I enjoyed this class a lot. A super chill upper div class about food that has multiple video screening lecture that show movies about food. I would take this class again for sure.

This class is a mix of pros and cons.

The lectures were difficult to follow as Prof Gupta would usually just read off a script in a soft voice. There were some interesting topics covered, but I think it just wasn't conveyed most effectively due to the way these ideas were delivered through lecture.

However, one big advantage of his class is that you only have to take either the midterm or the final and not both. Both the midterm and final consist of a multiple choice and free response section. He does grade on a curve for some reason, though. You also get to choose two out of four papers to complete throughout the quarter, and which papers you complete is up to you! Each paper has a different deadline, so you get to choose them based on which deadlines work best for your schedule.

Overall, I would say to take this course if you'd like a flexible workload.

This class has a structure that is really nice for students. If you take the midterm, you don't have to take the final, which basically means you don't have to really attend the lectures and do the readings except for when you need to for the one exercise you gotta do after the midterm. For that reason, the workload is light. Due to the extra credit he gives and the curve on the tests, the class is pretty easy to get an A or A+ on, even though the tests themselves are actually very difficult imo. Professor Gupta is a very kind and accommodating person as well. Take this class.

The premise of this class is interesting, but I took this online (S21) and it was extremely dry. The lectures were recorded but I stopped watching them after the few few weeks without any issues. The assignments were fairly light and easy. There was a food diary, a reflection on a book about medical anthropology, and then you could either write one long paper+1 short reflection on the readings or do 4 short reflections. They were all graded fairly easily. There were definitely a lot of "required" readings, but unless it's for a paper, you only really needed to skim them. Professor Gupta is not a great lecturer and does not engage much but he is very well connected in his field and we had some interesting guest lecturers. Overall, it was not a great experience but was a pretty easy A.

Enjoyed this class. Highly recommend!

I found the class to be very interesting. The workload is A LOT but after the first two articles, the material itself is easy to understand. You don't have to attend lectures but you NEED to go to discussion because you receive a participation grade. End of quarter survey gave me 4% EC even though he says he doesn't give out extra credit and curving is in your favor. His English is not the best and that translates on his tests through tricky questions. Both the midterm and the final had 6 answer options (4 regular and the other two were all of the above or none of the above). Just do all the readings and you can get an A. I didn't study for any of the tests but I never fell behind on the readings.
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Cool class. Ate ass. The content of the course is interesting, but I found the lectures to be more on the boring side and repetitive (although it is better to air on the repetitive side ya know). Highlight of the class for me was the discussions. I was lucky to have Aditi as my TA, and my section actually had really insightful discussions.

The course consists of 2ish reading assignments per week, and most of the grade is the midterm (35% of grade) and the final (40%). The two tests are 60 multiple choice Qs and 2 short answer. The wording of the multiple choice questions on the tests reminded me of a standardized test – it tries to be misleading, so I wasn't a fan.

Overall, I really enjoyed the material presented in the class. Everything you discuss is relevant to your everyday life. The workload is intense. We were often doing 400-600 pages of reading a week, which is tough when you have other classes to worry about. You are required to read 4.5 books + weekly articles. Reading is mandatory and lectures are based on your readings. The course isn't necessarily difficult if you keep up with your readings, attend lectures (they're podcasted), and understand the underlying themes of the course. Often times he repeats the themes of the readings, movies, and lectures. If you put in the work, you'll do fine. The grading scale is in your favor. I believe it was 40% receive A and A-, 40% receive B+ and B-, and 20% other.
There are weekly assignments due in discussion. You also have to complete 2 projects, which are relatively easy. The Midterm and Final rely heavily on your understanding of concepts/themes and ability to connect readings/themes.

First of all, I wouldn't recommend this class unless you have no choice. It is true that you go to lecture and do your readings, then you do well. BUT think of this class is a 4-unit class, but it is way much more stuff, even more than some of the 5-unit classes. You have hundreds of readings to do every week, weekly assignment due on discussion section, two additional assignments (a diet diary and a 1800-word project), AND you have a midterm and final which are not easy at all. His lectures are basically just that he read off his notes/written essays about his review on those readings in a fast, quiet tone. He had nothing on his slides except a few pictures. There isn't any so-called "lectures." All this class is about readings, if you don't read, you can't understand in lecture and you screw up. BUT the readings' workload are huge and they are hard, not easy to understand at all! He requires you to finish reading before every class, but these readings are about like food and Marx theory (WTH?!). I would say give some introduction about the big picture before letting us read will be more effective. It seems like he thinks all students only have this class. SO, if you only think this class as a 4-unit class and enroll it with other major classes, you gotta be careful. ALSO, he has so many requirements. He didn't allow you to argue your grade unless its a calculating error. A lot of "you can't do..." and he takes picture of the scene of every student taking exam in case of cheating, which is a little bit over. He tells us in the last class, "I can tell you right now the final will be a difficult 3-hour exam." I really feel he's intending to MAKE students work hard.