Comm 1 with Dr. Dee is an easy class with little workload required. The entire class is giving three speeches (media/movie critique, personal commitment, persuasive) and one 7 page paper on a speech you watch outside of class (a TED talk or something). He assigns three books, but they aren't necessary to read, except for maybe certain parts that will help you write the final paper. Class is always engaging and interesting because you get to know your classmates through their speeches throughout the quarter. However, Dr. Dee's portion of the class he spends lecturing is often hard to follow and connect to the point of the class. You don't really take notes, but are expected to comment on people's speeches and write a short critique for each speech. Dr. Dee's grading is pretty subjective, it's impossible to guess what you'll get for each speech and hard to see how you can improve for the next one. Overall, though, an easy class with very little workload required. Would be a good fourth class if you already have a heavy courseload.

I absolutely loved this class! Bridgewater is super funny and helps you improve your public speaking skills by creating a very constructive class environment in which you and your peers bond as sort of a team. He is a very fair grader and helped a lot of people overcome their fears of giving speeches. He is also very informed on what is happening in the world--it was an everyday thing to discuss current events and express opinions. Throughout the course, you give 3 speeches, participate in discussions, give speakers feedback on their speeches, and write a term paper on a speech (evaluating techniques used). I highly recommend participating in class not just for the grade, but to get more out of the class. I was really nervous before going into the class, but I wish I could take classes like this every quarter. I definitely became more confident in myself and my speaking abilities. Definitely take this class with Bridgewater!

Dr. Dee is one of the nicest and most understanding professors I've ever met! He really tries to engage the class so speak up. Go to office hours even if you don't have anything specific to talk about, he is a great conversationalist and hands out candy.

Selling: all three books for $60 (is negotiable)
CONCISE PUBLIC SPEAKING HANDBOOK
ESSENTIAL GT RHETORIC
THANK YOU FOR ARGUING

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I think this class should be a requirement for every UCLA student! There's only 30-40 people in the class and you get to know everyone pretty well by listening to their three speeches, and that's a really special experience at a school this big. I really looked forward to going to Comm 1 each time and this class also improved my public speaking skills. He leaves the speech topics very open ended and offers a lot of help if you go to his office hours. Dr. Dee is super funny and would always open the class with a discussion of current events/interesting ideas that really made me think, and he creates a classroom environment that feels very safe for each student to share personal things if they want to. If you have room in your schedule for Comm 1, TAKE IT!!!! (even if you're not trying to be a Comm major -- I ended up deciding not to apply after taking Comm10 and Comm1 during my freshman spring quarter, but it was all worth it because I got to take Comm 1 with Dr. Dee!!!)

Dr. Dee is hands down one of the friendliest professors on campus and this class was a great one as well. His office hours are so engaging and even after finishing this course, I still make time in my schedule to visit his office hours and take part in conversations about current events, class material, and other intriguing subjects depending on who attends office hours that day. He is relaxed and lenient to pretty much all of the students and although he will make you talk in his class and give speeches, he grades fairly and doesn't embarrass anyone. The class consisted of three speeches, a final paper, and three easy speech worksheets which just has you critique a speech, along with a participation grade. The speeches are easy, just be prepared before the day of the speech. He is very organized even if it doesn't seem like it and most of his classes are just talking about current events, relating it to what makes a good speech and public speaking, and then listening to the students in the class give speeches. I was lucky that my classmates were all so interesting, so it made for a fun class. I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about him, which is good because he is such a great professor and person overall. I highly recommend you take his Comm 1 class at some point in your college career.

Dr. Dee is amazing. He is one of the best professors I have had in Uni. I have no idea why his ratings are so low.

By far the best Professor at UCLA. I took Comm 1 as a Sophomore and I am now a graduating Senior and I still go to Dr Dee's office hours once a quarter. This class is about learning from your classmates and learning about yourself. I was going through a very hard time when I took comm 1 and Dr Dee really helped me cope with what was going on in my life. Anyone who says he doesn't care about his students clearly does not know this professor AT ALL. He is 100% available to you and he is happy to provide more than just help with your speeches. On top of this, this class is interesting because you get to listen to the lives of other students at UCLA. It's also an easy A.

Bridgewater is the absolute best!
He's sweet, and the class had some great in-depth conversations and debates lead by him on topics that the speeches brought up.
And don't listen to the other reviewers who say he grades based on how hard your life is or whatever. I have had a very easy, boring life, and still got an A. He grades relatively easily-- if you try and it shows, you'll succeed.
In-class time is spent mostly on speeches, and short discussions afterwards.
Taking notes at the start of class is recommended, but the discussions after speeches are more like roundtable discussions, so you can relax and express yourself.

It's the best!

No two students will have the same experience in Bridgewater's class. I heard some people say it was very hard, but I thought it was fantastic.

Bridgewater wants students to be the voice of his class and he orients class discussions around the students' opinions.

I don't know how much my speaking improved after taking this class, but I had public speaking experience before coming in and others in the class said that they had new found confidence.

The class is an easy A if you go to office hours and participate in class discussions!

I'd encourage anyone to take Comm 1 with Doctor Dee if not only for the fact that it's one of those rare gem classes where you'll get to know everyone by the end of the quarter. The class being only about 30 students makes for an intimate atmosphere where you learn things about your fellow classmates that you would never know if you were in any other class. Public speaking is a valuable skill to have, and many students take the class solely for fun, but I wish Doctor Dee's class was a requirement for all UCLA students. It takes a very special kind of class to make students eager to attend class at 9 AM.

The workload is nothing. You make one speech once every three weeks, and you spend the rest of the time listening to everyone else's speech. Fall 2013's speech topics consisted of your favorite movie, a personal commitment of yours, and a persuasive speech. You'll also turn in a speech critique on the first day of each new topic, but you are literally just going off a rubric and rating the categories on a scale of 1-5. The speeches aren't hard to come up with because you're just talking about your life from between five to seven minutes. There's no final; just a seven page speech analysis. Also, he'll try to push the required reading on you, particularly the Beebe & Beebe, but with the exception of the speech analysis where he wants you to pull quotes from the book, the required reading is totally optional. The class format consists of Doctor Dee going through a wide assortment of topics, almost like a tangent, for the first twenty of minutes of class, and the rest of the time is spent listening to people's speeches. The only notes you will ever take will be about the final paper and what to look for in a good speech.

That being said, yes, his grading can be very subjective. If you approach him about what he's looking for in an A-worthy speech, he'll read off his rubric, which isn't very helpful. As everyone has mentioned before, office hours are a must. Your best bet for getting that A is to go to office hours and include his points on your speech, but nothing is guaranteed. I was a class favorite, if I do say so myself, and I ended up with an A- in the class, but I'm not complaining. Perhaps it's because my speeches weren't entirely memorized, but you never know.

Yes, Doctor Dee can be very eccentric and tangential. He loves calling students out, but he's a really nice guy that you'll wanna hug by the end of the class. He's very understanding about coming in late, absences, or late work, provided that you're ready for him to make a joke. That's not to say, however, that you should take advantage of his leniency. I don't know how far it goes. He's very approachable and makes himself readily accessible. If you can't make office hours, you can call his private number, and he'll return your call to discuss your speech or whatever you needed to talk about. He's the kind of professor that you won't hesitate to contact even after the quarter, whether it be for a letter of recommendation, a speech critique, or just to chat.

Overall, this was easily one of my favorite classes at UCLA with one of my favorite professors. Take this class with him.