It appears that Kye Barker no longer teaches at UCLA and is now at Smith College. So, those at Smith College who are somehow reading this review, beware! Here is a long-overdue review of my experience in his class. While the reading material of this class is super informative, the same cannot be said of Professor Barker. He's terrible at communication and, on top of that, is not helpful. On multiple occasions, several students on Zoom wanted clarification of the essays and he just left them hanging by dodging their questions. You are on your own. Even worse, although the three essays are YOUR interpretations of the reading material supported by textual evidence, it is ultimately up to Barker's interpretation as to what grade you will receive. Don't write something that is slightly off what he believes/think is right. For the record, I did pass, but the amount of stress I put into reading and writing for this single class is horrendous. I do not recommend taking him at all.

I enjoyed this class a lot because grades were based 90% on three essays that you wrote throughout the quarter and then 10% based on weekly discussion posts of about 400 words or so. Essays were weighted 25%, 30%, and then 35% for the final essay. All though he expects you to basically cite all of the information you use, meaning that every sentence should have a source, I felt that it was not too hard to do well in the course.