This class is NOT easy. My grade actually really surprised me. I think my TA was just nice, because I didn't participate during discussions (I was always lost), and participation is a reasonable chunk of your grade. The pop quizzes really sucked. Classes were boring, but there were admittedly a few interesting topics. The workload was really heavy: lots of readings, lots of writing. I wouldn't say that this class should be your first choice, but if you find yourself doing it, it shouldn't be that bad.

If you're looking for an easy GE, don't take this class!!! it was a ridiculous amount of reading- sometimes 200 pages assigned on Tuesday due Thursday. To make it work, her pop quizzes are extremely specific and even if you do read you will still probably fail them. Her lectures are the same as the reading, so it's pretty boring listening to the information you just killed yourself reading. The essay topics are very difficult and, depending on the TA, hard to do well on. The material was arguably interesting, but ruined by the stress of reading and pop quizzes.

If you are reading this while trying to find an easy GE it is not too late to run away. THIS IS NOT THE CLASS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR!!! This class is not only extremely boring, but it is a lot of reading and has pop quizzes that are very specific. Also, she makes Bernie Sanders' political beliefs look like Donald Trump's and she will shove these beliefs down your throat.

If you ignore my warnings and take this class anyways, try to get Justin Kumar as your TA. He's extremely helpful and a very nice guy.

Okay, so the professor has boring lectures, but the facts are really interesting if you can get past the monotone in her voice. This class was really interesting, but there is a lot of reading. I did not do the readings, and I still passed the class with a B. She gives out five quizzes randomly throughout the quarter. They're only ten questions but they're on everything so far up to that date, so it's all fair game. Only three out of the five are taken to go towards your score, so it's your three best scores. I did poorly on all of them and didn't show up for one, and that's why I ended up with a B. There are two essays that are worth a lot, but if you go to discussion the TAs will help outline what you need to do to get a good grade on the paper. There are about four books for the class with several readings a week, so if you know how to manage your time to read them all you'll do fine in this class. Definitely not a lot of memorizing, but a lot of comprehension of the summation of the works.

Anderson is awesome, super engaging and the lectures usually reference something that's going on in the real world. She's super relatable and asks the class questions in every class. She can be a savage and call people out if they say something stupid. However there's a ton of reading; there's 4 books, one of which she wanted us to finish in about a week that was just fiction that related to some aspects of the lecture. The course reader has long articles with tiny font, usually with two pages per page, and there are pop quizzes about every two weeks on this reading with pretty specific questions. You also have to write a journal and cite two resources every week or two, and the exams are just essays. No multiple choice.

The concepts themselves were super interesting and topics that people our age should really be learning about, and Anderson had engaging lectures and even activities/experiments for us and movies. If you can bear the reading, absolutely take this course

I was a little frustrated at the fact that the reason i didnt get an A is simply because i did poorly on the pop quizzes. I noticed i did better on the quizzes when i didnt read. I came into UCLA as undeclared social sciences. I took Anderson for my first quarter as a freshman and I don't regret it. I was thinking about sociology in the beginning of the school year, which led me to take her class. She's passionate and cares for her students and loves to spread knowledge to us. Everyone is discussing how she has a "liberal" view and tried to focus more on "politics" than sociology. But then again, every reading and video we focused on had to do with an aspect of SOCIETY (such as politics, the media, etc. because they are ALL social institutions). I believe towards the end of the class, it would have been different if it weren't for the mental state for several of the students taking her class and the fact that almost everyone was talking about the election. That's why i believe this time her perspective changed and prompt for the final essay changed. I was skeptical about sociology the first few weeks because honestly i found it depressing in a way because i began to realize just how unfair and messed up we have created society to be. I hated reading and knowing this information and i kept thinking i did not want to major in this because I would learn and learn and read and read and yet, not be able to change anything about it. I think the reason people are getting mixed up with her "liberal" ideas is because she constantly questioned us: "What do you do?". She makes you think. She ended the class with an inspirational message that basically told me "hey you actually CAN do something." And i think with her telling us we could do something shows the idea of people saying she's all about politics. I went into her last lecture saying "this is her last attempt to fully convince me this is for me," and she did. I think she looked at her students this quarter as people who can promote change in anything. The workload was heavy, at least to me, but then again it was my first quarter so what do i really know about what the workload is supposed to be here at UCLA. The quizzes are random and specific and are those quizzes where it asks for the "best answers". I also want to add to make sure you talk to your TA's about what they expect in essays. Her weekly journals are easy, you can write about pretty much anything, and SHE reads every single one of them which is crazy. I definitely want to take another one of her classes.

Thought provoking lectures. Heavy Workload. Impress your TA during discussion/OH because he or she will be grading your papers.

SELLING: Course Reader and Brave New World (Both required for class)
**********

This class isn't a ride in the park. You HAVE to keep up with the readings to do well. I re-read many readings to make sure that I got good pop quiz grades and I still did poorly on two, but one out of five quizzes is dropped. It can be hard to keep up with the readings especially because not only are you reading the material from the course reader, you have to read online articles and two books she forces you to buy. I never opened Brave New World and still got an A, so you don't really need to read that. Something you do need to read is her personal book This Is Not Required because they are many quiz questions about it. Also, one thing that really irked me is that on one of the quizzes, she decided to make 7/10 questions about a boring movie we had to watch and I got a literal F on it even though I watched the majority of the movie. The journals are easy points, and the essays are easy as long as you figure out exactly what your TA wants you to write. Go to their office hours. I liked this class--I felt like a learned a lot of things that I didn't know before. Getting an A is most definitely possible, it's just more work than expected. I am selling the course reader (it has writing in it), the This Book is Not Required (brand new with no writing) and Brave New World which I bought used that is written in. Email me at *************.

I have mixed feelings about Anderson. She is the best lecturer I've had so far, but the worst grader. Her pop quizzes are HARD even if you do the reading (I always did). Her papers were not too bad, but make sure you add some originality if you want to get an A. Also you may never ever hand in the weekly journal even a few minutes late in the beginning of class or else she will give you a 0. One time I had a cardiology appointment that was longer than expected so I came to class 5 minutes late and asked if she will excuse it and she still gave me a 0%.
Her grading ruined how much I loved sociology. I would never take her as a professor again, even though her lectures were very interesting

Soc 1 is an interesting class. You really have the chance to look at the inner workings of the society on the individual in a way you probably never would in regular life, and you gain a great perspective on some things. Be warned: Anderson can be very political towards the second half of the class, usually in a liberal direction. Fall 2016 quarter was during a very politicized election, so the class was probably more biased than normal, but keep her views in mind if they would bother you. Also, there's a decent amount of reading, and if you don't pay close attention to the readings you will have difficulty with the quizzes. Her lectures are decent overall, and the essays for the class aren't too bad. Soc 1 is well worth it if you can keep an open mind. And whether or not you agree with Anderson's viewpoints, she is an unique person and definitely passionate about what she teaches.