Professor
Jeffrey Decker
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Most Helpful Review
my god, he's a terrible lecturer. it was painful to listen to him for more than 15 minutes. and he seemed a little sassy for me... as for the cluster. it's definitely not worth it. all of fall quarter was basically a review of the same damn thing we've all been learning since 3rd grade. AND THAT QUARTER, I GOT A B. so not worth it. make sure you get a good TA if you decide to take it. makes a HUGE difference. first quarter, i had a new TA that didn't even know herself what to expect from us. terrible experience. the next to quarters i had an awesome TA and got an easy A. so you're choice, but not my suggestion.
my god, he's a terrible lecturer. it was painful to listen to him for more than 15 minutes. and he seemed a little sassy for me... as for the cluster. it's definitely not worth it. all of fall quarter was basically a review of the same damn thing we've all been learning since 3rd grade. AND THAT QUARTER, I GOT A B. so not worth it. make sure you get a good TA if you decide to take it. makes a HUGE difference. first quarter, i had a new TA that didn't even know herself what to expect from us. terrible experience. the next to quarters i had an awesome TA and got an easy A. so you're choice, but not my suggestion.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - Literally so lit, all we did was analyze politics, culture, music, film, art, intersectionality, of American history in the 50s-70s. SOOOOO easy if you took APUSH bc you can easily pull stuff from apush for essays! but honestly not too much boring history yk. super engaging! all the professors are lit
Fall 2023 - Literally so lit, all we did was analyze politics, culture, music, film, art, intersectionality, of American history in the 50s-70s. SOOOOO easy if you took APUSH bc you can easily pull stuff from apush for essays! but honestly not too much boring history yk. super engaging! all the professors are lit
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - Decker is probably the sweetest but most boring professor I’ve had at UCLA. The dude is a little boring but you manage to get through it. However, again he’s a very nice guy. Would not recommend taking this cluster, take another one if you want the credit. This cluster is an interesting time in history but the faculty is very disorganized in teaching it. As a history major, they do a poor job of keeping it on a time sequence. The class bores you with readings that are too long and focusing on things that are very bland in the Sixties with no time frame whatsoever. Adam Bakr is an awesome TA though, if he’s a TA next year you should Forsure take it.
Fall 2018 - Decker is probably the sweetest but most boring professor I’ve had at UCLA. The dude is a little boring but you manage to get through it. However, again he’s a very nice guy. Would not recommend taking this cluster, take another one if you want the credit. This cluster is an interesting time in history but the faculty is very disorganized in teaching it. As a history major, they do a poor job of keeping it on a time sequence. The class bores you with readings that are too long and focusing on things that are very bland in the Sixties with no time frame whatsoever. Adam Bakr is an awesome TA though, if he’s a TA next year you should Forsure take it.
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Winter 2025 - There are 4 professors (which if you're reading this you've prob already taken 60a so know the description of each but I'll explain my opinion on each): Decker is a bit bland and honestly the first professor where I felt intimidated to raise my hand due to how he almost zeroes in on students who answer his questions and he continues to ask that specific student questions. Avila is a bit hard to follow, but I found that if I take fewer (less detailed) notes on his slides I really enjoyed and respected the material he lectured about and took more away from it, honestly. Fink is hilarious, very quirky, and keeps the audience entertained, his topics on music are honestly the most challenging thing to totally grasp in the class if you haven't done music in your life, but he breaks it down well. Finally, Vavreck is easily the best lecturer, it feels like I'm watching a professional speaker who really knows what she's talking about - and her lectures are super engaging, but she doesn't lecture often. The material is quite interesting for this class, but the TA matters WAY too much when it comes to grading and the stress/effort level you need to put in. Choose your TA wisely.
Winter 2025 - There are 4 professors (which if you're reading this you've prob already taken 60a so know the description of each but I'll explain my opinion on each): Decker is a bit bland and honestly the first professor where I felt intimidated to raise my hand due to how he almost zeroes in on students who answer his questions and he continues to ask that specific student questions. Avila is a bit hard to follow, but I found that if I take fewer (less detailed) notes on his slides I really enjoyed and respected the material he lectured about and took more away from it, honestly. Fink is hilarious, very quirky, and keeps the audience entertained, his topics on music are honestly the most challenging thing to totally grasp in the class if you haven't done music in your life, but he breaks it down well. Finally, Vavreck is easily the best lecturer, it feels like I'm watching a professional speaker who really knows what she's talking about - and her lectures are super engaging, but she doesn't lecture often. The material is quite interesting for this class, but the TA matters WAY too much when it comes to grading and the stress/effort level you need to put in. Choose your TA wisely.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - Professor Decker is so fucking boring; by the end of the second quarter I hated his lectures with passion. The other professors were somewhat better, specially Fink, but overall the class gets really tiresome by the Winter quarter. However, I would advise sticking with it until the end, as the Spring seminar was quite fun and enjoyable (I took it with Tom, but it is different for every TA and year, so YMMV). Personally, I think it's worth the extra credit.
Winter 2019 - Professor Decker is so fucking boring; by the end of the second quarter I hated his lectures with passion. The other professors were somewhat better, specially Fink, but overall the class gets really tiresome by the Winter quarter. However, I would advise sticking with it until the end, as the Spring seminar was quite fun and enjoyable (I took it with Tom, but it is different for every TA and year, so YMMV). Personally, I think it's worth the extra credit.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - This is totally just up to the TA you get and the topic you get. My class was 30% participation, 30% a weekly 1 page response to the material we learned in class that was based on completion and then 40% based on a 10 ish page essay that analyzed materials in class. Overall super interesting and graded nicely but it's all up to the TA.
Spring 2025 - This is totally just up to the TA you get and the topic you get. My class was 30% participation, 30% a weekly 1 page response to the material we learned in class that was based on completion and then 40% based on a 10 ish page essay that analyzed materials in class. Overall super interesting and graded nicely but it's all up to the TA.
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