I'm selling the course reader for $10. I also have last quarter's final and midterm that I will include for free (Langdon gives out the old tests). Contact me at *************

Hist 114A is a great class. It is challenging but you will learn a lot. Langdon's lecturing style is a bit overwhelming. He uses a lot of the key terms during his class, so if you don't know them you will get lost. Do all of the readings and you will do fine.

Midterm:
The midterm is an optional in class assignment of ID's, "historical paragraphs", and essays. It is optional.

Final:
The final consists of 40 ID's a few short essays, and two longer essays. The ID's were very difficult, but Langdon doesn't expect you to get them all. I got around 3 correct, but I did well enough on my essays that he gave me a B+ in the class.

Overall the work load is not too bad. There is a good chuncks of the reading that are optional and not required. I have had way more readings in other classes.

He does give you a course reader with all the terms and information he wants to to remember. If you come to class he will continue to let you kow what he thinks is important to remember ie what will be on the exams.

If you come to class, take notes, and go through his course reader then you should have no problem getting a good grade in the class.

Like others have said the midterm is optional, but do you really want to have your entire grade resting on the final.

I enjoyed going to the class because he is very passionate when he lectures, more so than any other teacher I have had here at UCLA. Also, he is more than happy to sit and talk to students during his office hours and after the classes to make sure you uinderstand the information.

I didn't really know what to expect when I signed up for his class. I'm a history major, and I really enjoy Roman history so I thought it would be a fun subject to learn about. What I ended up finding out is Langdon's 114A class is probably the most demanding History class I've ever taken, BUT it was completely worth it.

The great thing about his class (in my opinion) is that there are no papers. Your grade is purely based on how you perform on the (optional) midterm & (mandatory) final exams in class. I don't like writing papers for history classes, mainly because the grades are always subjective and based on different criteria for different professors. Langdon grades exams very fairly, BUT the exams themselves require immense amounts of time studying. Don't listen to him if he says "Don't over study" because you really HAVE to study more than you've ever studied in any other history class before.

I had never taken any class with him before this one, so I had no idea what to expect for his midterm. I assumed that I would only need to know the main themes and large bullet points, but that was not the case. The short answer section of his tests requires you to know very intricate details that you'd never think would be on the exams.

So how do you study for his exams? Take DETAILED notes during lecture (even though he says not to write everything he says down). Then go over those notes constantly throughout the whole quarter. That is what's going to really help you on the short answer section. As for the essay section of his exams, USE THE READER. Go over the notes and charts in the reader constantly throughout the quarter as well.

Personally, if I could do it over again, I wouldn't have taken the midterm (I got a B- on it), since he allows you to take home the test questions even if you decide not to take it, which will allow you to figure out how his exams work without having to take a bad grade in the process. Regardless, the main thing is that you figure out how his exams work. After I figured out what I did wrong on the midterm it was very easy to get a good study technique going for his final (which I got an A on).

So all that being said about how his class WORKS, how is Langdon as a teacher? Honestly, he's probably one of the top 3 History teachers I've ever had. He has so much passion & knowledge for the subject, and it really comes across in his lectures. On top of that he truly cares about his students, and is willing to help in any way he can if you talk to him. Can't wait to take another class with him!

To the person who didn't take the midterm exam and then complained that the final was too hard, simply put, you set yourself up for failure and you're a moron and didn't pay attention.

Professor Langdon is one of the best professors on this campus. He's extremely passionate about Roman History, applies it to current-day parallels, and establishes friendships/conversations with his students. I thought that his reader was extremely useful - he wasn't kidding, everything in there has a purpose. While the study guide looked a little overkill, the majority of it followed his main themes - which change after the midterm; keep your eye out for it.

At first the IDs in his midterms look very complex and difficult, then you realize that they're more of a game or a puzzle rather than an outright ID. It makes the exams more enjoyable! Also, remember to do these first, since they usually have a lot of information you can use on the essays.

I'm actually really looking forward to taking him in 116A this Spring!

