UGH where do I begin with this class. First they have a weird obsession over Caliban and Ariel from Shakespeare, The Tempest.
Second, if I had known how much reading was required I wouldn't have clicked enroll.
The clicker questions are based on correctness so if you miss all 3 it's like you didn't even go to lecture because you didn't get the credit for the class. She has a gazillion slides and clicker questions per lecture but makes NONE of them ACCESSIBLE to students. How the heck am I supposed to prepare if I'm sick one day??
OH and you MUST rent/buy/download books every week to read. Yes, you must read a book a week. If you're not a big reader then do not take this class.
She co-teaches with her wife and they're both super monotone. They read off the slides and do not make the lectures interesting.
The midterm was gruesome. It was DURING lecture. It was questions and writing. I got a B and the reason for this was because of stupid small mistakes. The TA said that if you put amnesia and not HISTORICAL amnesia then you get half a point. UMM excuse me???
The final was a 13ish page paper. It was like 4 pages for one topic and 8 for the other.
Discussion was not it. There were weekly 300 word blog posts that you have to do EVERY Sunday based on the reading. They were a huge chunk of the grade too.
They offer extra credit by going to these LGBTQ events, take a picture of yourself there, upload it to the blog post and write a 300 word response on the topic.
IF YOU WANT TO GET A GOOD GRADE IN THE CLASS AND FINAL YOU MUST DO ALL THE READINGS.

Highly recommend this class for an easy GE! Participation will be a good section of your grade. This is usually iClicker points in class, which are easy to get as long as you attend lecture and pay attention (while taking at least some amount of written notes). This means lectures will be mandatory, because there will always be clicker questions. This class will be heavily dependent on your TA!! You TA will be writing the weekly discussion questions, some I've heard to be hard, but mine went a little easier (she actually excused us for two weekly discussions ! ). As long as you write a paragraph you should get full or most credit. The midterm was easy and had three extra credit questions ! The final was a bit vague and was where most of my frustration came from (it was a 12 page paper with two sections). We were given a week to complete it. As long as you do most of the reading, which is definitely a lot, you should do just fine! If you're Chicanx yourself, you'll find the readings to be very interesting and relatable, which will help you with getting through them! I managed to get an A despite not reading one of the books, and only half of another. It may take time, but the readings are generally easy and follow the topics discussed in class. Hope this helps !

This course was a lot different than I expected. If it weren't for me being used to heavy reading, I would've failed. This class requires serious time management because you'll be reading about one book per week for 10 weeks. However, this shouldn't discourage you. Lectures were always super interesting and enjoyable, but they also weren't optional to go to. Your iClicker will be your best friend and account for 15% of your grade. You'll have to make sure you're focused. Would highly recommend this course though.

It was a great class for me - an easy GE really. You’ll for sure pass if you read the material, attend discussion and do well on iClicker quizzes. The reading wasn’t so bad and because of discussion I was still fine if I didn’t read one or two books.
Selling most of the books for this class text **********

