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.

Highly recommend this course. The professor is really entertaining and makes the lectures interesting even if some of the concepts are dense. There are long readings but your TA goes over the main ideas and all you need to know, so don’t really have to do them. The midterm and final were multiple choice on Canvas and the average for the final was like a 98.

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.

Professor Alim is a fantastic professor. He is so passionate, knowledgable, and enthusiastic. He is such an engaging lecturer. Attendance isn't recorded in lecture but lecture isn't recorded either. He doesn't post the lecture slides which are necessary for the exams, so I recommend going to lecture. He calls his exams "celebrations of knowledge." There are two celebrations which are both weighed 30%, online, and MCQ. These were extremely easy. As long as you go to lecture and write notes on the slides, you will get 100%. There is no studying needed. This class is very reading heavy as there are many articles. However, you don't need to read the articles to do well on the celebrations. The only work was 2 short papers which were weighed 10% each. The content of the class was very interesting as well, and I learned a lot. Attendance was mandatory in discussion and was 10% of your grade. The other 10% was participation in discussion. I never spoke a word in discussion and still got 100% on attendance and participation. Overall, easy A class with an amazing professor.

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.

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.

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.