One of the best classes I've had at UCLA. I'm a transfer student, and I believe that this class is perfectly organized and has a clear theme that is easy to understand, and following the narrative of Byzantium is fun and engaging. Professor Langdon applies current events to the policies relevant to the course, and his references express a different angle on the topic that makes you think critically. A few tips to keep in mind: this is a decently heavy reading class, and Langdon focuses on people affecting history, so read with the intent to apply the Historical figures to the narrative, like telling a story. It is one of the best classes I have had, and I believe Professor Langdon has a true passion for teaching; if given the opportunity, I encourage anyone to enroll.

(Also, go to the in-person lectures and office hours. He gives out candy)

The strength of Doc Landons class was that if you wanted to put in the work to learn and get a good grade you could. He grades you on what you know, not what you don't know. There is a lot of material in this class, but it is manageable as long as you understand you don't need to learn every single little detail, just understand the themes and be able to apply them in different situations. I do not see any weaknesses.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. I have no idea how it has such high reviews on bruinwalk. Genuinely one of the worst professors I've ever had. He is constantly interrupting class to give his take on whatever he saw on TV this morning. Don't take this class unless you want to hear an 85 year old's opinion on everything that is going on in the world. I've never met a professor so full of himself. He would not stop talking the entire midterm. He graded midterms in front of us out loud as we were taking the midterm. He is constantly talking about "greco-roman heritage", uses the word "barbarian" like it is a slur, is constantly describing teenage or younger women in history as "perky" or "hookers". He brings up "the filthy turk" or "illiterate unwashed sacarens", and is just always feeding into racial stereotypes that are disgusting. The last lecture I listened to he made up that downtown LA was destroyed after a basketball game was won, which is 1. not true and 2. a disgusting racial stereotype! I have no idea how he still works here! According to him, we need to bring back the national draft and there are too many immigrants in the army (they're not loyal to the US apparently). This is a man stuck in the 50s. He's incredibly condescending and is almost unbearable to listen to for long periods of time, going on the same rants over and over. He's very passionate about the subject and makes the content somewhat clear as long as you keep the class reader near and dear to your heart, but is very much stuck in the old-fashioned way of learning and doing history. Great men, names and dates, linear timelines that you have to know beat-by-beat. My least favorite professor I've had the displeasure of taking at UCLA.

Professor Langdon is very good at making Byzantine History interesting and come to life. He often draws parallels between modern and late antique/early medieval history to help reinforce concepts he teaches in the class. Learning about Justinian’s reconquest of Italy & the western provinces was very cool. I found the class straightforward and quite easy but perhaps that’s because reading/language is my strong suit. A decent amount of reading is required in this class. He tests overall conceptual understanding of events much more than knowing specific details like dates or individual figures.

Honestly, Dr. Langdon wasn't my favorite professor but not the worst I've ever had. The final and (optional) midterm are very hard and require you to know lots of specific terms, events, and people. It really felt like I was more prepared by just reading and studying through all the terms he provided than actually trying to understand the big picture of the events he discussed. I wouldn't say it was all negative though. He did care about his students and graded quite generously. He also offered a lot of constructive criticism on the midterms and finals. My advice though is to 100% take the optional midterm, it will show you what he wants out of the essays and what to expect on the final.

I've taken Dr. Langdon's courses for the last 4 quarters, and I kept coming back to him because he's a phenomenal professor. I recommend him without hesitation.

He is a VERY engaging professor, and gets really invested in his own lectures. His sense of humor is very refreshing and keeps his students engaged and waiting to hear what he's going to say next. He's incredibly helpful and wants the best for his students, and will always invite his students to his office hours to explain concepts and help them prepare for the midterm and final. The workload is incredibly light; your grade is based solely on an optional midterm and a mandatory final. He's also really passionate about Byzantine and Roman history, and you can tell he genuinely cares about the subject material.

Make no mistake - his exams are really tough. If you don't fully understand the main themes (which he repeats during every lecture, so it's your fault if you don't get it) or don't study the important historical figures for the exams, you're going to have a rough time. But he's very helpful, he puts in the work for his students, and he expects you to put in an equal amount of work.

All in all, I would take a class with Dr. Langdon every quarter if I could. He's a fantastic professor!

Class was ok, lectures were pretty long with just him sitting in front of a camera talking and sometimes showing a map. Would not recommend this class to anyone who prefers a Prof who uses slides during lectures, because he doesn't use any. Grading was pretty generous with an optional midterm and mandatory final. Definitely a lot of reading and the course reader is almost $100, but still a pretty decent class.

Langdon's class has been one of my favorite at UCLA. He tells history like a TV show (he literally ends class with "tune in next time for...") and is super passionate about it. His lectures supplement the course reader super heavily, so he tends to go through material really quickly. As long as you read ahead of the class a little, though, you'll understand what he's talking about. The lectures may be a little difficult to follow if you don't do the reading, especially since he does his best to apply the correct pronunciations to the terms and figures in history. He also highly emphasizes material he intends to add on exams. The entire class' grading was based on the (optional) midterm and the final, but he isn't the strictest grader. Generally, as long as you explain that you understand the events and concepts in the correct chronological order, he won't dock you too hard for not remembering exact dates. I also highly recommend taking the midterm (he lets you see the questions before you have to commit to taking it) just so you see what he's looking for and how he grades. I definitely recommend taking 116A (and probably Langdon's other classes, too) if you can.

Langdon is a cool dude. At first the amount of information he throws at you can be daunting, but dont worry he is not a tough grader on the tests. His classes are set up with an optional midterm and one required final exam. Lectures can be long and sometimes confusing due to him sticking with correct pronunciation of names/terms in the original language, which ranges widely due to the diverse nature of the era, so a quick review of the days terms can be helpful in following lecture. I agree with others on here that lectures are more important than readings, and also reviewing of major themes he outlines in the reader. Overall, what he wants is to see what you learned, so flood the exam book with all the information you can, this is how you can get a good grade. Also, go to his office hours and ask him questions or talk about random stuff, he is a really friendly guy! The coolest thing Langdon did for me, as an example of how caring he was towards helping out students, was that he fished through the trash to find an old copy of one of the readers (I had mentioned how I had to photo copy a friends due to having such little money). Best advice I can give is to replay the lectures, focus on what you find most interesting (i.e. terms you find easy to understand, rulers that stuck out to you), and dont worry about the whole mountain of other details!

Have extra copy of the course reader. Text ********** if interested