While the class material is interesting, I think Professor Bell didn't make the topic very engaging or fun. He has a dry, monotone, and rambling lecture style that made it hard to pay attention. Nor do I think his lectures added much to the core material of the class- his rural English background and research into Brazil and Spanish America are mentioned quite a bit in class, but his rambling and meandering way of speaking made it difficult to convey the weight, magnitude, historical context, and human impact of his examples.

He posts his lecture notes instead of slides, gives easy true/false exams for the midterm and final, and the readings are fairly light, with an open-ended final essay mostly managed by the TA- this is an easy class to pass, but not a fun one to pass. I feel like I would've gotten about the same amount of information from the class if I read "A New Green History of the World" by Clive Ponting, which is what most of the course material is based on. Glass half full, this class gives you the foundation for analyzing how societies have shaped and been shaped by modes of subsistence, and gives you the structure to do your own research on a topic you're interested in for your final essay.

Dr. Bell is incredibly knowledgeable of South America and is naturally fascinated by all of its details, even the most niche ones. That being said, the lectures are pretty dry. No slides, just him talking about South America. Attendance is not required but I highly recommend it because that's where 80% of the information for the two exams (assigned via Canvas to take at home) are from. A good chunk is also from the lengthy readings that are assigned but not necessary to pass. The main part of the grade is a final research paper and the proposal for it. Pretty much just choose anything that has to do with South America and research it very deeply and write a paper. The class heavily depends on the TA because I think they are the ones who grade it and mine was a pretty tough grader but honestly helped a lot. Go to their office hours at least a couple times so they can help your paper and at the very least make them hold your name in good favor.

An alright class, with the grade being comprised of a research proposal, research paper, and 2 quizzes (taking place of the midterm and final). All of these assignments are done through BruinLearn/Canvas, with the lectures really acting as more of a dialogue/discussion for the readings; there aren't any slides he goes through. The grading scale is the main appeal of the class, with an A being 85%, a B being 73%, and a C being 63%.

This class was an insanely easy elective. The only things that are graded are two 20-question True/False quizzes (one as a midterm and one as a final), one research proposal that’s 2 pages double spaced, and a research paper that’s 5 pages double spaced. Attendance isn’t taken and considering the lectures are extremely boring I wouldn’t recommend going. The quizzes are online take-home so that makes them easier. The research proposal and paper can be on any topic you want within Spanish South America, it doesn’t have to relate to anything taught in class. I seriously only spent probably 10 hours on this class outside of lecture for the whole quarter.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS OH MY GOD. This is the worst class I honest to god have ever taken and I am a transfer student who went to a pretty mediocre at best community college. The quizzes 20 true or false and incredibly hard. I read the other review that said they are hard but thought it would be fine and I was wrong. He is 1000 years old and it shows. I know I am not the smartest person by any means but the way he writes is so convoluted and truly confusing. The questions are true/false, but multiple sentences and intentionally written to be confusing. I spent several days going over all of the readings, notes, discussion questions, everything I could and the questions were the mot specific random things you can imagine that I couldn’t even find in the readings or remember him having discussed in class. Speaking of class, don’t take it if you have ADHD like me. No slides, no structure, just listening to him ramble the entire time. If you think about emailing him for help, GOOD LUCK. Each time I reached out for help, he was incredibly rude and basically called me stupid for having any problems. I think in his mind he truly believes that he is doing a good job and gives us adequate material but he hear me when i say he does not and DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS.

Easy class. Only went to class a max of 4 times. Got an A-. Selling course reader for $40 **********

If anyone needs the coursereader, I am selling mine for best offer. **********

If anyone needs the course reader,, I am selling mine for best offer. **********

If you want to buy the course reader for less than Westwood Copies sells it for, text me at **********.

This was one of the hardest geography classes I have ever taken at UCLA. Despite relatively easy readings, the lectures were hard to catch up with as Prof. Bell had never used the slides. Most of the time, the lectures went on and on, leaving a lot of students confused. This class is based on two quizzes and a paper (a proposal and a final research paper). The tests were true or false, which may seem easy, but they were not easy. They became one of the hardest T/F tests I have ever taken. Prof. Bell changed the grading scheme to be easier to get an A (which was the only reason I stayed in the class), but all the scores you see could give you a heart attack. If you are interested in South America, you should try it out, but this class was not really for me. I recommend you take other electives unless you want to challenge yourself or have no other options.