Although SOME of the information taught in this class was very insightful, other areas were grey...especially because Faier's lectures include a lot of rhetorical questions which fail to explain anything.

The sections are basically recaps of the lectures and the 2hr discussions drag on forever. I loved some of the information that I learned from this class but my TA's d and their ridiculous grading ruined it for me. Despite the fact that I earned an A, the midterm and final are graded ridiculously. Students got partial points marked off because the grading is pretty subjective and there were rumors going on that TAs were taking points off for writing exact definitions. smh. Only a few students got As on the midterms and our TA blamed it on the fact that UCLA is letting in too many unintelligent /lazy students...He failed to recognize that it was probably be his boring and ineffective teaching style since it was the majority of the class that did bad.

This class had the potential to be amazing, but I feel like it's not what it used to be.

"I loved some of the information that I learned from this class but my TA's d and their ridiculous grading ruined it for me. Despite the fact that I earned an A, the midterm and final are graded ridiculously. "

Yes exactly, just skip this class.

If you take it, and get your midterm back with a low score because your test was graded in a nit-picky manner, you can just blame yourself.

The grading went something like this:
Out of 3:
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
and so on..

Is this really necessary for a GE. A GE!?!?!?! I understand an upper division, but really a GE!?!?!?!

Thank you Professor Faier for killing my interest in geography with your stupidly graded midterms.

You have been warned.

Pros:

Very informative and interesting topics
Very relevant, explains a lot of thought provoking problems

Cons:
Not an easy GE class. Hundreds of pages of reading. Midterms are graded with insane nit-pickery. Good luck seeing your test, as its literally kept in a vault and if you challenge your grade you'll receive a lower one. If you skip lecture, the powerpoints won't have all the information on the tests. The 2hr section is totally useless, although attendance is mandatory. Faier says one thing about grading to the students,and totally different things to the TAs. Not recommended if you're looking for a class to blow off.

This class is definitely not as hard as the reviews below would suggest. I was expecting a super difficult class that would take up all my time and that is NOT the case. There is a lot of reading, but she gives you a lot of time to do it, so it's not that difficult and most of them are interesting. The only reading that seemed like too much was the Herbert one. I did all the readings, and I would definitely recommend doing them all, but for some of them you can definitely get away with skimming them since she discusses all of them in class. I definitely learned a lot in this course even outside of the cultural geography concepts. She's a really good professor and it's really easy to pay attention in class. I would DEFINITELY recommend! Side note- you should really go to lecture because in my class people stopped coming and we were watching movies, so she put ALL the movies on the exam- easy for the people who went to lecture. The exams are definitely fair. Basically just memorizing terms and a general idea of what all the authors wrote.

Professor Faier is the best! She is extremely concerned about her students and how they do in the class, and has office hours regularly for us to attend. She is also willing to review homework assignments and tests etc.

The course consists of 4 double spaced 2 page reading reflections, a midterm and a final, and there are weekly readings as well. The readings are not hard (except for the Herbert one which is not really necessary to do). The TAs are also super nice and helpful.

Overall, I really enjoyed the class and recommend it as a GE if you want a light workload and are good at reading.

Professor Faier was one of the best professors I have had at UCLA. I did not want to take cultural geography but I ended up loving the class material. Professor Faier is a great lecturer who explains the material thoroughly and she really loves what she does.
The tests are fair as long as you have gone to lecture, discussion, and read the readings assigned. She prepares slides and her and the TAs are always willing to help you and explain any topic you don't understand. The textbook material consists of two course readers that are sold at the UCLA store.
I am really happy I took this course but don't be fooled, just because it's a GE doesn't mean you can just slide by. You need to attend class and discussion and really try to grasp the material or ask for clarification if you don't.

Professor Faier was one of the best professors I have had at UCLA. I did not want to take cultural geography but I ended up loving the class material. Professor Faier is a great lecturer who explains the material thoroughly and she really loves what she does.
The tests are fair as long as you have gone to lecture, discussion, and read the readings assigned. She prepares slides and her and the TAs are always willing to help you and explain any topic you don't understand. The textbook material consists of two course readers that are sold at the UCLA store.
I am really happy I took this course but don't be fooled, just because it's a GE doesn't mean you can just slide by. You need to attend class and discussion and really try to grasp the material or ask for clarification if you don't.

This was one of the best classes I've ever taken at UCLA. Prof. Faier was engaging in class and the readings are really not that bad. I feel like the other reviewers must have been slow readers because they never took me that long. Both midterms were ridiculously easy and the writing assignments every other week took me 2 hours MAX. Such an easy yet rewarding class. Everything you learn is real-life applicable. Got an A with a fair amount of work put in, but that is only because I thoroughly enjoyed the material.

Very nice Professor, very strict about adding though. If you go to class and pay attention to the lectures it is very easy to do well. I barely read assignments and I received an A-.

This class was great! Professor Faier is amazing. With that being said you have to do the readings for the class. The reading material is essentially the class. However if you keep up with the readings and pay attention to the connections professor Faier makes during lecture, you will do great. Both the midterm and final are timed written essays, and are based off of the readings.
Best class I've taken at UCLA!!