She really wanted to help but she really didn't help.

Do not get fooled by the previous average grades.

She graded harshly!!!!!!!!

This class is 50% about the history surrounding the Atlantic ocean (pirates, slavery, geography, etc.), and 50% about how we look at history (Atlantic history vs. imperial history vs. global history, etc.).
Professor Pestana is a good lecturer and she is very helpful during office hours.
The workload was light for a history GE. We had 30 pages of reading each week, 3 short papers (no more than 4 pages), and no homework.
During our quarter, the essay prompts were kinda vague and many people did not do well.
As a south campus major, I enjoyed this class and would recommend to anyone who needs a light history GE.

This class was a fairly easy GE but did have a good amount of writing. Each week there was a 250-word assignment based on primary sources posted in Bruin Learn, and then there were 3 papers, one of which was the final paper. There were no tests or quizzes. The lectures were not recorded, but it wasn't necessary to attend them to do well in the class. Discussion was mandatory and involved talking about the primary sources.

This is a great class to take for the historical analysis GE! I took this class P/NP because I just needed one class to be on the backburner this quarter, but I still ended with an A- percentage-wise, as it's graded on just three essays, all of which don't have very complicated prompts or outrageous word count minimums. Professor Pestana had very insightful and informative lectures, and the slides are mostly supplemental so it's definitely important to go to lecture to get the full picture of the course content. As someone who took multiple American history classes in primary and secondary school, I feel like this class was the most in-depth one I have ever taken. Professor Pestana was really good at leading us through the societal context of the time periods she talked about and explaining why one event led to another.

Awesome class, easy A. The class was graded on 3 papers and section online discussion and section attendance, The first 2 papers were 2-3 pages long and the last paper was 4-5 pages long. The section discussion is a 200-300 word post on the primary document of that week. The papers are based on the primary documents but I highly recommend reading the textbook as well as attending lecture, because it will broaden your understanding of the topic and make the paper writing easier. Pestana is a wonderful lecturer and I was interested in the class beyond getting an A. Marcellin Ma was my TA and he was also great.

This class is probably one of the easiest GE to take here at UCLA. The lectures were kind of boring but the overall assignments were easy. There's only 3 papers, 2 short ones and 1 long paper. Essay topics were always discussed in section so with your TA's and classmates your discussing on primary events that led to paper topics. One minor thing about this class is the restrictions on using the text book or outside knowledge in our essays. She's very strict on only using provided material nothing else. But i would HIGHLY RECOMMEND to save your GPA.

Professor Pestana is such a good lecturer and is so knowledgeable about history in general. I took this class P/NP because I was taking a really heavy workload and didn’t want to stress about my grade in this class or put that much effort in. I still got a B+ (which was a pass). Basically, there are no tests, there are 3 papers and you are given the prompt the week before each paper is due. We also had reading we had to do every week and write a 100-200 word reading response (that I usually didn’t do).

it’s really easy to get a B+ or an A-. You have to just write a coherent essay with some arguments. I never did the reading, I just went to lecture and listened during my discussion section and my classmates brought me up to speed during their discussions of the reading. I would skim the documents for quotations when I was writing the papers.

This class is by no means an easy A though. For the final paper (that i wrote in 1 hour the night before it was due and got an 88) the median was an 88.9 and the low was an 87 and the high was a 93. Keep in mind, an A is from 93+ and some of the kids in my discussion were actually trying really hard to get an A. Also no curve.

If you’re looking for an enjoyable class where you will learn tons about American history this is the class for you, but like expect an A- or a B+.

I loved this class! It was super manageable work-load wise, the professor is great. Recommend for an easy GE that is also interesting.

Easy GE class If you took APUSH in high school or paid any sort of attention in a US History class then this class will be a breeze. Prof. Pestana is a good professor like she's interesting and her lectures are generally very informative but many times don't exactly align with whats being covered by the primary sources. The problem is the entire grade is determined by 3 papers and you are pretty much forced to solely use the primary sources in writing it. That pretty much means the lectures are only useful for understanding basic context which if you already know through like APUSH means the lectures are almost useless to go to. That lecture hall became a ghost town real quick. Workload is extremely light only consisting of reading a primary source that 1-5 pages and 1 chapter of the textbook a week. Papers are worth 20-30% of your grade but they're only like 2-3 pages and my TA was an easy grader. Final was just a paper due on the last day of finals week and was 4-5 pages. There is no curve in this class but to be honest there is no need for one nobody gets below an 85 on the papers.

This class is a pleasant way to start the day. Professor Pestana is laid back about attendance ("you're all adults here") but does not tolerate any use of electronics (she will pause mid-lecture until all phones are put away). There are two papers and a midterm essay exam but are all graded quite loosely. Participation in section is important, and Professor Pestana will sometimes come to section. Students with prior U.S. history experience in high school definitely have an advantage, but Professor Pestana's lectures cater to those with non-U.S. educational backgrounds. I would recommend keeping up with all the readings throughout the quarter, because you will need to cite from them in the final paper.