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!)

Great professor, excellent lectures, everyone applauded at the final lecture. Very easy class with little work, two essays that aren't graded strictly at all and weekly readings which are gone over in class. "Celebrations of Knowledge" (final and midterm) are basically open note. Definitely would recommend as a GE. I personally did not find the content extremely interesting or impactful, this course actually dissuaded me from taking more courses in anthropology. The course is very much centered around Alim's research and interests which focus on Black, Latino, and gay communities and South Africa. If you are part of or interested in these communities you will love the class. If not, it's great to learn about others and at least the class is easy and Alim is funny and truly gives great lectures.

I loved this class and loved the energy I would 100% take again barely any homework!

If someone were to ask me what is my idea of the perfect professor, I would say it's Professor Alim. Alim is one of the best instructors I have taken at UCLA and in my entire academic career. From the moment the first lecture started to the end of the quarter, he was always exuding passion for linguistics and sharing his knowledge. In addition to his enthusiasm, his lectures are very engaging and welcoming. Before taking this class, I wasn't that interested in anthropology in general and thought it would be just another GE. However, Professor Alim's great communication skills and openness to have conversations with students gave me a new perspective on linguistics and made me much more interested toward the end of the quarter. If I had more GE's to fulfill, I would definitely take more classes taught by Professor Alim if I could.

Definitely recommend this class. Super easy GE!! Professor Alim definitely knows what he is talking about. Both midterm and final exam are online and he had mentioned exams would be online regardless of the protest/strikes. He gives study guides that basically have all the answers to the exams. There is heavy reading, but honestly if u read the first 10 pages of each article, you'll be fine.

First of all, besides the class, Professor Alim is a genuinely interesting and charismatic man who is obviously incredibly smart, but not in the way where professors forget that they are an expert in their field and their students are not. I recommend going to office hours or talking to him before / after class, even if it’s not course related, because he is very welcoming and listens to his students’ feedback and opinions. Anthro 4 was overall a very easy course - the two tests were online and open note, and the questions don’t try to trick you. The two essays (although paper #2 was cancelled due to strikes / protests / cancellations) were very short and to the point, and really helped you to actually understand main course ideas. His lectures are very dynamic - he uses slides, but doesn’t post recordings or the slides onto BruinLearn, so if you want to learn, you’ll actually have to go to lectures and take notes. He also expands on written slide ideas and will tell you aloud which things will be on the exams. The topics were very interesting and made me think a lot about my own role as a speaker in social settings, so this course is something I will take with me for the rest of my life. I would seriously recommend this class, it was probably the least stressful class I’ve taken so far at UCLA, the Professor is amazing, and the content actually matters.