I think it is clear that professor Ruskin is passionate about this topic and knows what he is doing. HOWEVER his presentations are very disorganized and it is hard to know what I should be notaking is very unclear. It feels like most of the subject matter discussed in lecture isn't at all related to homework. Overall its a fun class, but not amazing.

i hated going to lectures so much expect for the occasional musical performances. they were just so long and weary and i almost never paid attention because prof is really unengaging. HOWEVER, it is such an easy class that you can absolutely grab an A. I actually enjoyed and looked forward to going to section (shoutout my TA Learsi) cuz it was so much fun and you actually made a connection to your own taste in music. The papers were fun to write, and the final project was to curate a playlist surrounding a topic of your own choosing and your own connection to the songs and the topic. the assignments were very personal and it is hard to bomb them. i just hated lectures, everything else was so easy and fun.

This class is an easy GE. You just have 3 papers to write and an attendance Grade for discussion and readings you can preview to talk about. The professor is very passionate about the material and his lectures are more of a conversation but still the few times i actually attended it was an interesting conversation. Definitely recommend if you want something light.

Very easy and manageable class. Definitely recommend for an easy GE! As a STEM major the discussions (attendance/'participation' is counted for discussions) were sometimes the most fun class of my week. It depends on the TA but my discussions were silly little activities that didn't require you to have done the readings (plan a music festival, karaoke, make a collage abt a topic, etc). Your grade mainly consists of two papers and a final project, all of which are opinion based and don't require knowledge from the lectures. There are also two take home quizzes that were fairly easy. Lectures were pretty entertaining too but you don't need to go to do well in the class!

Your grade depends on your TA.

Seriously the easiest GE ever. I never went to lectures past week three and got an A. The essays topics were easy and didn’t pertain to lecture material. The TAs determine how easily the work is graded but mine was VERY forgiving. There were two take home quizzes that weren’t difficult. If you want an easy GE with minimal workload definitely take this class. It’s a nice GPA booster if anything and the lectures consisted of interesting material.

I cannot exaggerate how easy this class was. You really don’t need to show up to lecture but there were still some fun lectures with guest performers and speakers so I would still go for the experience! As a STEM major this was definitely my break from math and stuff. The essays are easy to write since they are basically opinionated and could be done in a day. The final project was also really easy and not stressful at all. The quizzes were take home and easy if you do them with a friend. Definitely recommend if you want an easy GE.

This class is an extremely easy GE and I found the material to be pretty interesting, if I were to take this class I would've done all the readings and listened to the songs because it's cool to learn about but aren't neccessary to know to get an A in the class. The two papers were graded really easily, got an A on both without going to office hours and spending pretty minimal effort on them. The two quizzes were take home and the first one required information from the readings, and although the second one was supposed to be a "listening quiz" it was just a quiz on the info from the listening notes posted on bruinlearn, not complaining though because it was extremely easy to get a 100% on. Attendance for sections is mandatory, and the sections were pretty interesting as well if you like music and the social context behind it, I would reccomend coming to sections with some knowledge of the weekly readings so it's not painfully awkward and silent when your TA is trying to fish for any engagement with the students. The final project is a playlist with an essay about half of the songs, this was a fun project to do and I really enjoyed learning more about the genre I chose, also an easy A, just make sure you get your citing in the right format. Lectures are really boring and it would be beneficial if the lecture slides were posted on bruinlearn.

BEST GE EVER. You don't need to attend lecture to do well on the discussion quizzes or the essays. The essays don't have to do with lecture they're just on topics you pick pretty much. Your TA matters a lot because they grade your essays, but I had Ting Ting and she was amazing.

This class is definitely an easy GE. The lectures were not mandatory so I typically did not attend especially since they were boring, but the content itself was interesting. The content reviewed in lectures was not necessary to know in order to do the assignments. I think I had like 5 assignments in total for this class. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an easy and interesting GE!