Very knowledgeable professor. Took the class during covid-19 pandemic. She doesn't record any of the lectures or discussions, so that was kinda hard because I had a 15 hour time difference (I was waking up at dawn trying to listen to her speak), but she gives very detailed lecture notes that were very useful for the exams. Her exams are open book, and in the form of short answers and essays, and she gives you a week to do them. Super accommodating on that part. We have to finish 3 books throughout the quarter, so each week we had about 2-3 chapters to read, and a reading response to submit. But the responses make sure that you're reading, and they really help for the exam. Overall a great class. I definitely recommend you take this class.

I really liked this class and learned so much from it. We were assigned to read three ethnographies through the quarter, and each was very interesting. Also, we were assigned to watch movies that were eye-opening and fabulous. Being an IDS major, I really took away important ideas that will help me with this major. You won't regret taking this course because when you finish it, you realize how much you have learned in just 10 weeks. Grading is as follows:
Attendance+participation+response papers=20 points
Exam 1=25 points
Exam 2=25 points
Exam 3=30 points
The exams are not cumulative. You read a book in three weeks, attend the lectures, watch a movie and take the exam. Most answers come from the lectures (the professor posts lecture notes for the students) and the rest is from the movie and the book. Her exam questions never confused anyone as they were very clear and easy.
Professor Pierre is very knowledgeable and passionate about the topic. I also had an amazing TA, Sita, who is very smart and helpful!
Take this class! You will love it!
Good luck!

I took this class asynchronously even the discussion were asynch. It was a great class though. The prerecorded lectures were precise and informative. Quite a bit of writing for the class and discussion section. But def doable.

I adored this class. Prof Pierre is an interesting lecturer and the actual material taught in the class I found super intriguing. There is a fair amount of reading but you don't really have to read all of it. Is is helpful however to read the two required books, which were overall both good reads. I would absolutely recommend this class as an easy GE, as well as if you are interested in this area of study.

This is a great class that teaches valuable material! The grading consists of a midterm, final, discussion posts, and a one page mini essay. The mini essay is great as the prof gives you 3 opportunities throughout the quarter to submit the mini essay, so if you have a lighter week 3 you can get the assignment out of the way early, or you can wait til week 9 to submit. While tedious, the readings are interesting and informative. There are 2 discussion posts you have to answer every week with a brief 4-5 sentence response. Then you must respond to 2 discussion posts in 3-4 sentences, so not a huge time investment. The midterm and the final are short answer and essay based, but if you did the discussion posts you’ll be set. The lectures are filmed and edited by the UCLA film dept, so lectures seem more like mini documentaries. And they are SHORT. Most were under 30 minutes. If you are good at managing time then this asynchronous class is for you. Sucks to not have more communication with the prof and TA tho. Wish it hadn’t taken til week 10 to get my midterm back from week 5

Took this class asynch two years ago and I still talk about it. Includes a variety of materials (you watch recorded lectures and documentaries in addition to reading two books and excerpts) that explain the historical experience of Black Americans in the United States and the need for African American studies as a discipline. Although the workload isn't light, the subject is important and conveyed very well, and Dr. Pierre is a great lecturer.

This was the perfect class all-around. You have to submit a discussion post every week and the grading is very fair with that. The exams follow really closely with the class materials. We were given about a week to do them so you could split them up which made it stress-free. Lectures are pretty short and are very well-done. The class teaches you very important lessons about African American history and the challenges they face in society today. My TA, Mauri, was very fair with grading and had a lot of passion for the subject. So, I highly recommend her.

This class was extremely interesting. However, the workload was very intense. There were immense amounts of reading and writing that we had to do. Additionally, when the TA strike happened, we continued to have to do all of that work, but received no grades until over a month after the quarter ended. I had Professor Edu, not Professor Pierre, and this was an unusual circumstance, but it was very frustrating. The class itself is amazing and informative though, so I recommend with a different professor!

The content taught in this class is absolutely amazing. The workload is also easy to handle as you just have to watch lectures and post in two discussions a week. There is just the final and midterm which both consist of multiple easy writing prompts. Altogether this class is great. The problem comes with the professor NEVER responding to emails and never being very clear with the specifics of how she wants her papers. Also the TAs graded absolutely nothing the entire quarter so you never know how to improve because they continue to give more and more assignments without grading. Honestly it's a good class just annoying how you never know what your actual current grade is.

This class was online and super easy GE. Just had weekly discussion posts and then an open note midterm and final that was based on the lectures that were posted. Also had to write an essay for a novel, but not a ton of work and interesting information