to social movements. Examination of how and why social movements emerge; how and why people join, lead, stay, or drop out of movements; and strategies and tactics by which social movements enact change. Draws upon wide range of social movements inside and outside of U.S. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - I really enjoyed the structure of the course lectures and how time was dedicated to lecture and lecture concept workshops (discussions). I felt that I truly got to interact with the concepts that were taught by Dr. Herrera. I agree with the other review because I felt that she was definitely left-leaning but did try to make a way to discuss a movement and its respective counter-movement. Show up to lectures. Show up to the discussion. Plan and outline your assignments days and weeks in advance. There are 4 assignments in total that spanned about 4-6 pages (with the final being 10-12). If you really take a few hours each week to write the body paragraphs, you will thank yourself. The third assignment will require you to attend a social movement (zoom/in-person) and you will need to reflect on It. So, if you’re not at all passionate about social movements then I would not recommend taking the class. Even if lecture attendance is not taken, she will bring up super helpful extra tips for the essays so do attend them because she does not post her slides after class! Sometimes, Dr. Herrera would make statements that may come off as brash and intimidating to students. In addition to this, the presentations felt unorganized and there were many instances where she felt unsure of what she was lecturing about, asking students to verify claims that she would make. Despite this, the times that I did approach her, she was very kind and receptive to my concerns, even offering her advice on how I should approach my essay. She challenged us in many ways that helped us expand how we interpret movements throughout history and just critically evaluate academic material in general. The readings she selected and her breaking up readings from lecture and discussion-specific sections were absolutely great, as it meant you could split them up during the week. Not only did it spread out the readings throughout the week to make it less heavy for students, but it also helped me and my peers absorb the concepts better. She is surely an expert in her field and has extensive knowledge to share on social movements throughout history. It was also great being able to interact with peers who were genuinely passionate about the social movements that they chose to write about in their assignments.
Winter 2024 - I really enjoyed the structure of the course lectures and how time was dedicated to lecture and lecture concept workshops (discussions). I felt that I truly got to interact with the concepts that were taught by Dr. Herrera. I agree with the other review because I felt that she was definitely left-leaning but did try to make a way to discuss a movement and its respective counter-movement. Show up to lectures. Show up to the discussion. Plan and outline your assignments days and weeks in advance. There are 4 assignments in total that spanned about 4-6 pages (with the final being 10-12). If you really take a few hours each week to write the body paragraphs, you will thank yourself. The third assignment will require you to attend a social movement (zoom/in-person) and you will need to reflect on It. So, if you’re not at all passionate about social movements then I would not recommend taking the class. Even if lecture attendance is not taken, she will bring up super helpful extra tips for the essays so do attend them because she does not post her slides after class! Sometimes, Dr. Herrera would make statements that may come off as brash and intimidating to students. In addition to this, the presentations felt unorganized and there were many instances where she felt unsure of what she was lecturing about, asking students to verify claims that she would make. Despite this, the times that I did approach her, she was very kind and receptive to my concerns, even offering her advice on how I should approach my essay. She challenged us in many ways that helped us expand how we interpret movements throughout history and just critically evaluate academic material in general. The readings she selected and her breaking up readings from lecture and discussion-specific sections were absolutely great, as it meant you could split them up during the week. Not only did it spread out the readings throughout the week to make it less heavy for students, but it also helped me and my peers absorb the concepts better. She is surely an expert in her field and has extensive knowledge to share on social movements throughout history. It was also great being able to interact with peers who were genuinely passionate about the social movements that they chose to write about in their assignments.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Currently taking this course. There have been quite a few aspects that have been annoying and I think should be noted for anyone planning on taking the class. First, the Professor and TAs do not respond to emails. I emailed the TA and Professor about course related questions and never got a response from either (it's been 5 weeks). With wildfires at the start of the quarter, more communication would have been VERY helpful. I am not alone in this. Many students have been ghosted. Lecture is 3 hours long on a Tuesday evening, and there have been more than once where the professor just puts on a documentary and scrolls on his phone. When he is engaged, he is a funny, good guy. The issue is, it feels like this class wasn't built for 3 hours and sometimes it drags on and he doesn't let us out that early. There are multiple assignments that are pass fail and grading is VERY slow. By mid-week 7 we still do not have our grades back from weeks ago, and these assignments were meant to be pass fail. The midterm is short essay format but it's impossible to know how they will be graded as they don't give any feedback for the other large assignment we've done. Lastly, the course content and readings seem very repetitive and are very, very long. Unless you are actually super interested in social movements, you probably can find a pub aff elective that is more up your alley. Basically, don't take the class based on the grade distribution. Make the choice based on if you are interested in the topics and can put up with the issues I said above. This class just seems to be a waste of physical and mental effort for me. I probably will end up with a good grade, but this just isn't it for me so far. It's a personal opinion, but one that will relate with some others.
Winter 2025 - Currently taking this course. There have been quite a few aspects that have been annoying and I think should be noted for anyone planning on taking the class. First, the Professor and TAs do not respond to emails. I emailed the TA and Professor about course related questions and never got a response from either (it's been 5 weeks). With wildfires at the start of the quarter, more communication would have been VERY helpful. I am not alone in this. Many students have been ghosted. Lecture is 3 hours long on a Tuesday evening, and there have been more than once where the professor just puts on a documentary and scrolls on his phone. When he is engaged, he is a funny, good guy. The issue is, it feels like this class wasn't built for 3 hours and sometimes it drags on and he doesn't let us out that early. There are multiple assignments that are pass fail and grading is VERY slow. By mid-week 7 we still do not have our grades back from weeks ago, and these assignments were meant to be pass fail. The midterm is short essay format but it's impossible to know how they will be graded as they don't give any feedback for the other large assignment we've done. Lastly, the course content and readings seem very repetitive and are very, very long. Unless you are actually super interested in social movements, you probably can find a pub aff elective that is more up your alley. Basically, don't take the class based on the grade distribution. Make the choice based on if you are interested in the topics and can put up with the issues I said above. This class just seems to be a waste of physical and mental effort for me. I probably will end up with a good grade, but this just isn't it for me so far. It's a personal opinion, but one that will relate with some others.
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