I took this course remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. My experience is different than what the class would look like in person, but overall I enjoyed the class. In terms of grades, this class is an easy A and a great class to take to fulfill GE requirements. This class is different than most other classes in the way that you are required to volunteer with a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles. However, it is very easy to get started with an organization, especially remotely, because there are so many different options that are provided by professor Staub and all work can be done at home. Though about 24 hours of service are required for full credit in the course, because of the pandemic, this requirement has been relaxed a little, so there really is no need to worry about this portion too much. The other main assignments are one research paper around week 6-7 and then the final for which you can choose from several different options such as a paper, writing a letter, making a video, etc. Going to discussion is also mandatory since it accounts for your participation grade, but oftentimes discussion is so engaging and almost like just having a conversation with your peers and TA that it does not even feel like you're in class. Though there is a time listed for lectures in this class, Professor Staub posts all the lectures asynchronously and we never met live for anything except on the first day and in our weekly discussion sections. The lectures and readings for the week are meant to be completed before you attend discussion, but most weeks I would not watch lectures or read and I was able to fully participate in discussion and do well on the assignments. Overall, this is a great class for someone looking for GE credit and wanting an easy A with minimum effort.

Overall, I really liked this class. It was the most eye-opening class I've taken at UCLA, but it's really up to you as to how much you'll get out of it. You really get what you put in. Professor Staub is a really engaging lecturer, and you can tell that he really cares about educating the class. He facilitates difficult conversations, tries to get as much feedback as possible, and welcomes all viewpoints. I had David as my TA and he's such a funny, approachable, and overall helpful TA. The main component of this class is the 3 hours/week of service learning you do from week3 -10. A lot of the locations are pretty far away, so it ends up being more than a 3 hour commitment per week but many people enjoyed what they did. For the workload, there's weekly readings, reflections, and 3 hour blocks of service learning you have to complete. The weekly assigned readings which actually aren't that long and he says their mandatory but you could totally go without reading them. That being said, I personally found the readings to be really interesting and valuable going into lecture, so as I said earlier, you get what you put into the class. The reflections varied week to week- most were reflections based on our service learning, but there was also a cool bus riding assignment and setting goals for the course. My recommendations would be to: Take your time researching the site you want to do service learning at (make sure you'll get something useful out of your time there!), be open-minded, and enjoy the course!

I really enjoyed this class. Please don't shy away just because of the Community Engagement requirement -- I think it was a really valuable experience and it was worth it. I volunteered with Food Forward once a week, every Wednesday, 12:30-2:00 and I looked forward to it every week! They say that you need 24 volunteer hours throughout the quarter, but you really don't I only got like 16 I think. My volunteering was in Santa Monica and sometimes I'd stick around and get lunch out there afterward, like at a noodles place and at Sweet Greens. The bus activity to Downtown for this course was great. We had weekly assignments, like two pages, and one of them was to bus downtown to this mural in a museum and write about the mural and your bus trip. I went with a group of four random students from my class and we had a really good time Downtown. We ate in the Central Market, had some great vegan donuts at Donut Friend, saw a car chase scene from The Rookie being shot, went by the Disney Concert hall, saw people doing Parkour, and tried Mochi from Little Japan. It was probably one of my favorite days at UCLA so far. You really don't have to attend lecture but you probably should, and my discussions at least were always cut short (with Aron) and he's the most chill professor I've ever had. Highly recommend this class.

UPDATE: Hi it's two years later and I am a junior now and I am still volunteering with Food Forward, as a Team Leader! :)

I took this class Spring of freshman year. Going into winter of my sophomore year, this class is still my favorite one I've taken at UCLA. If you don't read the rest of this, tldr: passionate professor, attendance is graded, you get an internship.
Staub is so passionate about what he teaches and the lectures were very engaging. I had Sidrono Jacobo as a TA and he was also amazing. Not sure if he's still TA'ing for this course, but I highly recommend him if you have the opportunity. As an FYI, lecture and discussion attendance were both recorded and factored into your grade, but there was only one lecture and one discussion a week and I honestly looked forward to going. (This is coming from someone who has attended 19 total lectures across all of my classes this entire quarter). There were opportunities for class discussion/brainstorming during the lecture and he also brought in a few very informative speakers. One of the best things about the course was that you get an internship out of it. Essentially you're given a list of a bunch of LA based nonprofits and you rank your top 3 choices. I personally got lucky enough to get my first choice and I learned a lot while at the LA LGBT Center. It is somewhat of a time commitment but I considered it very manageable given there is only one lecture a week.

Will you get an A in this class? Yes if you put absolutely any effort in and complete all the assignments. However, you will have to write a paper/multi-page reflection every single week, which can be annoying after a while. This course does also require you to complete work with a local charity. It will require a lot more time than most other GEs, but it is worth it for the almost guaranteed A, as well as the extremely interesting lens through which to view LA. As an out of state student, it was very interesting to actually explore the city. Would recommend as a GE!

