Professor Huehls is simply AMAZING! Take this class. You will never read a book the same way again. If you are an English major or minor or simply interested in thinking critically, take this class. It is difficult! Very difficult, but the material is so interesting and professor Huehls does a phenomenal job of breaking it down for you. He even podcasts his lectures! You will begin to think like a professor, reading with a Post-Structuralist lens or Psychoanalytically, etc. It's amazing all the things you learn in 10 weeks in this class. I thoroughly enjoyed the material as well as the professor. He is a funny witty guy and very, very intelligent. He's only 34! You will be impressed. If you do decide to take this class, be prepared to do a lot of reading and re-reading and maybe even listening in on some podcasts on top of going to every class and reading. But it's worth it! If you're willing to work hard, you're going to love this class and professor Huehls. I am sad that I cannot take any more classes with him. But he's so amiable and helpful, I definitely plan on staying in touch. Good luck and enjoy!

It completely breaks my heart that I probably wont be having him again. Here's the thing guys, this is one of those scenarios where you would totally befriend the person, but just not deal with them on a professional basis. I'm going to be real with you for a second, this class is a lot of work and pretty impossible if you're a procrastinator, but if you're a smartypants organized kid you can probably get a B or maybe, maybe an A (the material itself is extremely difficult but he does a swell job of explaining). To be fair, he does warn you that he grades hard (at the beginning of class) but I didn't know if you actually had to actually take the class or not so I did just to be safe. He's brilliant, he explains things in the way a normal human being would and he's super hilarious. It truly hurts me to miss a lecture and even though he conveniently podcasts them it's far better if you go (so you can ask questions and what not). I don't know what those other folks were talking about, him being a douchelord basically with the lectures, I actually think he's extremely kind and patient; I know I've heard some kids ask some pretty idiotic questions and have even stumbled upon one myself and not once does he make you feel stupid for it, he's that sort. He's like, the cool uncle type who you can tell was the poor sarcastic nerd back in the day but has build up a badass persona because of it. Yeah, he's a cool dude. But don't take his class if you plan on not working hard. Oh, one more thing, he does have this crazy three parter paper that's sort of the "Insanity Workout" of papers and yeah, it's crazy hard but he does give you all of quarter to do it and come now, If I can get this done, surely you can dear reader. God, he's just, such a nice person. Like he gives you multiple examples of A level papers and shit. This shit is crazy, but it's also the best I've had thus far. Damn. Maybe I should start working hard.

Huehls is super brainy and knowledgeable but can still explain all the abstract theoretical concepts you'll read in his class. I could not do the reading and still totally understand the theorist because he was so good at lecturing about it. He makes the lecture bearable with his sweet anecdotes about his son and genuinely cares about his students, treating them fairly. He's always willing to answer your questions and help you brainstorm ideas for the paper. Even when people asked dumb questions he was extremely patient and considered their perspective. The midterm and final are both very fair and he finds challenging but useful ways to evaluate you on his exams. This class will expand your mind infinitely and give you a good sense of theoretical history from Plato to Post-Colonialism. It's difficult but definitely worth it.

The comment below is dead on. He is completely full of himself. He reminds me of professors who would rather not be teaching, but do it because it's required of them. That or he simply doesn't think highly of UCLA undergrads-which I don't blame him for.
I regret taking into consideration the positive comments in my course and professor selection for this class.
The only positive thing I can say about him is that he explains the material well. Unless you like being lectured to, and don't mind hearing the occasional negative, subjective, or personal opinion remarks that he adds throughout lectures, avoid taking him.

Professor Huehls was amazing. We learned some very complex and rather ethereal ideas and he was a master at making the concrete as possible. His lectures were interesting, and he threw in relevant anecdotes about his young son that were hilarious. He always made me laugh several times in a lecture, mostly with nerdy English or philosophy jokes. He was great at letting us know what to expect on the midterm and final, going so far as to give sample answers to free-response questions on the study sheets, and his instructions for the paper were ridiculously clear. I also found him to be an understanding and fair grader. The course material is very challenging, but he makes it a delight and interesting. I even enjoyed learning about Marxism, which I've always found boring and tedious, and he was able to apply it to literature very nicely. I stressed a few times in that class but kept up on reading and got an A+.

I took 140A this past summer (09) on a recommendation that Huehls was a good teacher. While I found the material to be difficult at some time, Huehl's teaching style made it much easier to comprehend the material. He won't try to impress you, but he is fair and can be funny and works hard to make sure everyone understands the concepts. It was often hard to capture my analysis in a one-page response (we had to turn in 4 for the 6 weeks), but I liked getting to discuss nearly every author, instead of only a few in one or two large papers. The final was very comprehensive, but quite fair. He will help you review and is very approachable in office hours. I highly recommend Mitchum Huehls as a professor. One of my favorites

Professor Huehls is an incredibly engaging, knowledgeable and compelling individual. Because I took his class in the Summer, what would normally have been a 40+ person lecture, became a roughly twelve person seminar with Professor Huehls at the helm. I admit that I had NO CLUE what I was in store for when I enrolled in this class. The end of each reading assignment typically ended with my brain in a knot. Which is why I consistently found myself unable to skip class, despite my best slacker intuitions. No matter how complicated the reading, or confusing the material, I completely believed in Professor Huehls' ability to relate the material in a way that demonstrated not only his depth of knowledge, but an enviable amount of patience.

At the end of one discussion concerning Derrida, he said, "I feel like you are all infinitely smarter for having understood this.' When's the last time you heard that in class? And when's the last time that was true? Seriously, if you get the chance, and are up for the challenge, you should take his class. Just prepare your brain ahead of time and brace yourself because you will be infinitely more cerebral after all is said and done.

I took Literary Theory and Criticism with Huehls over this past summer (2008) and would recommend him highly for this course. Even during the truncated summer session, he was able to tackle an interesting line of critical inquiry, ranging from Plato to Derrida, in a clear and understandable format. Granted, our small enrollment numbers made our class a seminar when it should have been a lecture, so every one of us got every question answered. However, I imagine that a lecture setting would still produce the same clarity of concepts that a seminar did. Professor Huehls has a special talent for communicating complicated abstract ideas to a group of students totally green behind the ears. As an English major, you will walk away from his class with your mind stretched to its limits and a new basis of understanding approaches to literature which will inform yours.