I found the discussions to be the most important portion in the class, as the lectures can be very long and often can be summarized in a few sentences. Definitely know specific names of certain cases and documentation to do well. However, keeping up with the class overall is not difficult and you should do fine as long as you show up to discussion each week.

TLDR: I recommend this class if you're looking for an easy social analysis GE (or just looking for an interesting class to take)

Class structure:
• Asynchronous lectures (recorded zoom lectures from like 2020) -- bulk of material, helpful in understanding the weekly zoom meetings
• Weekly readings -- imo very long, but not necessary if you watch the lectures
• Weekly zoom meetings/OHs -- should attend because Prof Alim basically gives out the answers to the exams and papers; even though he records them, he doesn't post them for some reason
• In-person discussions -- mandatory

Exams (60%):
• 1 Midterm + 1 Final (called them "celebrations of knowledge"), 30% each
• Super, super easy MCQ exams. Pay attention to his lectures, and you will be completely fine getting at least a low A on each exam. I did the readings in the beginning, but tbh you can get away with not doing them at all.

Discussion (20%):
• Participation (10%), Attendance (10%)
• Please attend your discussions because they are mandatory lol. However, they're not too bad, if not a little boring because it's basically content review. Prof Alim goes over the material already in zoom + recorded lectures
• Participation includes appearing as if you're paying attention to class, as well as weekly 1-2-3 assignments, which are basically reflection on the readings. You can probably just skim each of them and write whatever as long as it's somewhat relevant and coherent.

Papers (20%):
• 2 papers, 10% each
• 1-2 pages long, single-spaced, including citations
• It honestly depends on your TA, but all of the readings and Alim guide you toward an answer, and you can kinda ramble as long as you have a point. This is probably the hardest part of the course, but they're honestly not too bad either.
• It's worth noting that because of the TA strike this quarter, the second paper was optional, so you got extra credit if you wrote it. Normally, he doesn't give extra credit.

Very easy class. The readings will look intimidating at first (something like 100 pages a week) but they aren't actually necessary to do well on the tests, that said they can be pretty interesting. The midterm and final are very easy because he reviews all the material on them if you just go to the sessions you will do fine, the essays are also graded generously (usually). Overall it was a very interesting class, it goes over some interesting social issues and ideas. A good choice for a GE.
2 - 2 page single space essays, bibliography included in page count
2 - 2 multiple choice midterm/ finals 25 question each

Great class; I think everyone looking for a no-fuss GE should absolutely take Anthro 4 with Alim.

I'll start with my one (small) complaint: when I enrolled in the class, there was no indication that lectures would be online and asynchronous. I was a bit disappointed to learn this after the fact, but Alim's lectures proved to be quite interesting and engaging regardless of the fact that they were pre-recorded. However, I do think that in an in-person lecture setting, Alim's great teaching and amazing passion for the subject would be even more inspiring, so I have to say it's somewhat regrettable that we never got to be taught by him in person.

Aside from this, Alim does a great job of preparing his students for his exams (he calls them
Celebrations of Knowledge"). The tests are online and not proctored, and extremely doable if you review with the study guides/notes that others in the class will make. The only other grades are participation in discussions, which includes a weekly discussion post that is pretty much only graded for completion, and two short (~2 page) essays that were each due a week after the two exams. The first essay did not require any of your own research; you only needed to cite papers that had previously been assigned as weekly readings. For us, Alim decided to make the second essay extra credit, which was likely in part due to the TA strike. I'm sure grading of the essays varied slightly between TA's, but my TA graded very fairly: it seemed like as long as you followed the requirements and showed a decent understanding of the readings, you got full points. The grading structure was 10% for each essay, 10% for participation (5% for discussion attendance and 5% for weekly posts), and 35% for each exam.

As far as the content of the course, it has a pretty big focus on African American language, especially in hip hop culture, as that seems to be the subject of the majority of Alim's work. Readings are assigned from other linguistic anthropologists as well as from his own papers and two of his books. The books are considered required texts for the course, but I was able to find a PDF of one and was honestly completely fine without ever purchasing the other. If you have any particular interest in old-school hip hop, I would encourage you even more strongly to take this class with Alim; he has to be one of the more prolific researchers in that niche. The content of the readings can be quite wordy and may require re-reading paragraphs to try and understand them, but I found it not to matter much because Alim's lectures did a great job of highlighting the main points in a much more comprehensible way.

