Okay, here's the deal. I think the reviews of this class are polarizing because it mashes up two opposite sides of the academic spectrum: humanities (history, philosophy, literature) and science (neuroscience, psychology [which could swing humanities], and neuroanatomy). Some of the basic neuroscience concepts swing nearly on the side of chemistry-type ideas. It's interdisciplinary and if you find yourself skilled on one end of the spectrum and are not willing to stretch out of your comfort zone and work hard to learn the concepts on the other end, don't take this class. I began this class fully expecting it to AP Psychology 2.0, and in some cases it was (if you took AP Psych, you're set for quite a bit of the neuroanatomy and psychology), but in many cases it is not. I find myself pretty well-rounded in that while I lean more humanities, I can switch to the more science-based concepts with a bit of work. Learning the neuroscience is a steep learning curve, even for those in science majors. However, if you go to your TA's office hours, the professors' office hours, and make sure to ask questions, you WILL get it. This class takes effort and I think very few would say its an easy A, but it is 100% worth taking. It was the best experience of my life and I learned so much. I think the first quarter is much harder than the second quarter because by the second quarter you can apply the knowledge from the first quarter to real concepts like movement and mental illness, which I found incredibly interesting. The seminar was also good, just be sure to choose a topic you really like. Fall and winter quarters have a midterm and final (multiple choice/short answer style), weekly quizzes, a final paper, and a midterm/shorter paper. It's all doable. The tests can be challenging, but if you do the weekly study questions they are very manageable. If you don't put in the effort, you will be miserable and get a poor grade. This isn't a class you can just skate by in, not study, and not do the readings. However, it is a class that will enrich your freshman year and put you in a great place for your subsequent studies at UCLA.

Dr. Chandler specifically was the worst lecturer for this class. I love neuro, the multidisciplinary approach, etc but Chandler is so unorganized and hard to follow. Thankfully he has detailed notes for his slides and the TAs recognize that he’s confusing as well, but I would say his part of lecturing was the only time I had to truly put in work. The other topics and professors are much more clear and engaging, and I enjoyed every aspect of neuroscience they taught. The midterm was absurdly hard, all free response, extreme format requirements, and not enough time at all, but in turn the final was multiple choice, easy, and honestly horribly written (some questions were not even complete). There is quite a lot of extra credit however which I appreciate, so I’d take advantage of that! Although a bit up and down, I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in neuroscience (yes, even if the science GEs overlap!), and I also enjoy that it’s a year long course so I can get to know my classmates better.

Pros:

Professors are clearly passionate and knowledgeable about the material. They go into plenty of detail and are willing to answer questions if you have any.

There is a sense of community that you get with a cluster that you don't have in other classes - there's "community events" outside of class like watching a movie or going to a game night. In a normal year a cluster like this would be a great way to make friends as a freshman.

The discussions are helpful to review the material, we did plenty of kahoots and review games that were useful.

Cons:

The material is difficult, and a lot of it wasn't what I signed up for. There's enough extremely detailed anatomy to make anyone who's not a science person cry - I'm a STEM major and it was still too much for me at times. All the -encephalons will show up in my nightmares for years to come.

The writing assignments. Hooooooo boy, these were bad. The prompts were very convoluted and confusing (the prompt and Q&A for the final paper was eight pages long, lol) and the grading is very inconsistent. When your "feedback" is a comment about a sentence and saying that "this claim is not supported" when the next two lines do nothing but support that claim, your boy is gonna be a little salty.

The course doesn't do very well in an online format. The website was extremely unorganized, and everyone was constantly dealing with bugs all year. Not to mention that the sense of community that clusters try to bring is basically gone in an online format. Going to a movie night on campus with friends is a lot different then joining a zoom call with your mic and camera off and watching the movie, lol.

So, should you take this class? If you are very interested in neuroscience and willing to put in a lot of work, and assuming we'll be back in person next year, go for it. Though if you do, going to the library office hours before papers are due is an absolute must (so you can understand what's actually being graded and whether citations are important or not), and study a bunch before all of the quizzes and tests. There aren't many free points in the class, so it can mess up your GPA if you don't treat it as your top priority (which I couldn't, taking two other major classes at the same time). Considering GEs are supposed to be easier GPA boosters compared to your major classes, that's quite a big drawback.

This comment is specifically for TA SONIA JAMANI. Avoid her at all cost (I don't think she will qualify for a TA next year anyway). I had her during the first quarter and she failed to fulfill the duty as a TA in every possible way: she did not know how to explain the questions on quizzes; she barely gave any useful information during discussion sections which were mandatory and simply a waste of time with her. The worst thing of all, she really had a problem with grading. She did not give out any grades throughout the quarter and procrastinated everything until after the final. When I received an unexpected final grade and approached her for comments, she did not give any convincing explanation. It sounded to me that she did not read my essay at all and just assigned an arbitrary grade. Though I shifted to a better TA in the following quarters, the OVERALL COURSE EXPERIENCE IS NOT THAT GOOD. As a cluster, all the professors just threw their own part of infos out there without building any connections between different disciplines. Not to mention some of them are really bad, dry lecturers. Quite a disappointment overall.

If you are interested in neuroscience then take this class, but if you are not then do NOT take this class. It is a lot of work if you are not interested in this field and is much harder and more work than other cluster classes. The head professor makes the midterm and final super hard and is not very clear on what he expects.

Awful professor. Teaches the hardest material possible in the worst possible way. Would never have taken this class if I knew he was professor.

Loved it! Definitely recommend this class if you want to knock out a bunch of GEs and learn about the brain! Dr. Chandler knows how to keep things interesting, the papers are pretty tame relatively, and you come out of just one quarter with a solid foundational understanding of neuroscience.

Everyone in this class is miserable. There is so much reading. The moment you finish a reading, you realize everything you learned is irrelevant because your weekly quizzes are based off of the tiniest details in the lectures. You cannot zone out of lectures for even a second, or else you will miss questions on the quiz. The quizzes are out of ten, so missed even one question will get you an A-. Most people miss at least three. The average midterm grade was a C. Do not take this cluster. It sounds fun but is not at all. I took it because I thought it looked fun and easy, but almost all the reviews were during the time of COVID. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS

Im selling the textbook for this class for $20 plus shipping, or you can offer something lower, if it hasn't sold yet, I might take it! email me: kafflucy@me.com

Take this Cluster. It is an easy A for both Fall and Winter (90% for an A, I finished with 97% both times), fulfills many GE requirements, and gives 12 honors collegium units. The professors are often fun and helpful; the TAs usually go out of their way.

But the workload could get a bit heavy when you're trying to figure out what the essay prompts are saying. That caveat aside, I enjoyed this Cluster and have no regrets taking it. I'm also an English major so that shows how simple the class material is.