Amazing class. Since Week 1 I went around recommending this course as a GE. I am a STEM major so it was really fun taking a course that explores other fields. Lectures are not recorded, but the midterms and the final are not based on actual lecture content which means you could do fine without attending. What really matters is attending section which gives you participation part of your final grade (20%). You have a list of primary sources to read each week which sometimes do get dense, but as long as you read 3-4 of them you should have enough content for section and for the midterms. The textbook is not really important if Im being honest. The professor will prompt you to purchase it, but I never used it and still got an A in the class. TA's were super easygoing and responsive to emails. The professor is usually hard to get in contact with, so he prompts you to speak to your TA before reaching out to him. Again 10/10 recommend

This professor is low-key disorganized and chaotic. I did not pay attention during lectures. This class will definitely be easier if you took APUSH or got a great grade in high school US History. There are TONS of primary source readings every week. I suggest taking notes on them because they are the back bone of all the essays! They are difficult to read but it definitely strengthens your primary source reading skills. We had 3 essays, all of which I got a 90% or above. I loved discussion section. The lecture slides are not helpful at all. I did enjoy office hours. I recommend reading the textbook and reading the majority of the primary sources. You learn a lot more about Native Americans than you probably did in high school which was super cool.

Pretty good and easy class. There are no tests, just three short papers with straightforward prompts. Prof. Yirush also uploaded the lecture slides to CCLE before each week (but i'm not sure if this is just a Covid thing). There are a lot of primary source readings, but you honestly don't have to do all of them to perform well in the class. There is a textbook, but a lot of students were able to find it for free online.

Pretty easy GE, not a whole lot of work but the class is pretty reading-heavy compared to some other GEs. Each week the professor assigns textbook pages (30-60 pages) and 5-10 primary source documents. Helpful to read both the textbook and primary sources before class but the primary sources aren't totally necessary before lecture. Discussion sections are solely focused on primary sources and TAs grade all your work. The only grades for this class are 2 papers, a take-home final (another paper), and participation in section. Professor releases lecture slides before class which is nice and gives a pretty engaging lecture.

Professor Yirush's class was probably one of the best I've ever taken. The lectures are pretty clear, but the reading can get kind of dense. He gave very detailed study guides for the midterm and final, and he allows you to use a full page outline (any size font) on both tests. He does get kind of strict if a bunch of people miss class or go on their phones or don't pay attention, but he is pretty fair. There are also two papers for that class, but he gives out detailed writing guides, so his expectations are pretty clear. Both of the TAs were also great, and everyone who taught the class actually cared about their students.

This class was completely fair and doable. Professor Yirush provides various readings for the week that includes primary sources as well as textbook readings. Most of the readings were manageable and even interesting. I found this class to be the easiest class I have taken so far at UCLA.
The scheme is as follows:
20% 1st paper
20% 2nd paper
20% participation (10% of this participation grade was from weekly reading responses)
20% midterm
20%Final
The papers were simple enough as long as you paid attention to what your TA wanted. The TA's always provided rubrics for each paper so you knew exactly what they were looking for and how many points it was out of. The first paper was only 10 pts and the second was 20 pts. You're also given study guides for the midterm and final, which provide possible essay questions. Overall, if you put in the effort and complete every assignment, there is no reason you should not get the grade you want since everything is basically granted to you.

I felt compelled to write something about Professor Yirush because I felt like a lot of the harsh criticism he's getting on here is not warranted.

His course layout was excellent - lectures were good for contextualizing the readings, and you get a comprehensive look at American history through a plethora of primary sources. I've never taken a history class before that didn't rely completely on secondary sources, so I appreciated Professor Yirush taking the time to find and assign such good sources. He offers thoughtful responses to questions, is an engaging lecturer who is not monotone at all, and is overall a great teacher.

I'm not saying this because the course was easy. On the contrary, you have to work for the grade. But Professor Yirush's emphasis on excellence in writing can only benefit you in the long run. Go to lecture, do the readings, OUTLINE the readings, prepare extensively for the midterm and final, and you will succeed in this class.