first of all- not an easy A by any means and not an easy GE. the paper is actually super hard even if you understand the concepts. the only thing i liked about the class was talking about stuff like mad pain/ martian pain and stuff that you've always wondered but never knew was actually put into theories. it's an interesting class, but don't take it if you're looking for an easy A

Going into this class I thought it would be an easy A and overall an easy class. This was not true. The material was rather difficult. Professor Brown did a great job explaining all of it. She was also very very helpful in office hours if you take the time to go. The midterm paper was difficult because you had to use original ideas and it is a very different type of writing than in other classes. You just need to put good time into the class and you can do well in it. Great professor, but don't expect the material to be easy.

Brown seems like a nice enough woman and her Aussie comments are amusing. Yes the lectures ARE boring and she says the same things over and over and over and over again. You can tune out for 30 minutes and start listening again and she'll still be talking about the same point.
BUT it doesn't matter if shes redundant or boring because YOU DONT HAVE TO GO TO CLASS to do well. I missed over half of the lectures and when I did go to class I mostly napped and never took notes and still got an A. She posts lecture slides online so you can basically read over them yourself, or just go to the last two lectures since she does a review at the end and says what she's been saying for the last 9 weeks over again.
The ideas in the class can get a little abstract. This is definitely not a class where you can memorize and do well. You really have to have an understanding of the readings and be able to analyze and have original ideas on your papers. The T.A.s are all very helpful and will explain things you don't understand.
This class is great for people who can think abstractly and write papers. An easy A for sure since there is only one paper, two 10 question multiple choice quizzes, and two essay questions on the final that she gives you before the final to prepare. But if you're not a great reader in the first place and think pondering about what a mind is might be beyond you then the class might not be for you. There isn't much work, you don't have to go to class, and the reading load isn't bad, but a thorough understanding of the material as well as original analysis is required to do well on the paper and the final questions.

If you to have to fulfill a GE, take this one. Though lectures are incredibly boring (very very boring), she is fair. Read over her lectures (which unfortunately come 1-2 days after she's presented them instead of before lecture) before quizzes and THINK and TALK during discussion and you'll be fine. yes the material is kind of difficult to grasp at first, but it's really not that hard. there are much harder classes out there. She is also really nice and approachable. And also makes a lot of Australian comments.

I thought Professor Brown did the best she could - the material was difficult and obtuse, but she infused humor into the lectures to make it more bearable. I always felt really bad when only a tenth of the class showed up for lectures, and then a lot of them left before the second half, but she trooped on and kept explaining. Lectures could get a bit repetitive, but I thought that was helpful considering how confusing some of the theories were. I would advise that you start your midterm paper early and that you go to office hours.

this class was much more difficult than i had anticipated and had to put in a lot of time reading the articles over and over because her lectures did not make much sense. she does not explain things well and her class is WAY too long. the quizzes were easy but tricky and the paper was just annoying...basically, dont take this class unless you absolutely have to.

Very true, I wish she comes back! She is very funny and intelligent. It's a shame that UCLA doesn't seem to be able to keep good professors.

Professor Brown is a really nice lady and her Australian accent is rather amusing. However, lectures are sooooooo boring. If you don't have a friend in the class, I would suggest finding one, because it could be a long, boring quarter. The TA's are awesome, and they explain everything to you and will tell you what you really need to know. They grade the papers and exams, so they essentially run the class, not the professor. She is just a puppet figure.

Prof. Brown is a really sweet lady, but I found her lectures to be very boring. However, she is concerned about student learning and will repeat herself as often as possible in order to drill the material into our brains. Her final was really easy, but your grade depends on your ta, not her. So, get to know your ta really well.

Professor Brown was a really nice person as everyone has said. Very funny and kinda dorky which was well appreciated. However she doesn't understand that simpler is better. She went off on tangent every single time - she repeated herself every single time - she gave too many examples instead of moving on. The TA was far more easier to understand. The material isn't very hard but the Professor tends to complicate everything. She's a nice lady but not an effective professor.