WL ARTS 51W
Aliens, Psychics, and Ghosts
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Enforced requisite: English Composition 3 or English as a Second Language 36. Combination of approaches of discourse analysis and scientific method to understand how people make sense of other people's stories of aliens, psychics, and ghosts. Exploration of how people come to believe what they do about human life, life after death, and other-than-human life. Satisfies Writing II requirement. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - As an engineering major who took this class for fun alongside another writing 2 class, I can without a doubt say that this was the best course I have taken at UCLA. The class teaches you how to think and to question all the preconceived notions that you hold about topics like aliens. Shorter really makes you think outside your own worldview and really challenges you to question your own worldview. The class isn't even really about aliens, psychics, and ghosts per say. I would characterize the class as a referendum on how we acquire knowledge and choose what we believe and do not believe through the lens of alien encounters. Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone that can enroll because it will change your worldview for the better. Also come into the class with an open mind because your experience will be 100x better than those who are stubborn and not willing to question their worldview. Discussion sections were the most enriching discussions I have ever been a part of, which was amplified because of people's willingness to share and actually do the readings. Also TA Jackie Davis did not bring her own viewpoints into the section, which definitely allowed for free flowing and exciting discussions about lecture and the reading. I feel like the people who hated the class were not willing to even consider other viewpoints (literally the whole point of the class) and did not seek help from the TA during office hours for writing advice. I went into TA office hours and we went over my argument structure and which evidence I would use to prove each point. My TA (Jackie Davis) would discuss with you exactly which ideas are fleshed out and which ones could be more compelling. After this, just follow every small detail that Professor Shorter lays out to receive an A.
Fall 2018 - As an engineering major who took this class for fun alongside another writing 2 class, I can without a doubt say that this was the best course I have taken at UCLA. The class teaches you how to think and to question all the preconceived notions that you hold about topics like aliens. Shorter really makes you think outside your own worldview and really challenges you to question your own worldview. The class isn't even really about aliens, psychics, and ghosts per say. I would characterize the class as a referendum on how we acquire knowledge and choose what we believe and do not believe through the lens of alien encounters. Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone that can enroll because it will change your worldview for the better. Also come into the class with an open mind because your experience will be 100x better than those who are stubborn and not willing to question their worldview. Discussion sections were the most enriching discussions I have ever been a part of, which was amplified because of people's willingness to share and actually do the readings. Also TA Jackie Davis did not bring her own viewpoints into the section, which definitely allowed for free flowing and exciting discussions about lecture and the reading. I feel like the people who hated the class were not willing to even consider other viewpoints (literally the whole point of the class) and did not seek help from the TA during office hours for writing advice. I went into TA office hours and we went over my argument structure and which evidence I would use to prove each point. My TA (Jackie Davis) would discuss with you exactly which ideas are fleshed out and which ones could be more compelling. After this, just follow every small detail that Professor Shorter lays out to receive an A.
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