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.