Professor Staub is a great and caring professor. While this class has many road bumps, know that he will be understanding and only serve as your advocate through the quarter. This course has no exams, so grades consists of section participation, weekly 2 page written reflections, a research paper, and a final project mainly. The course is divided into two areas - your community engagement project, in which you basically work with a local nonprofit for 24 hours to learn about social inequality in LA, and then the academic portion, where you learn about such topics and write a research paper exploring one of the social inequalities in LA. The research paper is pretty straightforward, and does not have too many requirements. It can be difficult working and communicating with an outside community nonprofit, so if you keep your TA and Professor aware of any challenges which arise they will be lenient if you do not hit the 24 hour requirement. Lectures are very engaging and informative, with many guests speakers brought in. There is a final project, in which you are asked to take the social inequality you learned about in your research paper and brainstorm the best strategies to reform the issue in LA (you don’t actually have to implement the solution yourself, just come to a conclusion on what would work best). Due to the TA strike, our final project was shortened. Professor Staub is incredibly accommodating, wants to get to know his students and works around students needs. Definitely take this course!

Loved loved loved this class. So far, this is my favorite class I have taken at UCLA. It is incredibly engaging and rewarding. No exams, almost weekly reflection papers, one big paper (don't stress it, easy to do), and one final project (also easy). You have to volunteer with a nonprofit organization and collect a total of 16 hours. This is really fun. TA's and professors are very accommodating to your needs. Lectures weren't mandatory to attend, but they were incredibly eye opening and I loved to attend. You have to attend discussion, but honestly with my TA discussions were a treat. Natalie would dedicate the first 20 minutes or so of discussion to do mediation exercises and catch up with late work.Highly highly recommend this class.

This class absolutely changed my mentality on education. to begin, TAKE THIS CLASS. i rate it a 11/10. first of all the professor was so engaging, compassionate, and understanding of all types of student problems and he was also just a G. I was waitlisted into the class but he let me in, and anyone else who was waitlisted, in very easily. He genuinely loves teaching students and wants to emphasize learning outside the classroom and learning to learn as much as possible. This was my favorite class at UCLA hands down. It consisted of a few weekly critical write-ups that were relatively easy, one midterm research paper and a final project. Very do-able and a good grade is guaranteed if you do all the work. The community engagement requirement is very easy to do, it may seem overwhelming at first with all the forms but once you get into it, its extremely rewarding and simple. This class taught me how to learn to just learn.

One of the most exciting and rewarding classes I have taken at my time at UCLA! Firstly, this class not only satisfies a Civic Engagement minor requirement, but it is also a great way to satisfy a GE requirement.
Professor Staub truly engages with his students and is passionate about the subject matter. The readings are, for the most part, interesting, and the material is eye-opening. This class helps students learn more about the city they live in, as well as the inequalities that underline it.
The service-learning component was compelling. We could choose a service-learning site from a variety of sites that deal with different social issues. Depending on the site, responsibilities varied. I, as well as other students, received offers from our sites to continue interning/volunteering there even after the course was done.
As for the grading, we were asked to complete relatively easy critical reflections every week to comment on the week's service-learning and connect it to course material. These reflections comprised 30% of our grade. 20% of the grade was up to participation points that mostly had to do with participation in discussion, talking, sharing, engaging with other students, etc. 25% of the grade was up to a research project on an area of inequality of our choice, and the remaining 25% was up to a subsequent research project on a strategic plan to address the chosen area of inequality.
Overall, I would highly recommend this class. It is easy to receive a good grade and the professor DOES offer extra credit (up to 2 percentage points, 1 for a half page reflection on an event related to class material.) The material is extremely eye-opening and pushes students to engage with and learn more about the diverse communities of Los Angeles.

Took this class to fill society GE and because I enjoy volunteering and learning about Los Angeles, I learned and gained so much more from Professor Shalom and my TA, Andrea.
The TA's and Shalom are amazing people who are passionate and driven in the right direction. The class was not very demanding with minimal reading, no tests, and weekly reflections as well as the 3 hour requirement to visit your service learning site which they connect you to, based on your interests. Its also a great opportunity to network with future organizations that might hire you, or to just get experience interning or volunteering. For the reflections as long as you connect it to one reading and one lecture you should get As on them. Also readings are minimal since most of the class work is going to your service learning site.
There is also a $57 class fee that goes into a pool that is used for reimbursing all the students for transportation to their site whether you are driving, taking a bus, or using uber (as long as you are carpooling you will get reimbursed).
Overall, an amazing course. I learned so much from lectures, discussions, movies Shalom would screen, and the guest lecturers. Shalom requires that every student meet with him at least once during the year so it shows he cares very much about his students.