I took KOREA 80 virtually, and even as a virtual class I found it to be very enjoyable. You will watch 1 film per week, with a total of 10 films overall. Some of the early ones (like Spring on the Peninsula and A Stray Bullet) are pretty boring, but they certainly get better as time goes on. My personal favorite was Train to Busan, which we watched in Week 9. No, you won't be watching Parasite, but for the final you just have to watch and write about any film that's not in the syllabus, so you can choose to watch that one if you'd like. Every week you have to write a one-page response paper about the film assigned that week, and those are pretty easy. I had Minseung and I got 20/20 points on nearly every response submission.
The level of engagement in this class is what you choose for it to be. In the virtual setting, Professor Hanscom's lectures were recorded and posted on CCLE, so you could watch them at any time. I think he's an engaging lecturer, but the lectures tend to feel like they're a bit longer than they need to be. You don't really need the lectures at all to do well on the response papers or writing assignments, and there were a few weeks that I ended up skipping the lectures. There's also a textbook for this class, but I promise that it is absolutely not necessary at all, and you can just save your money by not buying it. I never opened it once and still got an A in the class. Overall, I would recommend this class. It's a pretty easy A and I learned a lot of interesting stuff about Korean history and the Korean film industry.

Participation in discussion: 20%
3 Main Writing Assignments: 60% (20% each)
Weekly response papers: 20%
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Really straightforward and enjoyable class. You watch a movie every week, write like 300 words answering a prompt about it, and go to discussion. If you have the option to get Mathieu as your TA, DO IT!! He is an absolute angel and so incredibly kind. You don't really interact with the professor as all the lectures are pre-recorded (which is really convenient).

Just focus on your TA's directions, participate in discussion (turn your camera on! talk!) and watch the movies and you should be fine. Really good low stress GE!

HIGHLY recommend this class if you are interested in film and/or Korean culture.

--Structure/Format---
- Readings: required textbook on Korean cinema + 1-3 additional scholarly readings every week
- Lectures: I took this during the first quarter we went online. Lectures were pre-recorded and uploaded to CCLE
- Discussion: typical, participation depends on how actively you contribute.
- Assessment: 3 short essays (~1000 words) 20% each + weekly 1-2 page response papers - 3% each

--Content--
Class is structured around 10 Korean films (1 per week), from the colonial era to modern day, following the trajectory of Korean cinema since its inception. Film selection was pretty good (no, we didn't watch Parasite). There is an overarching focus on the concept of "national cinema" and what makes a film a Korean film, as opposed just a film made in Korea(n). A significant historical and cultural emphasis, but just as much focus on film theory and even some philosophical concepts addressed. Favorite week was when we watched Train to Busan and learned about zombie movies as a genre.

There is a LOT of content covered in each lecture! I was amazed by Prof Hanscom's ability to draw links between both critical perspectives and historical facts -- a more typical prof might have glossed over for the sake of time/clarity. I was constantly having mind=blown moments lol. One of the few classes where I actually watched every lecture for the content, and I have ADHD lol (just take breaks). Like others have commented, Prof Hanscom tends to go on tangents, but they were interesting tangents so I enjoyed it regardless. I much rather a prof who thinks aloud and adds nuggets along the way over one who reads from the slides.

Readings were ehh. I found Prof Hanscom's lectures to be more interesting. One caveat I should add is that if you aren't particularly interested in the subject matter (I already liked watching Korean movies prior to the class) you might find the class dry and maybe unrelatable, especially if you aren't too familiar with Asian/Korean culture.

--Difficulty/Workload--
Outside of watching lectures and movies (1.5x speed is your best friend!) and attending section, I spent ~1-1.5 hours a week on this class (mainly the weekly response paper but you could do it in 30 mins if you wanted). The 3 writing assignments are super doable and could be done in a few hours to half a day. The weekly prompts and paper prompts generally asked for your own interpretation of a certain aspect of the film(s), which you didn't need to have watched lectures or done readings to write about. No outside research required either.

--Overall--
This was one of the most enjoyable classes I've taken at ucla! (But I'm biased, because I was already quite interested in the subject matter.) However, I definitely enjoyed the way the class was designed to be fairly open-ended and to encourage students to think about film (vs regurgitating facts or having to follow a certain critical framework). Prof Hanscom is really knowledgeable and his passion for the topic shines through.

The class was easy to get an A in, but you definitely had to think a bit (as in form your own opinions). Some other classes I've taken treat you like a child and dumb things down for you, while requiring that you jump through hoops like attendance, extra credit, presentations, etc - this class grades simply and puts engagement over assessment, which i really appreciated.

This class is great to take as a GE!! I'd highly recommend it to literally anyone. I don't like writing essays but I still loved this class.
LECTURES
The course material is super interesting, and it shows from his lectures that Professor Hanscom is VERY knowledgeable about Korean film/literature and Korean in general. Even though I am of Korean heritage, I still learned a ton about Korea that I didn't know before. He's also very articulate, and the topics he covers in lecture really helps you understand the film and answer the response paper question for that week. There is another review here complaining about his "tangents"...maybe it's because lectures this quarter were pre-recorded, but I personally didn't recognize any tangents nor feel bored or confused by anything he said at all. His lectures are full of relevant content and interesting takes.
DISCUSSIONS
Discussions were student-led. Each week a different group would present questions about the film we watched, and then students would be free to give their own opinion. The TA would guide the conversation and provide their insight. Overall this format worked really well, and I gained new insights from my classmates questions and answers, as well as from the TA's input.
ASSIGNMENTS
There were 10 weekly response papers that are about a page long, each 20 points. There's also 3 longer writing assignments that are 750-1000 words. The grading highly depends on the TA you have; my TA was James Hillmer, and he was a super lenient grader. I always got 18-20 pts on the response papers and As on the writing assignments.

