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.