I actually really enjoyed the content of the class, it was interesting and engaging. The class varied from topics like pop culture to body image and much more. The only difficult part about this class is that the midterm and final heavily weigh on your grade. There are 2 small assignments that help bring up your grade slightly. I think the exams were slightly challenging as you do have to focus on the articles he provides and specific details but if I spent more time studying or going to office hours I probably could've gotten a better grade. Overall, the class was interesting but if you're bad at test taking like I am be prepared to be studying a lot more.

Given that it was my first quarter at UCLA and the class was about the evolution of mass media images, I had the highest of hopes entering this course because I was very interested in what it had to offer. I was expecting a communication class to be very engaging and have opportunities for cool assignments pertaining to the topics we are studying; I was in for a rude awakening. Every class felt like groundhog day with him entering wearing the same grey t-shirt and reading off of the slides in a very monotoned voice. I feel like I learned more about his life and accomplishments more than I did of the class material. He went to UCLA for undergrad, went to Stanford to pursue a law degree, obtained a doctorate in psychology and has been teaching for 20 years; that is only a small handful of the many things he shared about himself. Meanwhile, I can’t tell you something I learned in the class that I didn’t already know before. There are no homework assignments, but you are graded on a midterm, final, and a couple of assignments that are supposed to help bring your grade up since the tests are 40% of your grade. You have to do really well on the tests or you are basically screwed since there are no extra credit opportunities. Unfortunately, I studied really hard for both tests and went through the readings but only managed to get Cs on both of them, causing my grade to suffer. He is one of those professors who will add items on the test that were never covered in either lectures or readings which was really annoying. Rather than identify areas that he may need to improve on, he proceeds to make students feel like we are the problem and that we only receive the grades we truly earned. He is very egotistical and acts as though life is the same as it was 20+ years ago and that any problem that young people face is because of our ignorance. Every class just felt like an annoyingly long lecture from your dad about how young people now are too sensitive and that life wasn’t like this way back in the day. Not to mention that if you raise your hand in the class to ask a question or answer him, he proceeds to talk over students before they even finish because he’s just so impatient. Yet, this guy wonders why nobody shows up to his office hours. I was lucky to end the class with the grade I received because I did not have the greatest expectations for my GPA. I honestly regret choosing this elective because I was more stressed about this class than I was for my actual major classes, which I managed to receive As for. He’s probably going to read these and scoff but you know what, the truth hurts, and the truth is that he is just not a good professor and lacks the self reflection skills he desperately needs. I would avoid taking any class of his if you can; save yourself the stress.

Super chill class. It was a mixture of lecture and guest speakers on topics that were being discusses. His lectures can be a little long and kind of intense, as he gives you a lot of information on studies and research being done. Take really good notes even when the speakers come. He tends to pull a lot of specific details for tests. We took our exams online so it was helpful to have notes, but the time limit is pretty strict. With that being said, the class is mostly exam based, with the midterm and final being 40% each and then 2 short papers worth 10% each. The papers are pretty easy and graded leniently so they help cushion your grade. Study hard for tests and take super detailed notes and you'll be good.

Structure of Class:
* Two tests (midterm and final)
* One fairly short essay about a movie
* One creative art project. Not complicated, he gave every 100% (when I took this class)

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Not a difficult class, as long as you study the material before the tests. The material itself is interesting and not difficult to understand, there's just a decent amount of it. From what I remember, some of the content included: Porn, sexual attraction, racial stereotypes, fear of spiders, TV news. Cool stuff, not all theoretical and boring like most other comm classes.

Try to participate during lectures, he appreciates when students speak up. He's a nice guy and this is the second class I took with him. I like Huppin

I heard a lot of great things about this professor and extremely disappointed with how he handled virtual teaching. His communication and organization skills are embarrassing as a professor with a JD and PHD (which he reminds us of very often). I understand these circumstances are difficult for professors, but they are just as difficult if even more so for students. avoid all virtual classes with him. exams are tough and he does not give enough time to finish. before our midterm and final he didn't even discuss it/mention and instead had irrelevant guest lectures discussing architecture, I'm sorry but I don't see the correlation to mass media. He even tested us about some abstract poem the guest lectures shared relating to a mason jar. I'm not even upset about the rigor of the course but just disappointed with his lack of communication when we aren't able to physically be in a classroom or visit him in office hours. When students raised concerns or asked questions, he avoided providing answers and was extremely defensive for absolutely no reason. He seems like a nice guy, but he wasn't there for his students when we needed it the most. Ignored all of my emails or responded days later when my questions were not even relevant. I will be avoiding all classes with huppin.

I went to class, took notes, skimmed over the very few assigned readings, and studied the night before to get an A- . The information given on the slides are a bunch of experiments. Just know the experiment, the result, & why. 99% of them are common sense so they aren’t hard to remember. 2 midterms, no final, 2 “papers” (they are thought papers, so just put your opinion with some facts given in the slides and you’ll get full credit. About 1-2 pages in length). The midterms were multiple choice and 2 short answer questions. Easy A with little work and interesting material. (I am a south campus major, so comm isn’t even my thing)

Tough class. Not sure exactly what he want from us on tests and grades seemed arbitrary.

Professor Huppin does a great job with this class. The material is primarily based on evolutionary psychology, and he's been wonderful with making the necessary connections about why our communication via media has evolved to be the way it is today. His class is super fair -- he's not there to fail anyone. If you literally go to class every time and take decent notes, you're better off than the other 1/2 of the class. Midterm questions are specific, and you will need to study the diagrams/understand them to do well. Workload is minimal with a few short reading assignments, a 2 page thought paper, 2 midterms (NO FINAL), and a small project. I personally found this class super engaging, easy, and fun, especially since I'm not majoring in COMM. I would highly recommend this class to someone who is looking for an A in an upper-division class.

I have had the pleasure of taking two courses with Professor Huppin and I highly recommend taking one of his classes. This class consisted of two short papers, a multiple choice midterm, and a multiple choice final. The lectures are all very interesting and he always ties in contemporary events with each topic. He is helpful in office hours and his tests are very straightforward. If you do all of the readings and attend the lectures, you should be able to earn a solid grade. One of the better professors I have had in the Communication Studies Department at UCLA.

I'm fairly certain that there is one student in particular that is posting the same negative reviews on Huppin (8/28)... she posted something similarly negative about Professor Johnson in the Comm department as well. I had her in several of my classes as we were both Communication majors, and it was clear from the beginning that she hates evolutionary psychology and anyone that incorporates it into their lessons. Considering how many UCLA professors refer to it and how much evidence there is for the theory, it's shocking that she is still so ignorant about the subject. She consistently freaked out about sexism and racism and other -isms despite Huppin's very clear explanations about the studies that yielded these supposedly offensive results. So I would disregard her remarks, mostly she came off as a crazy.

As for Huppin himself, he’s a good professor who is very interested in building relationships with his students. I think I went to office hours with a total of 3 professors, and Huppin was one of them because he was so approachable. Tests weren’t super easy though. They’re multiple-multiple choice and get a little dicey, but he’s fair with any written assignments and curves generously at the end.