Let me start by saying I'm a 4th year history major with a 3.7 departmental GPA. This was supposed to be one of my last upper div history classes. I should've followed my gut and dropped after the first lecture, as he rambled excessively about massive amounts of info, which went in one ear and out the other. I didn't. The way his class is set-up is a 100% final exam (with an optional midterm, which I didn't take). I studied like I usually do in history classes, with comprehensive class notes from every lecture, but his final exam was SOOOO RIDICULOUSLY HARD I got up and walked out, taking the F or Incomplete or whatever. The test was composed of 35 Identification questions, which are all worded terribly and in Langdon's trademark lecture tone. There were two sets of two essay questions in which we had to choose one set and do both. The questions were not general whatsoever. Finally, he had these historical paragraph thingies that were even more complicated and I didn't even bother figuring out what those were supposed to be. The test was the first and only history final that was intended to take up the whole 3 hours.

Bottom line: The directions to the final encompassed five pages of text. DO NOT take this class unless you're going to go to every lecture, study hours every week, do all the reading, etc. Especially because the four areas he told us the final was going to cover (Literature, family values, religion, and legislature) were either absent altogether or played a very minimal role on the test.

Langdon seems like a nice guy. The problem is he's just way too into Roman Republic history and forgets everyone else isn't at his level. This is the first History class I'm going to have to retake, and I pray its with another teacher!

Great professor, but yes, his lectures are full of information and if you cannot take notes fast you'll miss out on something. This is ancient history so bits of it are boring and other bits are extremely interesting. I recommend you read the material he assigns. It will help to retain the information he gives in lecture.

Langdon is one of those rare professors who reminds you that you are actually at UCLA, not kindergarten. He is deeply concerned about his students, but he doesn't baby them. He's just a genuinely good guy who is REALLY into his material. I say really, because not only does he have a booming voice, he has it hooked up to a microphone.
His lecture style is old school, and thats how it should be. He occasionally throws in some political editorializing, but it generally is relevant and insightful.
As far as his class goes: Don't try to write down everything, that will wind you back. Use your course reader; he wrote it, it will get you through if you actually actively use it in class. In fact, I JUST used it & read some of the text books and got an A.

Easiness: a lot of people struggled mainly with notes & note taking. But if you meet with Langdon and get him to remember you, he will be more inclined to look your work over again and grade it favorably.

One of the best professors in the history department, if not all of UCLA.

I only went to one class and couldn't wait for it to end so I could run home and drop it. I am sure that Professor Langdon is very nice and helpful as other students have mentioned, but I couldn't handle him as a lecturer. In the class that I attended he read with his booming voice basically an essay. I could not follow it or understand it and it really bothered me that he didn't look up at all to check in with the students. The impersonal, boring lecture is what made me drop this class on the first day. Maybe I lost out on something, but I didn't want to wait and see.

Professor Langdon is one of the most caring and thoughtful professors I have had at UCLA. When the class first started I was frustrated by his rapid lecture pace (at least 10 pages of single spaced handwritten notes every time) and by the sheer volume of information. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised when he took a personal interest in my success and went out of his way to help me learn and thrive in the class. I ended up with an A and a phenomenal experience. I reccomend that if you are going to take his class... 1) go to lecture every day 2) speak with him after lecture as soon as possible in the quarter (he is really easy to speak with and will happily chat with students about anything) 3) be open minded and prepared to study... it is ABSOLUTELY worth it!

Langdon was a very enthusiastic, passionate teacher whom you can really tell loves both his job and History. Unfortunately, that is all I really got out of the class. He speaks way to quickly, uses latin words in mid sentence for no reason, as well as provides way to much information for a single lecture. Typed I would have between 5 and 10 pages of notes per lecture then you would have to go back through every page correcting spellings of names, attempting to figure out who he was talking about, or just re-listen to the lecture trying to get everything you missed. He does constantly remind the students of the main themes during the lectures, however, the amount of information he gives makes the class way to overwhelming. He gives an optional midterm and a Final which are both in the same format; ID's and essays. Overall, Langdon's course was really overwhelming between all of the reading, the massive amount of note taking, as well as the final study guide he provided which had well over 100 laws, names, places etc. I personally will not be taking any other courses with Langdon, however, I appreciate his passion for history as well as how much he does care for his students. I ended up with a B+ in the course skipping the Midterm but doing the majority of the reading, attending every lecture, and studying tons for the final.