Professor
William Bodiford
3 of 4
Most Helpful Review
Bodiford has excellent communication skills. His lectures are very easy to understand, and as long as you\305fre listening as well as taking notes, exams will be fine. As others have said, he speaks rapidly, but his words and ideas are very basic, so there shouldn\305ft be any worries about becoming confused. Start on the research paper the very day he assigns it. He tells you to start on it early because you need to locate tangible sources. He also gives you advice on what to write about and more advice on what exact resources to refer to, so ask him anything. Bodiford is also devoted to a martial art practiced at UCLA called, Kashima Shinryu, so you know that he himself is interested in Japanese culture (and it shows in his lectures, too). If you are interested in Japanese culture, take any class you can with him, and join UCLA Kashima Shinryu.
Bodiford has excellent communication skills. His lectures are very easy to understand, and as long as you\305fre listening as well as taking notes, exams will be fine. As others have said, he speaks rapidly, but his words and ideas are very basic, so there shouldn\305ft be any worries about becoming confused. Start on the research paper the very day he assigns it. He tells you to start on it early because you need to locate tangible sources. He also gives you advice on what to write about and more advice on what exact resources to refer to, so ask him anything. Bodiford is also devoted to a martial art practiced at UCLA called, Kashima Shinryu, so you know that he himself is interested in Japanese culture (and it shows in his lectures, too). If you are interested in Japanese culture, take any class you can with him, and join UCLA Kashima Shinryu.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Bodiford talks EXTREMELY FAST. If you want to get down everything he says, bring a tape recorder or have other students distract him with questions while you finish writing what he said five minutes ago. Overall though, his class was challenging, but not impossible. His midterm and final were pretty easy, if you can write well and fast. But on the research paper, don't expect too much for your grade. He seems to have become more lenient grade-wise though, after reading some of these old posts. Who knows, maybe he's read them :D
Professor Bodiford talks EXTREMELY FAST. If you want to get down everything he says, bring a tape recorder or have other students distract him with questions while you finish writing what he said five minutes ago. Overall though, his class was challenging, but not impossible. His midterm and final were pretty easy, if you can write well and fast. But on the research paper, don't expect too much for your grade. He seems to have become more lenient grade-wise though, after reading some of these old posts. Who knows, maybe he's read them :D
AD
Most Helpful Review
I signed up for the class after reading the previous bruinwalk reviews. I have to agree to many of the reviews here, Prof. Bodiford is probably one of the most interesting professors you can take at UCLA. He is always very pleasant, always has a smile on his face (even after continuous irritating questions from certain individuals).I don't agree with the previous comment/complaint about his lecture speed, I don't think he talks that fast at all. Perhaps it's because he knows what he's talking about, and certain people just space out in class. He's definitely very passionate about the subject matter, and no doubt very knowledgeable in the field as well. Sometimes when you ask him a question, if he's unsure, he would just tell you, "i don't know"; not many professors here at UCLA would do that, given their credentials and achievements in the field. I personally prefer that over an "indirect" answer. One of the greatest thing in this class is that he is very very prompt returning graded papers, exams and other materials. He gives back students' midterms (and a break down of the grade distribution) the lecture after the exam, considering professors' busy schedule these days, most professors at UCLA drag them on for a least a week. For graduate students, he's always very very prompt returning outlines and papers with abundant of detailed comments which I found extremely helpful. So if you're a graduate student or you need a graduate level course, take J297B! Otherwise J161 (both taken place in the same lecture room) will do too.
I signed up for the class after reading the previous bruinwalk reviews. I have to agree to many of the reviews here, Prof. Bodiford is probably one of the most interesting professors you can take at UCLA. He is always very pleasant, always has a smile on his face (even after continuous irritating questions from certain individuals).I don't agree with the previous comment/complaint about his lecture speed, I don't think he talks that fast at all. Perhaps it's because he knows what he's talking about, and certain people just space out in class. He's definitely very passionate about the subject matter, and no doubt very knowledgeable in the field as well. Sometimes when you ask him a question, if he's unsure, he would just tell you, "i don't know"; not many professors here at UCLA would do that, given their credentials and achievements in the field. I personally prefer that over an "indirect" answer. One of the greatest thing in this class is that he is very very prompt returning graded papers, exams and other materials. He gives back students' midterms (and a break down of the grade distribution) the lecture after the exam, considering professors' busy schedule these days, most professors at UCLA drag them on for a least a week. For graduate students, he's always very very prompt returning outlines and papers with abundant of detailed comments which I found extremely helpful. So if you're a graduate student or you need a graduate level course, take J297B! Otherwise J161 (both taken place in the same lecture room) will do too.
AD
3 of 4