If you're looking for an easy GE I would not take this class. This class was taught by two professors for the quarter. Professor Alicia Gaspar de Alba taught the morning lecture while her wife (who this review is for) Professor Alma Lopez Gaspar de Alba taught the afternoon lecture for Chicano 10A. Where to begin? This has a heavy workload. You are required to buy 8 books that you MUST read in order to get a good grade and stay on track- you basically read a book a week. Every week you are expected to complete a "blog post" answering a question your TA sends you for that week, they are due every Sunday night and account for 20% of your grade. Some of the readings are dense and the professor doesn't really go into depth because of how much information is presented in lecture. This is where my main critique is- Professor Lopez Gaspar de Alba is a terrible professor and it is very obvious that she did not know what she was talking about. As mentioned the professors are a married couple, they use the same lectures which are prezi presentations which tend to be hard to follow especially because they do not allow electronics in class and expect you to write your notes. Professor Alma Lopez Gaspar de Alba in particular was terrible as she would read off her lecture off of a piece of paper and every time students would ask her for clarifications she would rarely answer but instead her wife who was sitting on the side would or when someone would ask for further clarifications she would brush them off and ask them to come to office hours. It was obvious that she was not as knowledgeable in the topic as her wife, Alicia Gaspar de Alba as she lectured for us twice and did not read off of a paper or slides and would actually address questions. Another problem, apart from being hard to follow is that they do not share the slides online so if you miss something, you just miss it. Every lecture they also have a bunch of clicker questions that count for credit. There were a few times when their questions were subjective and the possible responses could be the answer which would sometimes be confusing. These clicker questions were a way to count your attendance and counted for 15% of your grade, so attending lecture was crucial. The midterm for this class was written response and really allowed no room for critical thinking it was just more memorization, however, you needed to be very specific in the terms and description and if you weren't you could easily lose points. The final is a take home final composed of two separate essays. The first essay is around 6-8 pages and is in a letter format from you to Caliban (from one of the books you're expected to read) and then the second part is more of an analysis based on one of the books read from class, but you can choose from two different prompts. Overall, the material was very interesting and so are some of the readings you could get a good grade in the class if you really dedicate yourself and do not slack off and there are many opportunities for extra credit by attending events on campus.

Breakdown of the class:
discussion section participation 10%
iclicker points 15%
blog posts 20%
midterm 25%
final 30%

I have the paperback versions of Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders, The Chicano Movement for Beginners, and Song of the Hummingbird and pdf versions of the other 5 books all for $25 email me if interested: *************

If you are looking for an Easy GE this is NOT IT! there is a ton of reading and as someone who reads for fun and can read fast, the books took forever and honestly cost way too much. If you do end up taking this class, just be nice to your TA and you'll be fine, and READ.

I really appreciated being able to take this class and getting to learn all the information, but I didn't love the class. Professor Gaspar de Alba is undoubtedly passionate about the material, but most of her lectures felt just really aggressive. There were also a lot of books and reading material for the class that didn't always add much to the course. She uses Prezi instead of slides, which can be hard to follow, and then she does not give students access to these presentations. There were also about 3 clicker questions per class and required weekly blog posts in addition to readings. There were many opportunities for extra credit, which was great. Overall, I recommend the class because the information is important to learn, not necessarily because of the professor or the course format itself.

If you are looking for an easy GE class that requires little work, do not take this class. Chicano 10a requires a heavy load of reading, and 15% of your grade is based on daily iclicker questions. The midterm and final require a lot of writing. The final was two papers, one 8 page and one 4 page paper. The lectures are also difficult to follow.
However, if you are interested in the subject then it is a very interesting course. The professors are extremely knowledgeable of the material that they teach. Having an interest in Chicano studies might make the reading load less stressful and more entertaining.
This class is definitely not for everybody. It is very liberal in nature. If you are a white heterosexual male who gets defensive during discussions of white/hetero privilege, you would probably not want to take this class. But if you are willing to be more open minded and engage in honest discussions of historical injustices and their modern day influences, then this is the perfect class for you.

The lectures are very hard to follow, because what she is saying does not match the info that is on the slides. Also, there is a LOT of reading for this class so be ready, but most are pretty interesting and somewhat short. The information of the course is very interesting. YOU NEED AN ICLICKER FOR THIS CLASS!!!! This is how she counts attendance, and iClicker questions makes up 15% of your grade. There are iClicker questions every lecture so pay attention. There is also weekly blog posts to questions that are posted by your TA.

One of the worst classes I've ever taken at school. These professors represent the epitome of laziness in their lectures as they can't even form a coherent PowerPoint for students to focus on. Along with that, the take home final is by far one of the most time consuming tasks one could have. Overall the fact that they have an over-inflated sense of pretentiousness in their material that frankly disgusts me along with their stupidity in honestly thinking they gave enough material for students to write a 13 page paper shows how "smart " they are. Truly disappointed in the fact that the school does not seem to care one bit about the teaching styles of its professors. An absolute shame they represent the UCLA Chicano department.