Professor
Sebouh Aslanian
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Most Helpful Review
While Prof Alsatian was definitely knowledgable about the course, it was so disorganized that it was overall a hugely negative experience. The midterm and final were both papers derived entirely from the texts, and the map quiz was incredibly easy. I got an A- with minimal effort. The TAs absolutely make your grade though, so pick wisely and attend discussion sections, because they will offer really helpful advice for the direction the papers should take.
While Prof Alsatian was definitely knowledgable about the course, it was so disorganized that it was overall a hugely negative experience. The midterm and final were both papers derived entirely from the texts, and the map quiz was incredibly easy. I got an A- with minimal effort. The TAs absolutely make your grade though, so pick wisely and attend discussion sections, because they will offer really helpful advice for the direction the papers should take.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - WARNING: does not record lectures, does not post slides, and takes attendance by roll call. It is basic world history topics with a main focus on the middle east. The class is broken up into a 4 page book review (HAVE to read a book) and write about it, 5 reaction papers that were originally graded on quality but then got switched to completion, and the final which consisted of 2 3-page essays. The professor is super nice but has old-ish rules/tendencies with how he runs the class. Nice because there are no tests and not that many essays but you have to go to class and your engagement likely impacts your grade. Expect 100+ pages of reading a week from books and articles.
Winter 2024 - WARNING: does not record lectures, does not post slides, and takes attendance by roll call. It is basic world history topics with a main focus on the middle east. The class is broken up into a 4 page book review (HAVE to read a book) and write about it, 5 reaction papers that were originally graded on quality but then got switched to completion, and the final which consisted of 2 3-page essays. The professor is super nice but has old-ish rules/tendencies with how he runs the class. Nice because there are no tests and not that many essays but you have to go to class and your engagement likely impacts your grade. Expect 100+ pages of reading a week from books and articles.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - Don't take a class with Aslanian. He is the worst history professor at UCLA. He has no respect for his students. I don't understand why he teaches undergraduate level classes when he acts like it is such a waste of his time. He goes on tangents. He's disorganized. He's rude. He's cold. He's the worst. Don't do it. Don't take his class.
Spring 2023 - Don't take a class with Aslanian. He is the worst history professor at UCLA. He has no respect for his students. I don't understand why he teaches undergraduate level classes when he acts like it is such a waste of his time. He goes on tangents. He's disorganized. He's rude. He's cold. He's the worst. Don't do it. Don't take his class.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Okay the simple thing is that you possibly can not know what grade you are going to get. He grades completely unfairly. He makes no comments whats so ever on essays, rather makes grammar corrections, then gives you a B/B- (WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN) Okay so lets begin First you have a ID, Map Quiz (the ID's are not hard as long as you put the correct information and memorize the info) The Map on the other hand makes no sence. He gives you locations, send you home and says google them. Literally the places he gives overlap one another so it makes absolutely zero sense... Anyways I got an A+ on the ID portion and a B on the map, combined I received an A for the exam (this is in week 4) Then you have your first essay (4 pages, you CAN NOT pass 5). He cares more for grammar than content. Your introduction paragraph make or breaks you. Literally take it for him to read because if he dosent like you intro then you will get a B on the essay. INTRO IS MORE IMPORTANT THEN THE ENTIRE ESSAY. In addition, make sure you make your intro exactly I repeat exactly like the example he gives. He says you can write it differently, even approves it during office hours, then claims you did not do it exactly as he wanted. Final is the same. Pay attention to page numeration, citations, sentence structures. Advice from me is read up to week 4 as it is essential to for the ID exam, you can stop after. The essays he covers in lecture, you can just go back and incorporate in your essay. Anyways, I got an A but this guy gave me ANXIETY. I really don't recommend since he is highly unorganized and dosent really seam to care much (even though he says he does). I learned things I didn't know before, it was interesting I am not going to lie, but the stress was not worth it.