Based on other reviews, it looks like Professor Hanscom changed the course quite a bit to adjust to the online format. The lectures were prerecorded and uploaded to CCLE, so they could be watched at any time. It was set up so that you watch a film each week and complete all the assigned readings + watch the lectures before Wednesday when a 250-word response was due. There were three longer writing assignments: a film analysis, a comparison between a film and the story it was based on, and a film review. All were pretty straightforward. The majority of the films were interesting (there were some older ones at the beginning of the quarter that were harder to get through) and I found most of the readings pretty interesting. Some of the lectures were longer than they needed to be, but they can be watched at 1.5-2x speed without missing too much

The grade breakdown is 10% participation, 30% weekly response papers, 60% longer writing assignments.

This was an awesome class. He really is passionate about the subject, and he provides very detailed analysis of the movies in a bigger context. I would take his class again if I had space in my schedule. The class is pretty straight forward. You just need to watch a movie once a week. Honestly, it is not that bad. Also, a lot of the essays are asking for your analysis of the movie. I recommend taking this class, and also getting to know the professor. He is a cool guy.

Writing this in defense of Professor Hanscom, who I thought was a brilliant mind. Although, yes his lectures were often filled with his various tangents, I still found them to be interesting. Also, he often provided a lot of context for the films from a historical perspective, which I was not expecting, but I honestly enjoyed that I got to learn a bit about Korean history. And honestly I don't think that his lectures needed to be the most focused, because at the end of it all this class was just about appreciating and familiarizing yourself with a handful of Korean films.
The films he assigned can be hard to get through (I ended up binging 4 during finals week) but after watching all of them, I don't think there was a "bad" movie among them (except maybe Spring on the Peninsula, didn't care too much for that one haha.)
The grading comes from pop quizzes which are essentially impossible not to get an A on if you have the faintest idea of what the movie is about, he might as well be asking if the sky is blue. There are two essays, one on a film from class, and one of your own choosing. I'm not the strongest writer, and I wrote both the night before during crackhead hours and got a 18/20 and 17/20 respectively. The final tests identification based off a quote, which again is painfully obvious if you've seen the films, but you'll have to identify the director of the accompanying film which is the only thing you'll need to "study." One part is a short answer, but the only questions that I didn't think were obvious if you've seen the movies or been to lecture were the ones regarding history. Then there is a long essay regarding any of the themes throughout the films that he makes painfully clear and hammers into you during lectures- again if you've seen the movies and been to some of the lectures, this should not be difficult at all. I only did the readings for the films I really enjoyed, so the majority I did not read, and they did not seem to be tested in any way. And of course there is participation which I think is just from attended discussion.
Overall, I actually thoroughly enjoyed Professor Hanscom and this course. I think everything he had to say was interesting, and his "rambling" made the class seem more like a seminar than a lecture. And if you watch the films, which can be done at 1.5 speed, any of the other assignments should not be difficult at all. I would recommend this class if you are at all interested in the topic or just want to take a class with a quirky and engaging professor :)

i was initially very excited when i saw this new addition to the class planner. watching movies and writing some essays didn’t seem to be too bad, and i liked my TA, donghyun, as he was nice and clearly enjoyed his job. however, i absolutely hated this class. hanscom was quite possibly the worst lecturer i’ve encountered at ucla. he’s such a disorganized person who went on the most useless tangents. was he passionate about the topic? yes. but his passion took away from the topic itself. i literally could not bear to listen to him. i would have never gone to class if it wasnt for the pop quizzes he gave. most of the movies assigned were not engaging, even for someone who loves korean movies. his lectures felt like they were irrelevant and ended up not being extremely useful. the assigned readings were absolutely useless and were never tested in any capacity. if you’re going to assign readings, at least do something with them. knowing i spent tuition money on this joke of a class will haunt me. i have not learned a single thing about film history and feel like i wasted 10 weeks of my life on such a messy class. hanscom’s like that professor who is nice and you can tell is trying, but the course fell very flat. don’t take this class. take another GE that will be easier and likely more interesting.

Hanscom had so much potential. He did not fulfill it. His lectures were so pointless and boring. No one showed up by week 3. Everyone always fell asleep. As long as you watch the movies and know their plot and go to discussion, you're fine. Lecture slides are useful to slightly skim through in preparation for the final, but honestly the discussions prepare you well enough. I got an A on every single assignment (including the final exam) other than ONE quiz, and I ended up with a B+. Is that not extremely unfair? There were no extra credit assignments and no accommodations to even raise my grade slightly.

The grading is as follows:
Essay #1: 20%
Essay #2: 20%
Participation: 20%
Quizzes: 20% (4 pop quizzes, 5% each)
Final Exam: 20%

The final exam should've been weighted more. A single quiz lowered me to a B+. Granted, it was an easy quiz, but such a simple assignment shouldn't have been such a detrimental factor towards my final grade. Don't take this class unless you want to waste your time and get annoyed.

Professor Hanscom is a very passionate professor of Korean films. Lecture was mainly him providing key important elements of the films for the week including themes, patterns, and cinematic elements. The class was graded based on weekly film reviews that were solely graded by the TA (all of the grading is based on the TA, so hope you get a good TA to do your grading) as well as two essays and a final essay. The essays included being focused on one film, a comparative essay based on two films, and the final essay being on a Korean film not covered in class. Thinking watching a film each week would be time-consuming but not necessarily and completely doable. What helped me was taking notes on the film based on the discussion prompt for the week. Participation is really important in the discussion (graded) as you have to respond to people that are selected to present during that section.