This class was a super free GE and the content was super interesting. If you took AP Spanish Lit and enjoyed it, this class is very similar (highkey easier) and super interesting and fun.

I slacked off heavy throughout the quarter (would constantly read everything late, skipped most lectures, left early for the classes I did go to) and it was still one of the easiest classes I took here. My TA yelled at me for not studying early on haha.

The final is worth 50% and the midterm is 25% which seems like a lot, but in hindsight that means no graded assignments throughout the quarter AND the tests are super easy. You only need to read 2 of 5 works for the midterm, have a grasp on what he talked about for those works, and be able to write an essay for each work with a question that is based on the topics in lecture. The final requires a little bit more reading/watching movies, but honestly, I didn't read or watch the movies, I just did some research on the topic and watched back those specific lectures. The final and midterm were SO free.
It is a lot of reading but that's the only homework that you have to do - and honestly you don't even have to read all the works. My particular favorites were The Broken Spears, Ashes of Izalco, and Nuestra America.
10% goes to really short quizzes that you take once a week (you do have to go to lecture for those) and 15% for discussion participation. I was worried my TA wasn't going to mark me high for participation, but I participated maybe once a class or not at all and got full points. The short quizzes were my lowest score in the class.

The content is also super interesting, and Van Delden was very engaging in is lectures. I didn't participate enough for him to know my name, but he knew a lot of his students' names and would often engage with students directly and share personal stories. I really enjoyed learning about the Aztec conquest and the Mexican Revolution in particular.

I was going to drop this class because the final was 50% and I had no prior knowledge in Latin American culture whatsoever, but I stayed because the course content was genuinely interesting, and the exams turned out to not be that hard, just go to lectures or listen to the recordings and you'd be fine. The professor is so kind and tries to remember everyone's names, I actually feel bad that not a lot of people show up. There were a lot of readings, but you don't have to do all of them because you could choose two out of four/five questions on the midterm and final, so you basically only need to do four weeks of reading.

I took SPAN 120 with Professor Van Delden in the Winter of 2023 in person. SPAN 120 has probably been one of my favorite upper-division Spanish courses I've taken at UCLA so far. Professor Van Delden is an amazing lecturer, he can at times be a little boring however you can tell he is very passionate about the material. Not only this, but he is very kind, and he made sure to memorize everyone's names. This course consisted of weekly quizzes on readings assigned to you the week prior and 3 essays. The coursework is not bad at all, simply pay attention during lectures and make sure to participate in your discussion section. I would take a course with Professor Van Delden again, he is funny at times and the stories he shares about his journey to becoming a professor are very interesting.

hmmm..He's a really nice guy. Your grade just depends on your TA, so don't get an uptight one like I did.

I had Professor van Delden for Spanish 150, Contemporary Mexico. His class was a discussion-based one where we read texts at home each week and came to class to share our thoughts. At the start of one of the classes each week, we had a pop multiple-choice quiz about the reading. These quizzes were difficult in that they sometimes focused on specific details within the readings, but you could drop one grade. The course was split into three units, and for each, we had to write a paper comparing a couple of the texts that we had read. We had two extra credit opportunities where we had to attend a seminar and write a one-pager about it. Overall, the class was easy and the professor was kind and approachable, both during class and office hours. Native speakers may have difficulties in this class because he grades grammar in the essays.

Very sweet man and a great professor. He was very understanding and always took the time to hear our concerns/ opinions. His weekly quizzes will most definitely not be missed. I sort of expected this class to be different, such as reading memoirs, poems, songs, or letters from people of the revolution, and, instead, it was simply dedicated to reading around 4 books about the time period. Overall, it was an interesting class and I would recommend it.