Overall, Anthro 2 was my easiest class this quarter, and I took it as a GE. The class is graded based on 2 essays (20% each), 1 midterm (20%), discussion participation (15%), and a final (25%). There is also extra credit for up to 5% of your final grade.
Monica is a very enthusiastic and engaging lecturer in my opinion, and she provided slides to complement her speaking. Realistically, if you copy down her slides' bullet points you should have all the material you need to succeed in the class. She provides a few bullet points at the beginning of each lecture to review the previous one, which I used as a study guide for exams. Both the midterm and final were multiple choice, and in my opinion, extremely easy. All I did to study was read my lecture notes and focus on the review bullet points the day before and received A's on both exams. Plus, the lectures are all Bruincasted, so that was awesome.
As for the assigned reading, I actually did all of it, but you really don't have to. Doing all of the reading can take a while, so I really don't know if it was worth it. She goes over the important points from each reading during lecture, so as long as you are familiar with those, you should be set.
The essays in the class were also fair in my opinion. Monica tells you the format she wants (it's a basically a compare and contrast), and encourages you to have your TAs look at your rough drafts. I personally wrote both the day before they were due (she gives the prompts 2 weeks before the due date), did not have my TA (Eden) proof either of them, and got A's on both.
The extra credit required you to visit a nearby museum and answer a few questions about it in an essay format. The visit took my probably 20 minutes to gather the information, so it's relatively simple. If you do it earlier, it counts for more of your grade.
Overall, this class is great for an easy, low-workload GE, and I highly recommend taking it!

Overall, this class was pretty good. Monica tries to lighten up the lectures on a pretty boring topic with the occasional joke and the lectures are bruincasted for when you really don't want to go to class. Also, you never have to do the assigned reading to get all necessary information which is great. The TA grading was pretty uneven for the two papers, so try to get Jaime Vela if possible. The midterm and final are both multiple choice and VERY easy. She also offers up to 5% extra credit, so I actually ended with over 100% in the class. Overall this was a fine class, not a super interesting topic but we love Monica and it's an easy GE.

hard to imagine how I could attend every lecture, participate in every discussion, and study very thoroughly for the final and end up with a such a bad grade.

don't expect the professor to answer your emails.
do expect this to be another GE that should be easy but is graded ridiculously by TAs who seem to have a problem with every single person in your discussion section.

don't expect that your hard work will pay off in this class. if you're already enrolled in this class, well, good luck Charlie.

If u think it is a easy GE, do not take it. If u dont have interest in anthropology or archaeology, do not take it bc it will be a disaster. The stuff was so boring and made me fall asleep. i went to lectures most of the time but i did not learn anything more than my friend who seldom went attend class. The essays were graded harshly and although TA promised to help review the first draft, he got impatient and said that was all i can help by throwing me two sentences which were not constructive suggestions. Plus i got points distracted for both papers for the APA format. I swear that i checked the format online and even asked people in the writing center and did that following instructions carefully. I really wonder what is the TA's problem.

The essays in this class are graded very subjectively by the TA's and Monica didn't care much when this concern was brought up by multiple classmates. It is helpful to bring your rough draft to your TA and get feedback. Make sure to memorize important dates for the midterm and the final. Some midterm questions are reused on the final, so review them. Most if the material comes from lectures, with a little bit from the weekly readings. Overall, not the easiest GE if your TA is a harsh grader.

As a fourth year anthro major, I thought taking this class would be a breeze. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
There was 2 papers, a midterm, and final.
The grades I received did not reflect on my investment and work I put in for this class.
The TA’s graded their sections and the essays were graded very subjectively and who you had as a TA affected your overall performance. ( I had Eden)
This is the first class at UCLA where I had received lower than a B on a paper so I was very shocked to see my performance on the papers.
For the exams, they were way too specific and some questions did not reflect on the class. I had a hard as well on the exams.
Overall, do not recommend to take this class unless it is required.
Welp. I only have one quarter left... If I don’t pass, that’s another story.
I hope professors and TA’s take these evaluations in consideration.

This class was one of my favs at UCLA and was the driving factor that influenced me to choose my minor (anthro). Dr. Smith was very accomplished in her field –– almost every topic we covered included a slide or two of her in some part of the world doing research or excavation that was relevant to that site/topic. Lectures were recorded and every lecture had a review slide with key points from the last lecture. If you learn the info from these review slides, you're 80% there in terms of being prepared for the midterm/final. The exams were in person and you were expected to remember the main ideas of the readings and the authors of them, but the key info you need to know is covered in the lectures. I personally did not do the readings and found the midterm/final to be manageable. There is also very little work throughout the quarter aside from going to lectures or watching them at home. I think it was 2 projects –– creating a map of a portion of UCLA, and drawing a comic depicting the content of an anthro research paper.

Finished with 108% in this class. This is the easiest class I've taken at UCLA by far. The extra credit was a 10% grade boost and the midterm and final were very easy. Can't recommend this class enough.

Class consisted of 2 projects, a midterm, a discussion grade, and a final. The discussions had mandatory attendance and as long as you participated, you got got a good discussion grade. Projects were very easy and quick to complete. Lectures were sometimes interesting. Hardest part of the class was studying for the midterm and the final since they were based on the many readings (over 20 academic articles) we were assigned and anything she covered in lecture. She often went over the most important parts of the readings in her lectures but there was also a lot of content to cover aside from that in her slides. The exams were partially multiple choice, partially short answer, and partially essays. The essay portion made up a lot of points on the exam. For the exams, you were expected to memorize the names of authors and the main gist of their articles, but also some occasional miniscule details that could've been easily overlooked. If you get the main ideas though, you'll probably do fine. My recommendation for studying: rewatch all the lectures and make flashcards listing vocab words, dates, events, concepts, and authors' main points. Drill those flashcards even though they will have a lot of content on them and it may fatigue you. Lastly, do the extra credit early. She offers a huge boost to your grade if you do this. The extra credit is typically a trip to a museum. It's fun and well worth it.

Professor Smith is super caring and wants you to learn. She uses slides for lectures and at the beginning of every lecture she has a "study guide" slide which will serve as your study guide for the midterm and final. The two projects are relatively easy and as long as you go to your TA's office hours once before each project you should be able to get an A on them. Do the extra credit as soon as it is out as it will give you a potential 10% boost on your final grade for the class. Very chill class overall.