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.

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.

I took this class because I was considering a latin american studies minor, and this professor disencouraged me completely. Every class was kind of all over the place and I feel like I was learning nothing. The content was super vague and unheloful for the exams which were brutal. Something to know as well is that theres no technology allowed in class and you definitely have to take notes. In the exams theyre in class and written; multiple choice and essay questions. The content that we are supposed to memorize for the exams is super vague as well so its extremely difficult to study for. definitely dont recommend this class.

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

Professor Taub is easily one of the nicest, most passionate professors I've had at UCLA. Her work in the field is super interesting and hugely diverse, and she has a lot to say about her experiences and is very knowledgable about the subjects covered in IA STD 50. A lot of the topics covered in this class are super interesting and will definitely open your eyes and make you think. That being said, there is a lot of reading for this class. The tests are decently in depth, and there is definitely a lot of material to understand along with a lot of things to memorize. The interview research paper also was a ton of work, and took a couple of weeks at least to gather all the facts and data you need, interview your subject, make sure of its accuracy, and actually write the paper. Even though this research paper was super involved and difficult at times, it was genuinely very interesting to learn from a first hand account. It makes you realize the themes and subjects you are studying in class are present in the experiences of someone right in front of you, and humanizes everything this class stresses over the course of the quarter.

I absolutely loved learning about Latin America, but I felt like Professor Taub's lectures were not super helpful towards the midterm and final. I enjoyed this class too because there was no discussion, which actually might have been helpful to have. In all honesty, you do need the textbook for this class. But don't fear. It should be on course reserves in the library. I didn't have to buy mine because of this. There is a lot of content to go over, but it isn't too understand. Professor Taub does create a brief study guide list. Most of the questions on the exams are pretty specific, therefore it is important to read from the textbook. I believe that for every lecture section (2x a week) we had to turn in a printed copy of a current news event on a country in Latin America and write a brief summary of the article and some thoughts. Professor Taub is very sweet, but she is a bit forgetful. She also never claims to know everything which is great compared to other professors. She also speaks a whole bunch of languages and has worked abroad. There is a pretty long essay we have to write where we interviewed someone who has lived in a country in Latin America and discuss their experiences and how they coincide with the events at that time. I recommend doing this as soon as possible because the essay does require a lot of time and research to be accurate. As long as you did all the readings (or just skimmed the main points) and the essay to your best abilities, it is highly likely that you will get and A.

Professor Taub is not only a great professor but also a super sweet person. It's easy to tell that she is very passionate about what she teaches and she is very willing to help students understand and learn the material well. There are frequent homework assignments and lecture attendance is taken through those homeworks, the assignments are all super helpful in understanding the material. The exams are not too challenging as long as you pay attention to lecture and ask Professor Taub if you have any questions. She'll go over it as many times needed too! She's great!!

This was my favorite class Winter Quarter! Professor Taub is a really kind woman, and an engaging lecturer. The midterm was super easy, and the final paper, which was an ethnographic interview/research paper on change in Latin America, was actually fun to write. The novels she assigns make up most of the exams, but they are short and interesting reads. She also allows for three extra credit assignments, which require you to do anything related to Latin America (read a book, listen to a song, watch a movie, visit a museum, etc.) and write a half-page response to it. Overall, I highly recommend this class and Professor Taub!

Coming into this class, I knew little about Latin America. I am much more open minded and informed about the subject after taking this class. I really enjoyed Professor Taub as a person. Her lectures were engaging and she had so many diverse personal experiences to share with us. She does give extra credit, which helps a lot. Here is a breakdown:
Class Attendance is important! You have to turn in an article every class to earn your attendance marks. Although she does upload her powerpoint to CCLE, she will put very general words like 'anthropology' or 'Mayans'... which does help at all unless you are in lecture.
Midterm was a breeze if you read the books and went to lecture. However, the final intensely focused on material in the textbook. It was kind of a surprise.
The books are necessary!!! Buy them and read them!!!
Although this class was the most work I've done for a GE, it really was not that bad. I would take it again just because Professor Taub was so lovely and engaging.

Dr. Taub was great, I really loved her as a person. She was incredibly sweet. Her class was awesome, we learned so much about Latin America, and she had many first hand experiences to share with us. We did read a lot, but the work load was not that bad. Overall I had a great experience with her.