For background, I'm a bio major and took this class during my second quarter as a freshman. Since I'm a science person, classes like this aren't exactly my thing but I can usually manage. Took the class because I thought it would be an easy A, but the material was just so abstract and the professor so boring that I could never sit through class without nearly falling asleep. My dry TA didn't really help much either. The readings were a lot, and I felt that it was difficult to keep up with. If I remember correctly, the class is just graded on a midterm paper and 3 essays that comprise the final. He gave a list of like 8 possible essay prompts he would ask, he then asked like 4 or 5 of them on the final, and you had to choose 3 of them to write about. It was one of the most boring classes I've ever taken at UCLA and I ended with an A- so it wasn't the easy A I thought it would be. Would not recommend for science majors but maybe if you're into this subject matter you'd actually like it.

You'll learn about the basis of some political thought and get to read pieces from famous philosophers such as Plato, Nietzsche and so on. Course material is not ridiculously difficult but requires quite a fair bit of reading to understand. Professor Gavin's lectures sometimes lack coherence but the content of it is important so my advice to be to take down whatever you can during lecture and make sense of it later. TAs were really helpful in breaking down course material into stuff students can actually understand. I'd say this was a pretty manageable course as long as you do a bit of reading and go to discussions.

Fair warning: if you don't like to read this is not the course for you.
Covers a number of political philosophers, but to be honest you might not get through half of them due to the professor's meandering lecturing style - frequent digressions are made and often you'll end up behind and confused. That being said, the core material is very interesting, and the professor does his best to keep things fresh and funny. Frequently, you'll probably have to rely on your TA to decipher the core meaning of lectures, but as long as you take notes and at least try to pay attention, it'll all make more sense in hindsight. The midterm is usually pretty straightforward as long as you actually read and understood the material, and the final is usually done in essay format with ample choices for questions provided well in advance. I wouldn't say this is the easiest of the GEs, but it would be pretty damn close were it not for the heavy reading load.
TL;DR read and go to discussion and you'll be okay, sunshine.

Honestly, if you can successfully read an assigned reading and understand what the philosophy is, then you're good. You don't really need to podcast because he kind of has an accent that's hard to understand and his lectures aren't the most helpful in understanding the material. The TA's are pretty knowledgable of the material as well and if you go to 7/10 discussions, the professor gives you extra credit for attending. I haven't gone to a class other than first week and to turn in my midterm paper during week six and the last time will be for the final. So attendance isn't mandatory and if you do go, prof gives you extra cred, NICE. So before the midterm and final, make sure to read!

I loved political philosophy. We studied philosophers all the way from Aristotle to Rousseau and Locke. I found the content really easy, and very engaging. The lectures were boring, but you can just podcast all of them.
Started considering Philosophy as a second major after taking class.
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