Professor
Fernando Perez-Montesinos
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - This class was so boring. It was to the point that the vast majority of the class stopped showing up. We would have "reading" quizzes every few weeks, but they didn't correspond with the actual assigned readings nor the lectures. Don't waste your time doing the readings. I see no point if they don't actually help you with the class, I was upset after I had done all the reading and took the first reading quiz just for none of the material to correspond. Also, I had Sophia Yazpik as my TA and she was just a mean person. Not a harsh grader though, but when one of the other TAs did a guest lecture, after she finished Yazpik said "just give up" under her breath. She also laughed at one of my questions... I don't know why you would even sign up to be a TA if you dislike helping students so much.
Winter 2024 - This class was so boring. It was to the point that the vast majority of the class stopped showing up. We would have "reading" quizzes every few weeks, but they didn't correspond with the actual assigned readings nor the lectures. Don't waste your time doing the readings. I see no point if they don't actually help you with the class, I was upset after I had done all the reading and took the first reading quiz just for none of the material to correspond. Also, I had Sophia Yazpik as my TA and she was just a mean person. Not a harsh grader though, but when one of the other TAs did a guest lecture, after she finished Yazpik said "just give up" under her breath. She also laughed at one of my questions... I don't know why you would even sign up to be a TA if you dislike helping students so much.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - This class is pretty cool. You watch films about Latin America in the first lecture the week (or just at home) and then discuss about it or have a guest speaker the next lecture of the week. These films, plus the readings, are then discussed in your discussion section in which you must show up for attendance. You do get to miss one. You also do weekly discussion posts based on the readings and its graded by your TA. There are also quizzes, and they are based on the film watched in class. No midterms, just an essay as your final. It's formatted to be a mock interview where you get to write a fictional scenario where you interview someone (doesn't have to be a well-known figure) and the responses are about a topic/theme you learned about Latin America. Readings are required to be interwoven, but it was laid back and we were allowed to submit after the deadline so long as it was before the next early morning. TLDR, would recommend this class if you like to learn more about Latin America history that is not covered in high school classes without having to worry too much about your grade, and also if you like movies
Spring 2025 - This class is pretty cool. You watch films about Latin America in the first lecture the week (or just at home) and then discuss about it or have a guest speaker the next lecture of the week. These films, plus the readings, are then discussed in your discussion section in which you must show up for attendance. You do get to miss one. You also do weekly discussion posts based on the readings and its graded by your TA. There are also quizzes, and they are based on the film watched in class. No midterms, just an essay as your final. It's formatted to be a mock interview where you get to write a fictional scenario where you interview someone (doesn't have to be a well-known figure) and the responses are about a topic/theme you learned about Latin America. Readings are required to be interwoven, but it was laid back and we were allowed to submit after the deadline so long as it was before the next early morning. TLDR, would recommend this class if you like to learn more about Latin America history that is not covered in high school classes without having to worry too much about your grade, and also if you like movies
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Mexican Revolution: The class had weekly discussion posts about the readings and two at-home papers: a creative writing midterm and short essays final. Very easy class in my opinion, with minimal effort you will get an A. Professor Perez-Montesino is cool, but on the weaker side of lecturers, which was honestly fine because the readings clear up anything not said in class. I'd often zone out in class or not fully understand how events fit into the greater timeline, so obviously not ideal, especially because he tends to talk about stuff not written in the slides. Overall easy class and nice professor.
Winter 2025 - Mexican Revolution: The class had weekly discussion posts about the readings and two at-home papers: a creative writing midterm and short essays final. Very easy class in my opinion, with minimal effort you will get an A. Professor Perez-Montesino is cool, but on the weaker side of lecturers, which was honestly fine because the readings clear up anything not said in class. I'd often zone out in class or not fully understand how events fit into the greater timeline, so obviously not ideal, especially because he tends to talk about stuff not written in the slides. Overall easy class and nice professor.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - I really enjoyed Professor Perez-Montesinos's class. His lectures were very engaging and well-organized. Both the readings (and he gave pdfs of everything, we did not have to purchase anything) and the assignment load were very manageable. It was one discussion post a week where you would summarize the big ideas of the readings and pose a question. Both the final and the midterm were take-home assignments. He also offered a few extra credit assignments. In addition, Professor Perez-Montesino really cared about his students and wanted to see them succeed. Especially with all the uncertainty this quarter, he always listened to students and did his best not only to keep us informed but also to make sure that we could continue to learn and do well in the class with everything going on.