Winter 2020 - Okay the simple thing is that you possibly can not know what grade you are going to get. He grades completely unfairly. He makes no comments whats so ever on essays, rather makes grammar corrections, then gives you a B/B- (WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN) Okay so lets begin First you have a ID, Map Quiz (the ID's are not hard as long as you put the correct information and memorize the info) The Map on the other hand makes no sence. He gives you locations, send you home and says google them. Literally the places he gives overlap one another so it makes absolutely zero sense... Anyways I got an A+ on the ID portion and a B on the map, combined I received an A for the exam (this is in week 4) Then you have your first essay (4 pages, you CAN NOT pass 5). He cares more for grammar than content. Your introduction paragraph make or breaks you. Literally take it for him to read because if he dosent like you intro then you will get a B on the essay. INTRO IS MORE IMPORTANT THEN THE ENTIRE ESSAY. In addition, make sure you make your intro exactly I repeat exactly like the example he gives. He says you can write it differently, even approves it during office hours, then claims you did not do it exactly as he wanted. Final is the same. Pay attention to page numeration, citations, sentence structures. Advice from me is read up to week 4 as it is essential to for the ID exam, you can stop after. The essays he covers in lecture, you can just go back and incorporate in your essay. Anyways, I got an A but this guy gave me ANXIETY. I really don't recommend since he is highly unorganized and dosent really seam to care much (even though he says he does). I learned things I didn't know before, it was interesting I am not going to lie, but the stress was not worth it.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - Honestly the fact that I got a B+ was totally on me, my head just was not in this quarter. That being said, getting an A in Aslanians class is completely possible. The map quiz is easy, but do at least half the readings bc the midterm and final are based off of the readings. He grades easy on the quiz and harder on the midterm and final which consist of two essay questions...take home. He tells some funny stories here and there so he's a really likeable person but he knows his stuff very well so he goes fast and it's easy to get lost while taking notes. The best thing you can do is go see him during office hours especially when in regards to your midterm and final.
Spring 2016 - Honestly the fact that I got a B+ was totally on me, my head just was not in this quarter. That being said, getting an A in Aslanians class is completely possible. The map quiz is easy, but do at least half the readings bc the midterm and final are based off of the readings. He grades easy on the quiz and harder on the midterm and final which consist of two essay questions...take home. He tells some funny stories here and there so he's a really likeable person but he knows his stuff very well so he goes fast and it's easy to get lost while taking notes. The best thing you can do is go see him during office hours especially when in regards to your midterm and final.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - Aslanian is an excellent instructor. Through 10 weeks, he covers an extraordinary amount of material, never sacrificing depth for breadth. Even if you know next to nothing about Armenia, you will come away with a vivid picture of the nation's past and present. The negative review of this course rom this term is misleading and bitter in its assessment of the course. While Aslanian did have a habit of going over classtime by a few minutes, this was often due to technical issues during the class or (perhaps overly) comprehensive responses to student questions. Aslanian did an excellent job of encouraging students to participate in class discussions, going so far as to structure large parts of several classes to center around discussions of the course material. I found these discussions to be interesting, even though Aslanian took an active role in correcting students when they made historical errors in their arguments. This may come across to some students as being 'mean', but I learned a lot from Aslanian's correction and never felt as though he was acting out of a desire to rebuke or put down a student's contributions. On the contrary, he consistently rewarded and praised students who made meaningful contributions. Aslanian gave comprehensive and detailed answers to student questions during class while also encouraging students to submit parts of their midterm and final papers for feedback before the due date. I did not make use of this myself but it was very comforting to know that I could get preliminary feedback for the major assignments. Aslanian provided detailed feedback to each of the papers and I felt that both were fairly graded, perhaps more stringently than other history classes I've taken. I learned an immense amount taking this class, but it requires a significant time investment. If you are genuinely interested in Armenian history and are willing to put in the time to do the readings, come to lecture (Aslanian took attendance every class), participate, and pay attention during classtime, you will find this to be a very enriching and rewarding course. I highly recommend it. I only wish I had the chance to take Aslanian's other classes on Armenian history.
Spring 2023 - Aslanian is an excellent instructor. Through 10 weeks, he covers an extraordinary amount of material, never sacrificing depth for breadth. Even if you know next to nothing about Armenia, you will come away with a vivid picture of the nation's past and present. The negative review of this course rom this term is misleading and bitter in its assessment of the course. While Aslanian did have a habit of going over classtime by a few minutes, this was often due to technical issues during the class or (perhaps overly) comprehensive responses to student questions. Aslanian did an excellent job of encouraging students to participate in class discussions, going so far as to structure large parts of several classes to center around discussions of the course material. I found these discussions to be interesting, even though Aslanian took an active role in correcting students when they made historical errors in their arguments. This may come across to some students as being 'mean', but I learned a lot from Aslanian's correction and never felt as though he was acting out of a desire to rebuke or put down a student's contributions. On the contrary, he consistently rewarded and praised students who made meaningful contributions. Aslanian gave comprehensive and detailed answers to student questions during class while also encouraging students to submit parts of their midterm and final papers for feedback before the due date. I did not make use of this myself but it was very comforting to know that I could get preliminary feedback for the major assignments. Aslanian provided detailed feedback to each of the papers and I felt that both were fairly graded, perhaps more stringently than other history classes I've taken. I learned an immense amount taking this class, but it requires a significant time investment. If you are genuinely interested in Armenian history and are willing to put in the time to do the readings, come to lecture (Aslanian took attendance every class), participate, and pay attention during classtime, you will find this to be a very enriching and rewarding course. I highly recommend it. I only wish I had the chance to take Aslanian's other classes on Armenian history.
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