Professor Bahtina is so wonderful! She is very knowledgeable and informative. I also felt that she was very encouraging and cared about her students enough to even reach out to them via Slack or email. The grades were made up of Perusal annotations, research proposal, group project presentation, participation, and blog entry. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what the percentage weights are since I don't have access to the syllabus anymore, however, I feel that they range from 15-25% each and were all important to getting a good grade. Because the group quarter-long project is so important to the class and our grades, we were almost step-by-step guided through it which makes it so we have the opportunity to improve but also not be overwhelmed. Professor actually reached out to us after the end of the quarter for potential regrade of the blog because some of us were close to the next grade, which I found to be incredibly generous. She is that type of professor and so I would highly recommend her. So long as you stay focused and on top of the material, you will learn a lot and be rewarded with a good grade. Good luck!

I love Professor Bahtina! This was my second class with her and she's still one of my favorite professors. The subject is really interesting and the project allows for exploration of really anything you are interested in. What I will say is that attendance is taken in lectures (you get three allowed absences, not bad) and the majority of your grade is a group project. I got lucky and loved my group, but in general group projects are not everyone's favorite so fair warning. Despite attendance and group projects, which usually makes me drop a class right away, the professor is awesome and made it worth taking!

This class was easy, fun, and interesting. There are no tests or quizzes, only readings, and a group project. The professor is very helpful and engaging. Highly recommend for comm or soc majors!

Professor Bahtina is an easygoing, kind, and helpful professor! This class is graded on Persuall annotations that are done throughout the quarter, participation, and the biggest grade being the group project, (there are NO test and quizzes!). The group project in this class had a few milestones to complete such as an annotated bibliography, meetings throughout the week with the T.A., research proposal, final research proposal, presentation, and blog post. Professor Bahtina is super helpful and her use of Slack to communicate with students was a great and quick way to get answers to questions. However, this may have just been a problem for Winter 2023, but the communication between the T.A. and Professor was lacking. At times us students in the class were being told one thing to do by the professor and then being told differently by the T.A. Lastly, I'd like to add that attendance was not mandatory and she did record lectures!
Some personal suggestions I'd like to put out there if you are ever considering this class is if you dislike group projects, this class is NOT for you. It is heavily based on the group project so that is something to look out for. Also if you do take this class, you need to make sure you are in a group that works consistently and well together. Ultimately, this class is an easy A. As long as you and your group members keep up on assignments and work you should do great in the class.

Dr. Bahtina is the BEST!!!! This class was so great and I really wish I could've taken it in person. Dr. Bahtina is so nice and very understanding, making the class much more enjoyable and less stressful. The class is centered around a group project and blog post that you focus on for the entire quarter. There are no tests/quizzes, only weekly reading/annotation assignments which are very easy (mostly for participation). I would highly recommend this class, not only for the professor and workload, but also the topics covered are very interesting.