This was an... interesting course. For starters, it is definitely possible to get an A as long as you follow instructions and complete assignments on time. For everything else, though, this course was a bit of a mess. Lectures didn't have any real structure and I really only gained insight from my TA during lecture.
The professor was also next to impossible to reach for me and some of my classmates as well. Extra credit for things was offered, as long as you looked in miniature font in the footnotes of the syllabus that you were expected to find out of pure luck.

I'd take this course again for the A, but not for any useful content.

At the start of the quarter, the Professor and TA faced many challenges such as the fires. They made it very clear that no regardless of where we were, we were still mandated to attend class via Zoom. This caused many troubles for my peers as I knew they were traveling back home since they were unable to stay at UCLA.

Additionally, this class was so unformatted. During lectures it was easy to fall asleep since it felt like the Professor was saying the same thing over again. The readings that we were suppose to do every week (ranges from 2-3 readings, about 50-100 pages in total) were heavy and very difficult to digest. We had to use the reading for out writing assignments which were poorly explained. The Professor wanted our papers to be written in a certain format which honestly doesn't make sense.

I had such high hopes for this class but this class disappointed me. I love the purpose of this class but I don't think it was formatted well.

Currently taking this course. There have been quite a few aspects that have been annoying and I think should be noted for anyone planning on taking the class. First, the Professor and TAs do not respond to emails. I emailed the TA and Professor about course related questions and never got a response from either (it's been 5 weeks). With wildfires at the start of the quarter, more communication would have been VERY helpful. I am not alone in this. Many students have been ghosted. Lecture is 3 hours long on a Tuesday evening, and there have been more than once where the professor just puts on a documentary and scrolls on his phone. When he is engaged, he is a funny, good guy. The issue is, it feels like this class wasn't built for 3 hours and sometimes it drags on and he doesn't let us out that early. There are multiple assignments that are pass fail and grading is VERY slow. By mid-week 7 we still do not have our grades back from weeks ago, and these assignments were meant to be pass fail. The midterm is short essay format but it's impossible to know how they will be graded as they don't give any feedback for the other large assignment we've done. Lastly, the course content and readings seem very repetitive and are very, very long. Unless you are actually super interested in social movements, you probably can find a pub aff elective that is more up your alley. Basically, don't take the class based on the grade distribution. Make the choice based on if you are interested in the topics and can put up with the issues I said above. This class just seems to be a waste of physical and mental effort for me. I probably will end up with a good grade, but this just isn't it for me so far. It's a personal opinion, but one that will relate with some others.

I’m currently taking this class (Winter 2025) with David Turner, and he’s an incredible professor. He has extensive experience in social movements, which adds a unique and valuable perspective to the course. This is one of the best upper-division Public Affairs classes I’ve taken. The material feels very relevant, and his firsthand experience makes the discussions so engaging. The class is entirely paper/essay-based, and so far, it has been great.

Amazing teaching team. I learned so much from professor and TAs. The professor is literally an active organizer in the LA community and is full of so much knowledge and passion. He cares about his students and it shows. Everyone in pub aff should take this class. Go to office hours and just yap. Shout out to Vanessa and Rasheed, they were so funny and helpful.

Topics in the class could be very sensitive at times. However, the material and assignments were very participatory based, as long as you did the weekly readings, you would understand the material and complete assignments. Midterm and final were both take home and given about a weeks time to complete them. Do expect to work in groups multiple times throughout the quarter since you are going to have a group presentation for an assignment.