Overall, I found the class to be extremely manageable but still stimulating and engaging. I definitely came out of the class with a slightly more informed perspective on the world, despite it not being too challenging at all.

When I took this course, it was online, which made it relatively easier. It consisted of 10 online modules you would have to work through over 10 weeks. There were attached readings to the online lectures. The course is heavy in readings, however, a majority of them are quite interesting, and if you at least skim all of them, you will be 100% fine. Make sure you stay on track of the readings, as it just makes the midterm (online) and final (online) easier to work through. Additionally, there are 2 one-page papers where you have to apply the vocab into it (very easy).
There are discussion sections, where your TA will go over the readings, so if you don't understand anything in the readings, it is usually explained in these sections. The lectures are prerecorded, however, he does hold one-hour live zoom sessions (not required to attend) that are EXTREMELY useful. He discusses exactly what will be on the online tests on the zoom call, so you know exactly what to study for. You can really tell that he wants his students to learn and will make you succeed in the class. I highly recommend this class if you want a light GE overall!!

I loved ANTHRO 4 so much!!! Professor Alim was super funny and engaging during his interactive zoom lectures and was always transparent on exam content, basically handing out As. I thought his exams, or celebrations of knowledge as he calls it, were fairly easy and a high or even perfect score is very attainable as long as you have a decent grasp of the readings. The readings were a little rough at the beginning of the course just because they were pretty theoretical and dense but they're genuinely interesting and you just need to understand the basic ideas. The workload was just the readings and one short weekly writing assignment for section, as well as 2 short papers that you were given at least 4 weeks to write. Overall a fun, easy, and insightful class, take ANTHRO 4 with Alim if you can!

First off, Prof. Alim is absolutely wonderful. He is so passionate about his work and super encouraging towards his students. I am taking this class as a 1st year English major, and this class is not hard at all. The lectures are recorded, so you just watch them on your own time, do the readings for the week and go to your discussion. Some week's readings are heavier than others, but overall it is manageable. Also, from Alim's lectures, you can see which readings you actually need to do.

Alim also hosts a Live Session Zoom each Thursday where he goes over the week's materials and hint at what will be on the "celebrations." The "celebrations" are your exams; you have one in Week 5 and another one in Week 10. Theses celebrations are multiple-choice and easy. If you do your readings, lectures and attend his Thursday zooms, these two exams will be a piece of cake.

Besides the exams, you have two short papers. Both papers are 1-2 pages (single spaced) and that is including your works cited. The prompts are very straightforward.

If you take this class, just read, watch/go to lectures, attend his Thursday Live Sessions and you will be on your way to an A.

Overall I really like this class, and Alim is amazing. His Zooms on Thursdays are things I look forward too. He always shares what snacks he has during the zoom and even showed us his dogs.

Take this class!!

This was my favorite class as a freshman during fall quarter! All the TAs and the Professor wants you to succeed. The reading can be overwhelming, but as others said, you honestly don't need to read them. Almost all of them were really interesting though, and I enjoyed reading them when I wanted to understand the week's materials better. The two tests (both multiple choice) are EXTREMELY easy if you just show up to the weekly online review sessions and take a few notes down. Professor Alim is very clear in what he puts on the test, so you should not struggle at all. Because of the TA strikes, the 2nd essay out of 2 essays expected of us was not required and was turned into extra credit, but expect to do both if the quarter goes normally. They are really short and also decently easy. I would totally recommend this GE to everyone!

Worst class ever and professor ever...the TAs suck too. Tons of reading and absolutely no guidance whatsoever.

Prof. Alim is fun to listen to and nice to look at! This class was interesting and I learned more about myself than in any other course I have taken here at UCLA. He is an extremely fair grader (as long as you show honest effort you pretty much get full credit). He is very down-to-earth.