Probably one of the worst graders. He does not have a clear grading scale in the syllabus, when you take the midterm he grades however he wants. Horrible horrible in grading. Avoid this teacher.

Be prepared to teach yourself the entire quarter with Suman. He only posts audio podcasts as lectures, no accompanying videos or slides, where he will go on many side tangents. This podcast format did a disservice to an otherwise interesting class. TA was virtually nonexistent, didn't even know their name and didn't have any contact/criticism/help from them once. Suman grades notoriously hard, I was expecting this from other reviews, but I scored low on the midterm and was not given a single word of criticism or suggestions on how I could improve. I spent weeks on the research paper, put my all into it, just to score low on it also - only problem is, all of the comments left on the paper were positive and complimenting my thesis and analyses. Not sure why I scored low, and wish I had some form of critique to grow from. Overall, least engaging class I've ever had, but interesting concepts if you're a media studies comm major. Also, final grade in class is based on only 3 assignments, so be prepared!

I strongly disliked this class and him as a professor. If you don't need this class, don't take it. The lectures were extremely disengaging and boring, however, VERY important. I never missed a class and would write down everything he wrote on the board (which was very little with no slideshows either) exactly as he did and anything of importance as he said it and I would still get low Bs on the exams (the averages were failing, an open note exam too). He would say information wouldn't be on the midterm/final and it most definitely was and he wants it to be very exact to how he imagines it. A specific instance was when we watched a documentary and everyone took out their notebooks and he said not to take notes and just watch. A question was about it on the final. In regards to the reading, it is very reading heavy. I think a lot of this reading was unnecessary and should be cut down on his end (yet the questions on the midterm/final would be extremely specific so read it if you want to do well). There were 300+ pages of reading of either very repetitive articles or just straight up anecdotes being treated as gospel. These anecdotes of nothing information will come up on the tests. There are also two books you have to read, they're okay books. Just once again he expects way too much of them on the exams and if you want to do well, take double the amount of notes on each question/quote as you would think necessary. The research paper I understand the application of this assignment to this class, the grading for it is harsh. I was honestly pretty content with my research I did and my paper. I did not do well even after the paper grade was curved. I looked at my critiques from the TA and I can admit where there were areas of improvement, however there were pages of it with no real critiques on how my paper could be truly improved at its core. The grade I was given was not appropriate for the work I provided. As for him he is rude when you email him and draining to listen to in lecture. The only thing I would change now about my work in the class to potentially do better (other than drop it entirely) is to look at the outline for the notes he posts on bruinlearn before class as a guide. I didn't figure this out till the end of the quarter so I don't know how much it would change my grades now but if you have to take the class, I would recommend it!

This grade is based on the midterm, a research paper where it’s a 100 or over person study, and a final. I will say that if you are a procrastinator or have a bad work ethic, this class isn’t for you. A lot of people who complained didn’t keep up with a material needed and did bad on the tests because they procrastinated. The material in class and outside is equally important. You get no electronics in class and only hand written notes. However, the tests are completely open note which makes the class 100% easier. You have a read two books during the quarter and 260 pages of articles as well as take notes on all of these. His lectures are interesting but he doesn’t tend of ramble and his lectures can be disorganized at times. I appreciate Suman however and honestly don’t regret taking this class. Although it was definitely my hardest class of the quarter, he was the class I most looked forward to. If you are passionate in communications and want a challenge, this would be the class for you.

I took this class blindly during my first quarter at UCLA as it was one of the few classes with seats left. Although Suman is a great lecturer, he is one of the hardest graders I've ever encountered. You need to answer the exam questions exactly how he verbalises it during lecture otherwise you'll get points knocked off aka write every single thing he says exactly how he says it. The class consisted of a midterm, final, and project. We had to read a 300 page reader as well as 2 books that we were tested on. It's a lot of reading and it's all common sense, but you HAVE to read everything in order to word it exactly how he wants on the exams. The final project was also SO time consuming (create a survey with 100+ participants and write an 8+ page paper on it, which involved difficult math to find averages that he does NOT clearly explain). I had to ask my friend who is well versed in Excel in order to do it. Overall, I'd say avoid this class.

He’s very old-school will not work with you very stubborn terrible greater

Professor Suman is a very entertaining lecturer. It has definitely been one of my favorite courses that I have taken-content wise- but the most difficult in grading. The content is very simple- but there is a lot of content. There are 200 pages of articles for the midterm, as well as a book and the lectures. The tests are open note, but the questions on the exams are specific to certain topics versus a broad understanding of the course material. There is no clear grading scale for the paper, and the exams are graded very harshly. If you take this class, you will learn a lot, but you will also be spending an ungodly amount of time reading.

Contrary to other reviews, I actually really like Professor Suman. The things I've learned in this class will stick with me for a very long time. His lectures are not boring. My favorite part of his lectures is that he introduces two sides for many of his points. I feel like as a society, we're so used to hearing one side, but we should really be hearing both sides of a story, for it makes us wiser. He doesn't use slides and he rarely writes on the board but he posts guides and podcasts on the website, and the podcasts can be transcribed. No laptops allowed, but this is for a good reason. Grade is based off 3 things - midterm, final, and paper. You can have all the notes you want on the tests. Yes, the class is a bit demanding in this sense and tests are graded "harshly," however, I'd rather take a challenging class where I will actually walk away with new knowledge - but that is just my opinion. This class is not an easy A, but if you want to expose yourself to different ways of thinking while retaining interesting information - take this class. Every single lecture was interesting. He is not a mean guy by any means. He will help when you ask. He is an actual professor who deserves to be at UCLA. This isn't an easy school, so we shouldn't expect classes to be super easy. However, I do understand wanting to get a good grade, and it is possible to get an A in this class! I will probably get a B but I'm happy that I took it. It's really up to the individual's preference - do you want to actually learn something and challenge your thoughts, or do you want an easy A?

Contrary to many students at UCLA, I love Professor Suman!! This class was very interesting. Your grade consists of a midterm, final, and research paper. The midterm and final were not too bad as long as you listen to the lectures (which were all podcasted and asynchronous) and did the readings. They were both part short answer and part essay (the short answer was based on lectures/articles and the essays were based on the books). The 2 books you have to read for the class aren't too long and can be read pretty quickly. He gave guides to guide your reading of the books too in terms of preparing you for the essays on the midterm and final. A lot of people found the books for free online but they were really cheap so I just bought them. There were additional readings of articles that he posted which are kind of a lot but you can easily skim them a day or two before the tests. The research paper was not bad (I got a 32/35) and Professor Suman was very clear on the instructions. He was also very helpful with questions if you emailed him. The research paper was due week 7 I believe, but Suman encouraged us to start early which helped. For the paper you have to create a survey and collect responses to study more about the effects a certain form of communication can have on certain populations.

Would definitely recommend!!

Love love love Suman!! Despite the fact it is impossible to get an A in this class :) compared to some other comm professors I've had, Suman is the most organized and the most clear. There are no surprises. Best lecturer at UCLA -- funny, engaging, repetitive in a good way, doesn't use slides. He doesn't allow tech in class (amazing!) and enforces this strictly; you learn so much better in an environment like this. Lots of readings but they're ACTUALLY interesting. Everyone at UCLA should have to take this class. There's a big research paper, but Suman will help you so much! He'll email you back super quickly. I got an A on the paper but B in the class despite being able to use all notes on exams. I think the essays are just graded super harshly considering I knew I got every short answer right.