Professor
César Ayala
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - While the material and readings themselves are not the most difficult to understand, his expectations for your understanding are difficult to meet. His slides consist of block quotes from the readings, and rather than expanding on why the quote is important, he reads it in its entirety and tests you on your understanding of the quote (without noting the relevance of it to the theories you're trying to learn). For commuters, he often ends lecture early, the earliest being by 45 minutes, but he still requires you show up to answer iClicker questions and mark your attendance. His attendance requirements would not be outrageous if not for the uselessness of his lectures and the amount of time it takes to finish them. If you want to do well in this class, I cannot stress enough that the TAs will be a major crutch. Their discussions are 100% more helpful than his lectures, and, unlike him, they actually want you to succeed in the class. Best of luck if you take this professor.
Fall 2025 - While the material and readings themselves are not the most difficult to understand, his expectations for your understanding are difficult to meet. His slides consist of block quotes from the readings, and rather than expanding on why the quote is important, he reads it in its entirety and tests you on your understanding of the quote (without noting the relevance of it to the theories you're trying to learn). For commuters, he often ends lecture early, the earliest being by 45 minutes, but he still requires you show up to answer iClicker questions and mark your attendance. His attendance requirements would not be outrageous if not for the uselessness of his lectures and the amount of time it takes to finish them. If you want to do well in this class, I cannot stress enough that the TAs will be a major crutch. Their discussions are 100% more helpful than his lectures, and, unlike him, they actually want you to succeed in the class. Best of luck if you take this professor.