This was one of the best classes I took at UCLA. Professor Aron is a fantastic lecturer. He's passionate about the American west, and he always keeps lectures enjoyable and informative. Very good selection of readings, also.

Aron is an AWESOME professor. It didn't surprise me when he said he hosts a TV show, because his lecture style is so charming and engaging. He's confident about his knowledge on the American West but isn't one of those stuffy intellectuals that otherwise dominate UCLA lecture halls. He's funny (true, "corny as hell" once in a while, but in a good way), even-tempered (didn't lash out at disrespectful comments made by a particularly irritating student and joked with the people who snuck out of his class early), understanding (he granted generous extensions on the midterm papers—no questions asked— and he even gave me an extension on the final paper, which really helped me out), and down-to-earth (I second the comment that he dresses like a high school P.E. teacher!).

His lectures are brilliantly presented; and, rather than summarizing the readings, he discusses overarching patterns and concepts of Western history that students can apply to the the assigned sources, which he definitely expects you to incorporate into the two papers. Personally, I thought "One Vast Winter Count" was WAY too long— it would have been nice if he directed us to specific chapters instead of assigning us all 450 pages—and "The Essential Lewis and Clark" wasn't very memorable, but "Shadows at Dawn" and "On Gold Mountain" were extremely riveting, and I learned a ton from reading them.

Even though Professor Aron welcomes comments and discussion in his lecture, I have trouble speaking up in a big lecture hall, so my only suggestion is to add a discussion section to this course. It would have been really great to talk about the books and lecture materials in smaller groups.

(Oh, and since many people consult Bruinwalk to find out if a class is "easy" or not—myself included— I should probably comment on the difficulty level. It's by no means an easy A—you absolutely have to go to lecture and do the assigned readings (4 books, three of which are lengthy) if you want a high grade, but Professor Aron and his TAs aren't out to ruin GPAs.. they're very reasonable and fair and tell you what they expect from you. Ultimately, if you take this class, I promise you'll learn a lot, and that's the most important thing right? But, if you try at least a little bit, you're probably not going to get below a B, which is cool, too.)

I like Professor Aron. I took him for History 153 and went to pretty much every lecture. However, I did absolutely none of the reading, which is why I ended up with a B. But for doing hardly any work whatsoever, besides going to class, I think I got what I deserved. I also learned a hell of a lot about the West in class! I did go to office hours a couple times though (one time really stoned), and he told me to use more of the assigned readings in my final essay.

Nevertheless, I basically went off the map and wrote an original paper with outside sources. Don't do that. He doesn't like it. He assigns a book that he wrote, American Confluence. If you read this book and include it in your essay you will surely get an A. There is no doubt in my mind. The class has a super easy workload, 2 papers! But the chance of getting an A seems to rest solely on including the assigned readings in your paper. Literally, if you don't use them, you won't get an A. Enjoy the class though. Aron knows his history and is an enthusiastic orator. His jokes are usually corny as hell, but there's something endearing about his style.

He may dress like a high-school P.E. teacher, but he's actually on par with any of the other great history teachers at UCLA. Well, at least in knowledge of his field. He does have a powerpoint presentation, but it's not like he just reads off the thing the whole time. He actually uses it to keep him on track. Most of the lecture he speaks off the cuff on whatever bullet is on the board. He hates to get off track.

Aron himself is very nice and passionate about what he teaches. His lectures are fairly interesting, and the workload is pretty light. There's an inclass midterm, and a final paper which is 2500-3000 words. Your grade will of course come down to your reader, and if you get a hard-ass reader who's out to prove something by grading strict as hell (which every reader seems to), you'll have a tough time getting above a B+.