Professor
Katsuya Hirano
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - Alice Ashiwa is not a fair TA. Even though I made sure to talk during every discussion section she gave me a B for my participation grade instead of an A, which meant my final grade was an A- and not an A. For essays she gave low B+'s. She refused to give papers a good grade and she said she would grade the last paper harshly in comparison to the first. Professor Hirano is a good lecturer but he needs to make sure his TA's grade papers similarly. The lesson to learn is not to get Alice Ashiwa as your TA, she is unfair and expects people to write flawless essays in order to get an A.
Fall 2019 - Alice Ashiwa is not a fair TA. Even though I made sure to talk during every discussion section she gave me a B for my participation grade instead of an A, which meant my final grade was an A- and not an A. For essays she gave low B+'s. She refused to give papers a good grade and she said she would grade the last paper harshly in comparison to the first. Professor Hirano is a good lecturer but he needs to make sure his TA's grade papers similarly. The lesson to learn is not to get Alice Ashiwa as your TA, she is unfair and expects people to write flawless essays in order to get an A.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - I took this class in my freshman year. It is still the best class I have taken at UCLA. There were two essays, a group project and weekly reports (that were only a paragraph long). Hirano is an extremely engaging professors, he doesn't care ıf the students get the small details. He emphasizes the students understanding the topics at a more general level. The topics discussed in class, the figures that are taught and the textbooks that are assigned are all very interesting. There is attendance in lectures, but even if there wasn't, I still would've gone to every lecture. The TA Rory was also amazing. I hope I can take another class by Hirano when I am a student at UCLA.
Spring 2019 - I took this class in my freshman year. It is still the best class I have taken at UCLA. There were two essays, a group project and weekly reports (that were only a paragraph long). Hirano is an extremely engaging professors, he doesn't care ıf the students get the small details. He emphasizes the students understanding the topics at a more general level. The topics discussed in class, the figures that are taught and the textbooks that are assigned are all very interesting. There is attendance in lectures, but even if there wasn't, I still would've gone to every lecture. The TA Rory was also amazing. I hope I can take another class by Hirano when I am a student at UCLA.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2018 - You have to do the readings for this class because before each lecture you turn in a one page reading response but you only have to read enough to answer the prompt. They're very easy and he gives you an automatic 100% if you turn it in and answer the prompt. There are no exams just a midterm paper and final paper. The midterm paper draws directly from reading and lecture so it's important to keep up with the readings and go to lecture. DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES. They will take points off of your paper if you do this. I wasn't very interested in the subject but professor Hirano was really passionate about the subject and it ended up becoming one of the most interesting subjects I've taken at UCLA. Honestly it was a great class. 10/10 recommend. Also selling some of the books necessary for this class and my notes (I went to every lecture and got an A) text me at **********.
Winter 2018 - You have to do the readings for this class because before each lecture you turn in a one page reading response but you only have to read enough to answer the prompt. They're very easy and he gives you an automatic 100% if you turn it in and answer the prompt. There are no exams just a midterm paper and final paper. The midterm paper draws directly from reading and lecture so it's important to keep up with the readings and go to lecture. DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES. They will take points off of your paper if you do this. I wasn't very interested in the subject but professor Hirano was really passionate about the subject and it ended up becoming one of the most interesting subjects I've taken at UCLA. Honestly it was a great class. 10/10 recommend. Also selling some of the books necessary for this class and my notes (I went to every lecture and got an A) text me at **********.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - I took Professor Hirano for a seminar class in which we all pursued our own research topic and were pretty much independently working. Because of this individualized style of a course, I didn't really get a chance to see him lecture. However, Hirano was incredibly helpful and informative in our projects and would always provide useful guidance for how we could better tailor our research to fit our interests. Meeting with him individually, he would recommend historical works, important figures, and more to assist in our search for information. And we would also present our projects and ask questions about others' projects as a group, which facilitated interaction and learning between students, despite the course being more self-guided. My only disappointment with the course was that we didn't get feedback on our final papers, and just got grades. I'd have liked to receive suggestions/comments/critiques on my work to know where there's room for improvement. But otherwise, it was a great course.
Fall 2024 - I took Professor Hirano for a seminar class in which we all pursued our own research topic and were pretty much independently working. Because of this individualized style of a course, I didn't really get a chance to see him lecture. However, Hirano was incredibly helpful and informative in our projects and would always provide useful guidance for how we could better tailor our research to fit our interests. Meeting with him individually, he would recommend historical works, important figures, and more to assist in our search for information. And we would also present our projects and ask questions about others' projects as a group, which facilitated interaction and learning between students, despite the course being more self-guided. My only disappointment with the course was that we didn't get feedback on our final papers, and just got grades. I'd have liked to receive suggestions/comments/critiques on my work to know where there's room for improvement. But otherwise, it was a great course.
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