I took this class not only because I am interested in jazz but also because it is a rather easy GE. There is a midterm and a final, both online, and a final project as well. Weekly assignments are easy and just go over the reading (which isn't tested over). The final project was very enjoyable for me, as I did it over something I am passionate about - this class really isn't hard, just know that it isn't over the actual music but rather the genre's history. There are lots of extra credit opportunities as well. One complaint I have is that the rubric for the short-answer final writing was changed last minute and I had to re-submit my 10+ pages of writing close to the deadline because of a typological error in the rubric. Overall, Marc is a great professor and I do recommend the class.

This class is extremely easy and I would recommend it if you were only seeking for an easy GE and an easy A. This class however is extremely draining, not work-wise or content-wise but his lectures were possibly the most boring on the planet. There's little to no work outside of a weekly discussion about readings and a project but his 2 hour lectures (with no break) are intolerable. He often goes on tangents, calls on random students to discuss niche abstractions about jazz, and is just not an enjoyable lecturer. His exams are not about larger processes or the "big idea," but rather random names in jazz that he covered in maybe one bullet point in one lecture. His final study guide contained 79 names and the exam reflected that: not any historical concept that jazz related to or cultural evolution, but some random jazz artist that produced one song and was called "the king of [insert]." If you take this class, don't go to lecture and just study what your TA tells you to do. You'll probably be fine. Overall, wouldn't recommend this class for any reason other than to get an "A."

This class is fairly easy and manageable. The issue is, an almost two hour lecture is a little insane. The professor never fails to go off on tangents. Especially if you're tired in the morning, you're not going to remember everything that he says. Whenever I walk out of class, I ask myself, what did I even learn. I skipped like half of the lectures before the midterm and got an A on it. The slides have little information on them, but the information that is there is actually valuable for the midterm and final. The midterm is easier than the final, although the final isn't cumulative. There aren't any weekly assignments, and everyone is given notice on the due dates of every assignment from the beginning. It's relatively easy and I would recommend giving yourself enough time to complete them. The readings are pretty easy, and its only one reading per week. For midterms and finals week, he doesn't assign a reading. Overall easy work, but your grade does depend on your TA. Most if not all TAs were nice people and they aren't overly analytical/picky. I would say go to them if you need anything. Do with that what you will.

Professor Bolin is very passionate about Jazz and the subjects he touches on in class; however, his enthusiasm usually does not translate to the students. For each lecture, he has slides about different jazz artists or jazz styles and often just presents random facts about the artists' lives. The lectures are 2 hours long and become very boring after just a few minutes. Professor Bolin is really cool guy, but he just cannot seem to make learning jazz interesting. Maybe if you like jazz already or have a musical background you would have a better time than I did in this class, but realistically it will be very boring and you will dread coming to every lecture. Beyond the lectures themselves, the class is very easy. Every week we get a short reading about aspects of jazz, that are never discussed in class and never seem to be needed for anything besides a random discussion post you complete in your discussion section, although you could get away with writing about any jazz topic as the TA mostly grades for participation. The midterm and final consist of a few take-home short answer questions, which require around 2 citations from class material per response. The actual tests consist of about 50 multiple-choice questions that are relatively easy if you have a TA who reviews the material during the last discussion before the test. The main thing you have to study is a listening list that is provided to you at the start of the quarter. He played the entirety of the songs during the tests and you are expected to provide the songs' titles along with the artists and a fun fact about the songs themselves (all multiple choice). My TA, Courtney Blue, was super kind and approachable and although the discussion sections were somewhat boring, they were definitely better than the lectures themselves. If you can get her as a TA, the class will be super easy. She gave us review slides right before the exams and had us study exactly what was on the test. She even played some of the songs you had to listen to in class and provided us with the fun facts. She is also the one who grades your discussion posts, short responses, and final projects and seems relatively lenient as long as you follow instructions (I got 100% on all my discussion posts and short responses). The one good thing about this class is the final project, in which you are given a lot of freedom to choose what you would like to do. You have the option of writing a normal research paper (6-9 pages) on any topic that relates to jazz or creating your own project. Projects can range from your own musical piece or painting to a short film or album critique. You do have to provide a 1-3 page write-up with a creative project, but it was nice having the freedom to choose. There is also one other tedious project that is due at the end of the quarter, which is the concert evaluation, in which you have to attend an in-person concert and then do a 2-4 page write-up on it. It wasn't very fun, but it was easy enough to get done. Overall, if you're looking for an easy GE with relatively little homework and easy tests, then this is the class for you. However, be warned you will be bored out of your mind.

This class was a good easy GE. There was little to no homework except for weekly readings that you weren't tested on. I would recommend doing the readings though, because you had to write 3 short essays for the midterms and finals, and you had to use the class readings as sources. Those will be a lot easier for you if you do the readings ahead of time so you don't have to worry about them during finals/midterms. The tests were fairly easy, just review from the slideshow, but the final was a lot harder than the midterm. The materiel was pretty interesting, and I enjoyed his classes, but the lectures are two hours long which is honestly too much time. The main workload was a final project of your own choosing, but as long as you don't procrastinate on it, it shouldn't be too bad. I enjoyed this class quite a bit, but even if jazz isn't your cup of tea it is still a good easy GE