Spring 2024 - I really enjoyed Professor Perez-Montesinos's class. His lectures were very engaging and well-organized. Both the readings (and he gave pdfs of everything, we did not have to purchase anything) and the assignment load were very manageable. It was one discussion post a week where you would summarize the big ideas of the readings and pose a question. Both the final and the midterm were take-home assignments. He also offered a few extra credit assignments. In addition, Professor Perez-Montesino really cared about his students and wanted to see them succeed. Especially with all the uncertainty this quarter, he always listened to students and did his best not only to keep us informed but also to make sure that we could continue to learn and do well in the class with everything going on.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Professor Perez-Montesinos is a gem. He’s so kind and helpful, and for that reason alone I’d recommend his class to anyone. This class had weekly responses (300–400 words), a final paper (two prompts, five pages each), participation, and everyone had to lead the discussion once. The professor uploads PDFs for every week except one book we had to buy. The readings were very heavy during the first two or three weeks. I actually almost dropped the class because I thought I just couldn’t take in that much information and actually absorb it, let alone take notes. Luckily, the readings got shorter for the rest of the quarter. I found the readings to be super dense, so it was difficult getting through them. Some authors were incredibly verbose and reworded the same idea over and over. I prefer authors that are more concise and direct. Even though the readings were dense, the topics were super interesting, and the professor explains everything really clearly. I honestly wish he wrote his own book and we just read that instead. The weekly responses (only 8 total) were easy and participation just meant showing up and throwing in a comment here and there. Leading discussion will be a chore if you ask long, complicated questions because people will forget what you said halfway through. Write a list of questions and keep them short and clear so people actually want to answer. Leading discussion isn’t about showing off your knowledge, it’s just about getting your classmates to talk about the readings so that everyone understands better. You lead with one other student, sometimes two, so it’s not all on you. The professor is also a super easy grader because he actually cares more about students learning than about nitpicking assignments. He wants you to focus on understanding the material, not stressing over grades. If you show up and write a half-decent paper, you’ll likely get an A. It would be really hard to do badly in this class. Great professor!
Winter 2025 - Professor Perez-Montesinos is a gem. He’s so kind and helpful, and for that reason alone I’d recommend his class to anyone. This class had weekly responses (300–400 words), a final paper (two prompts, five pages each), participation, and everyone had to lead the discussion once. The professor uploads PDFs for every week except one book we had to buy. The readings were very heavy during the first two or three weeks. I actually almost dropped the class because I thought I just couldn’t take in that much information and actually absorb it, let alone take notes. Luckily, the readings got shorter for the rest of the quarter. I found the readings to be super dense, so it was difficult getting through them. Some authors were incredibly verbose and reworded the same idea over and over. I prefer authors that are more concise and direct. Even though the readings were dense, the topics were super interesting, and the professor explains everything really clearly. I honestly wish he wrote his own book and we just read that instead. The weekly responses (only 8 total) were easy and participation just meant showing up and throwing in a comment here and there. Leading discussion will be a chore if you ask long, complicated questions because people will forget what you said halfway through. Write a list of questions and keep them short and clear so people actually want to answer. Leading discussion isn’t about showing off your knowledge, it’s just about getting your classmates to talk about the readings so that everyone understands better. You lead with one other student, sometimes two, so it’s not all on you. The professor is also a super easy grader because he actually cares more about students learning than about nitpicking assignments. He wants you to focus on understanding the material, not stressing over grades. If you show up and write a half-decent paper, you’ll likely get an A. It would be really hard to do badly in this class. Great professor!
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