I took this class online and almost dropped it when I saw the syllabus. It looks like its going to be a ridiculous amount of work but it turns out that you really do not need to do all the readings. He basically goes over all of the important stuff from the readings during the lectures, so the workload is not bad at all. You write 2 essays that are less than 2 pages each and you take a midterm and a final. You also do a weekly submission to your TA that's only a paragraph long. I still did the readings because they are interesting and help with the submission but don't panic if you can't finish all of them (there are like 100 pages assigned a week). Alim is funny and pretty engaging and incredibly helpful with preparing for the exams.

This was a really great class, he did it asynchronously during my quarter (as a commuter I loved this). I would recommend attending lectures at the very least, as he goes over all the material that will be on the tests and they are not recorded. The reading is a bit heavy, but he says to do the reading after the lectures to know what to focus on. He explains everything that is on the test in great detail. However, be warned because some of the test questions are incredibly long and detailed. Make sure you know everything he has mentioned will be on the test. Honestly, if you attend lecture, take notes, and look up what he said you will need for the test you will get an A. The material is very eye opening, it discusses how language is used to discriminate minorities and how we can have better educational pedagogies to fix this.

This class had lots of interesting material which made the lectures and discussions pretty engaging. If you watch the lectures, pay attention, and do the readings, you will be able to get every question right on the two tests which make up 60% of the grade. He makes sure that every question on them is taught in class, so it's a really fair test. The rest of the course is fairly graded as well, from the essays to the discussion section participation and attendance. There is no extra credit offered. Professor Alim is a really nice guy and cool dude.

Professor Alim is one of my favorite professors. He is extremely helpful, passionate, and want all his students to do really well. The exams were all asynchronous and online on Canva, and the 2 essays were quite easy. The workload is very manageable, because there is only 1 discussion post every week. The readings are very option (I barely did them) and still did very well on the test because he summarizes the readings during the lectures. I would highly recommend this class with Alim.

I took this class first quarter of freshman year during COVID-19 distance learning. Professor Alim is super helpful and super nice, and all of his TA's seemed pretty chill and interactive with the work material. Alim is not very strict (except about certain essay due dates) and likes to maintain a friendly class environment. His passion for the subjects discussed is apparent and really improves the class atmosphere. The coursework is very interesting and analyzes/criticizes relations between White normativity and spoken language. Most of the readings were very interesting, there were only a few that I did not enjoy. Not a difficult class as long as you stay on top of the readings and work with your TA groups. Definitely my favorite class first quarter. (To my understanding, the professor for this class changes every once in a while so if you get a chance to take it with Professor Alim it's definitely worth it!)

Coming into this class I wasn't quite sure what to expect because it was my first anthropology class which I was taking to see if I wanted to switch my major to anthropology. On the first day of class Professor Alim told us we were in "the right place" and described how he was on the pre-med track like I am until he took a Hip Hop class that changed his whole plan which I immediately related to. Every class he has reminded us that we're in "the right place" and for the first time in college I truly believed that. Not only did I like Professor Alim, but I also genuinely enjoyed the readings and material which made it natural for me to want to learn more and stay engaged because I was interested in what I was learning. There were two exams and two papers which were all fairly easy. I know a lot of people take this class for an easy GE, which it is, but it also helped me solidify that this is the switch I want to make for my major thanks in part to the teaching staff.

Alim was a really engaging professor. Very educated and excited to talk about linguistic anthropology. Kind and always available after class for questions. Readings are long but supplied. Discussions are crucial to engagement in the class. Tests (celebrations of knowledge) are not too difficult, just do the readings and participate in discussion with your TA. Papers were easy as well.

I would recommend this class to anyone. The class was interesting, the workload was reasonable and the tests were fair. Additionally, Prof. Alim was an excellent lecturer and would make jokes and tell stories to try to help us remember the content, and he was always open to more discussion and class ideas.
We mainly focused on how race impacts communicative styles (especially black Americans) but also touched upon nationality, age, gender, and sexuality. I read most of the required texts because I enjoyed them, but you could absolutely get by without the texts. The texts and lecture covered virtually the same thing, though the lecture tended to focus more on important concepts and critical thinking/implications of the text.
The tests were pretty easy, online multiple choice, and the questions were based off of the texts/lecture, and the essays were each a page and a half long with an in depth prompt that pretty much walks you through what you need to write. Both the tests and the essays were basically measurements of whether you're paying attention in class/read the texts. If you pay attention in class you're pretty much guaranteed a B or higher grade.

I love Prof Alim. He's so in tune with the subject and makes you want to know more too. This class was really easy - just come to lecture and pay attention and you'll be fine (i'm not joking, the average on the final was a 98). There are assigned readings, and they are pretty dense, but Alim does a really good job summarizing them and making the concepts stick in your mind anyways. If you're still worried about this class, he also holds office hours right after class on the first lecture of the week. If you have an exam that week, his office hours that week will tell you basically all the concepts you need to know.

I would definitely take this class again. Professor Alim is kind and funny, likes trader joe’s, and appreciates a good boba. Lecture isn’t mandatory to attend, but definitely recommend attending if you want to get that easy A, as the readings are long and he often summarizes them in ways that are easier to understand and remember. There are two papers in this class, which a both pretty easy to write, and also a midterm and final, both of which are online, which are a breeze if you attend lecture.