Do not listen to earlier reviews on this class as he has changed the structure of the class a lot. While his lectures are engaging and has definitely opened my worldview to real issues caused by corporations and billionaires in society, the class is definitely very politically aligned towards the left. Our graded assignments were 5 in-discussion essays every other week and each essay was worth 10% of our grade. The essays were also timed and harshly graded. The class was interesting and not too hard, but definitely not as easy as an A as it has been.

Where do I begin (I know its cliche), Professor Kelley is a smart and knowledgeable guy, but he is an awful professor. Not only is he severely underprepared for every single lecture (he often times works on his presentation slides 5 minutes before class and admits it), but he does not promote any kind of logistical and interpretative thinking whatsoever. He simply tells you what to think, and provides information about it. He is also a self proclaimed Communist—which isn't inherently wrong, everyone has the right to believe in what they choose, however he frames his lectures to look at history through a purely communist infatuated lens. Kelley wants you to think like a Marxist.

For very heavy political and economic issues that have a variety of nuance to it, Kelly doesn't ever mention the capitalist or conservative viewpoints of these problems in a fair way. So what ends up happening is that a deep, ultra liberal echo chamber is created inside the classroom where nobody is able to think for themselves. As a professor he should not have the right to push political ideologies onto his students; instead, he should remain neutral and cover both sides of history. He even goes to the extent of TELLING STUDENTS, to go support anti-ice raids and has openly said in lecture that trump should go f#*^@ himself.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as Kellys assignment system is also TERRIBLY flawed. He often signs 200 page readings in a single week where when I'm telling you nobody reads them, nobody reads them. Why? Because there is absolutely no academic incentive to read them. You can easily pass this class by just citing notes from lectures and doing his biweekly quizzes which are the only kind of form of grading assignment besides attendance and the end of the quarter project. And let me tell you, the bi-weekly quiz system is also INCREDIBLY flawed because the quizzes only test material from the week prior. Which means you never have to attend Kellys lectures the week of a quiz since none of that material will ever be tested. Again, this is still just the tip of the ice-berg since Kelly's lectures are again...TERRIBLE and incredibly flawed again. For one he does not define political terms and expects his student to already know the ins and outs of heavy politics. I understand this is not an introductory history course but he often goes on tangents where he loses the majority of the class. It has gotten so bad that the classroom is nearly empty. Out of the 200 and something students that are enrolled, only around 50 actually attend these lectures. And why would you? Kelley goes through his slides incredibly fast and talks and presents in a way that is not note taker friendly. He doesn't even take breaks to have students ask questions until the very end of the lecture when most have probably already forgotten their question by the end of it.

But by far the biggest and possibly scariest problem about this class has to be the professors rating on bruin walk. Why is he at a 4.2? My biggest hypothesis is that he has a high rating because people align with his political ideology. Which really goes to show what has happened to some of us. Some have become so brainwashed that we cannot see a horrible, irresponsible, and unprofessional teacher, even if its right in front of us.

LOVE this class and LOVE this professor. Best class at UCLA by far. highly highly recommend.

By far my favorite class I've taken throughout the entire year. Prof Kelley delivers his lectures in a manner where you usually have to pay attention because certain comments or opinions are not necessarily reflected on the PPT (as expected). Information and generally-hard concepts are presented in a super digestible manner. This class has a flight resonance with economic theory (you do not need prior knowledge whatsoever) and is extremely relevant to the current political state of our world. This class behaves as an exposé of everything-political from big corporations to major political figures. Super eye-opening, no final just a take-home essay, no homework only 3 assignments for the entire quarter and an appreciation for students that participate during discussions. My TA was Annie Powers, amazing teacher and super friendly!

This class was super easy and the Professor is very nice about rounding grades. There aren't any tests so your grade is pretty much made up of the two essays that you write. I had no interest in the topic of this class so it was hard for me to pay attention and write the papers, but it was worth the A. I also did not like how the Professor and my TA would constantly bring up their political and personal beliefs during class- very unprofessional.

extremely free only 2 assignments are midterm paper and final paper plus a group project and all are graded very easily - can just chatgpt all the readings before writing the paper

If I could take this class every quarter I would!! Prof Kelley is an amazing man and a great teacher who is extremely passionate and knowledgable about the subject. This class genuinely changed my worldview and gave me an incredible understanding of so many historical and contemporary issues in just one quarter. It was definitely a reading heavy class but I know people who only ever read an article or two right before the papers and were fine. I would say this class is definitely a you get out of it what you put in to it kind of thing. I personally am a polisci major and very interested in the topic so I put a lot of heart into my papers, which weren't easy to write but seriously pushed me to think critically in ways I never have before. On the other hand, I had friends who didn't care one bit about the class and still did well, just weren't moved by any of the ideas introduced. I would definitely recommend either way, Prof Kelley will be your favorite prof either way.

To succeed in this class you MUST attend lecture and discussions. The professor's lectures can oftentimes be confusing and he does not include all information on slides. The readings are difficult to navigate without prior knowledge on the subject matter. This class consists of two essays (which were graded VERY harshly), a group project (done with your entire discussion section), and a participation grade (done at the discretion of your TA). This class is heavily dependent on your TA, and you MUST cater your essays and commentary to the TA, otherwise you will not score well. This class has certainly changed from its previous format, the professor wants more likeminded people to take the class, which makes this a tougher GE. Take a look at his wikipedia and if you are really interested in his work, he's the prof for you, otherwise this is a challenging class with a heavy reading workload.

The professor is a GOAT because he is lowk semi famous and also an expert at lecturing like incredibly knowledgable. The essays were graded kinda harshly though, and the content was sometimes too much to absorb. Overall would rec

Professor Kelley was one of the best professors I have taken a class with in my UCLA journey. He cracks relatable jokes in class that aren't corny, understands the student's perspective, and is willing to help you understand hard concepts. Because most topics we learn are real world examples within the past 10 years, including present day, classes are pretty engaging.

Yes, this class has somewhat tough concepts. Yes, this class has readings. Yes, there are big history words.

But take it from me. English isn't my first language, yet after going to the TA's office hours and his own office hours, I was able to understand things a lot better. I went into this class for a GE, yet in the end, I would take it again.

His lectures are not mandatory, discussions are mandatory. No homework, just make sure to do the readings and take notes for discussion. He provides fun extra credit opportunities like participating at the picket line for a protest, going to seminars, and etc.. There are no formal exams, just two 1200-1700 word midterm papers, and a final paper (our TA even allowed us to go beyond the word count as long as it related to the topic).

There is a fun group project at the end of the quarter that you get to do. Your whole discussion section is a part of your group. You can choose any issue that people are fighting for, present day or things that happened years ago.

P.S.: someone once told me he lectures in lowercase and I can't unhear it