Bonnie is by far one the best professors I've had at UCLA. This class is very easy and the topic is interesting. The midterm was easy as long as you read the assigned book, skimmed the textbook and went to class regularly. The paper assignment is long, but relatively easy and pretty much everyone in the class got an A on it. Bonnie is clearly passionate about Latin America and makes this class applicable to all majors by including political, medical, anthropological (etc) topics to the class.

It's an easy GE alright, but that doesn't mean you get to slack off and space out during lecture. Professor Taub does uses slides, but they're very bare and offer little to no information needed for the exams. If you scour hard enough, you can find the textbook and books online, but personally I bought both required novels. It's important to pay attention to what she says in lecture, and especially the videos she shows in class. Professor Taub herself is very sweet and caring about her students. She even gave us a 5 day extension for submitting our take-home midterm because many students emailed her saying the deadline was too early. The course content itself is heavily focused on Latin American issues, culture, and major events, so you're expected to know a little historical context from the textbook. Other than that, I regretted not being able to take this course during in-person, as I'm sure Professor Taub is wonderful to get to know in-person.

here's all you need to know about Prof. Taub.
PROS:
- she is a really nice, considerate professor
- she extends deadlines if the class is at consensus
- class goes by pretty fast, not boring at all
CONS:
- HEAVY reading
- 2 chapters per week (approx. 150 pages) + two essay questions
- read one news article per week, write a reflection
- multiple books (100-300 pages) to be read throughout the quarter (on your own)
- multiple films (1-3 hours) to be watched (on your own)
- you better do all that bc the test is on everything above + all her slides + you must know all the countries and landmarks on a map of Latin America
BTW the midterm was 12 pages long (multiple choice, short answer, AND one essay question)

so basically....
she is a genuinely good person who is considerate of her students BUT her workload is questionable to say the least. good luck friend!

- a fellow bruin

Biggest qualm with this class has to be the exam. There was only one final exam for the whole quarter, which was nice to not have a midterm, but I felt that the questions were really specific and focused on statistics and random knowledge memorization (ie. prevalence of diseases per country). There was some multiple choice and some free response but I ended the class not sure where my grade would land because I definitely guessed on some. And it's not like more studying would have helped me, I did review a lot of material and some questions that were asked simply were not emphasized in class. There were also 2 papers which were .. doable I suppose?

Dr. Taub is a decently nice person, but for some reason doesn't like it when students take notes on iPads or laptops. This was discouraging because there were instances where activities were only allowed to be submitted on paper and students were told in class to put their note-taking devices away (to ensure we wouldn't be distracted during class). I felt this policy was strange and left many students staring at the slides, unable to take notes or retain much information from the 3 hour seminar. Also the way individual lectures were structured was disorganized and didn't facilitate much discussion (which I was hoping to experience from a class of only 20 people) but a list of words on a blank white slide did little to fully illustrate the magnitude of suffering and health problems in Latin America. Small point but it also felt like the "savior complex" was promoted in a couple lectures and that just didn't feel right.

If you have other options, I'd only recommend to take this class if you're really passionate about Latin America, natural disasters, etc. Food is mentioned but I feel that the class is more about structural issues and disease than malnutrition.

She was not bad. Her lectures were sometimes interesting and other times were not. Exams were more focused on the lecture slides than in the book readings. Memorize the slides and you are guaranteed a B for sure. Do the readings and there's your A. She cancelled 4 of the lectures, 2 of them without previos notice. She cares about students and she is a very nice professor overall. Extremely unorganized though, you will notice that from day one. I do recommend her.

Prof Taub is very nice, but sooooo disorganized. I did well in the class, but only because my friend and i crammed before the test. She gives you a bunch of wikipedia facts then gives test that are essay based. She doesn't go over anything really in class. The class is somewhat interesting.
I ACTUALLY TOOK INFORMATION AREA STUDIES 50

IA STD 50
B+
I went to her office hour and waited for 50 minutes before she came...

Don't take her

If you HAVE to take this class, make sure take it with lots of friends and divide up the reading and study together because it's a lot of reading and books to buy.

132 was one of the hardest class to take. I am a neuroscience major taking this class for fun, but the material was downright boring, extensive, and unneccessary. Taub is dry, not funny, and simply needs to retire. AVOID THIS CLASS and take it with another professor. I received a B- in the class

cant say that it was the most interesting class ive taken, but it was definitely one of the most laid back classes i have had. i never really stressed out about it. the material was easy if u just memorize all the slides and slightly pay attention in lecture, mostly to her lectures since the guest lecturers were sometimes boring and we werent as heavily tested on them. this class can either get u a really good grade or a really bad one. dont think its easy enough to just not study because u MUST memorize everything if u want to tackle her test, which isnt hard since the material itself is easy and very understandable. much of it is common sense just talking about poverty and how it affects peoples health. u do need the books because she will ask some questions about specific studies from the books but she will tell you what they are on her study guides..etc.

Hard Class and Hard curve. Professor was super boring and dry. DO NOT TAKE! THE ABOVE CURVE IS NOT TRUE!