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

Is this an easy GE? Yes, because there are only two papers and a final group project that was your entire 20+ person discussion section (kind of pain to organize but it's Kelley's "philosophy"). They changed it from last year's structure. The lectures were often disorganized and would jump topic to topic, and if you didn't do the 60+ pages of readings it was very easy to get lost. Professor Kelley is one of the best historians of our era, so if you care about the material there's alot to learn, but he also rambles quite alot. My TA was really helpful about clarifying the lecture material. I will say your grade will also vary based on your TA, I know others that were harsher on the papers. They don't want surface level answers, and if you don't do the reading it's harder to get more in depth on Neoliberalism's influence on whatever the prompt is.

Grade breakdown: discussion participation 20%, midterm paper 25%, final paper 25%, discussion section group project 30%

It's an interesting class but you HAVE to go to ALL the lectures or do all the reading and kelley lowkey made the class harder this quarter (two midterms and its an essay now, not small weekly discussion posts) but its not a bad GE its not free though you def have to read and write quite a bit

One of the best GEs you could take at UCLA. There were no midterms and finals for this class. The grade was based off of weekly discussion posts centered around the assigned weekly readings and a final project that you work on with your entire discussion section. Because of this, I only spent an hour each week doing work for this class. Not only is the class super easy to do well in, Professor Kelley is one of the best lecturers I've had at UCLA. He is truly passionate about the subject and it is reflected heavily throughout the course. I also loved my TA and would attend her office hours to discuss the material but also discuss how the topics learned in class impacted the world today. As long as you keep up with the readings and do your part in contributing to the group project, you should have no problems doing well in the class :)