Professor Illes is my favorite professor at UCLA. She is very knowledgable, and more than willing to help you. Ive taken 5 of her classes and they never disappoint. Her readings are not a waste of time, her teaching style is entertaining, and her tests are fair. There are never any trick questions or anything like that.

Advice: Go to office hours! Not only is she hilarious, but she's great at reteaching for you if you don't quite understand the material.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Professor Illes is one of my favorite professors in the Geography department! She is passionate about teaching and the material, and I love her sense of humor, which is sometimes dark. Not a class for those who are sensitive, because she has strong opinions about certain topics (although she is happy to discuss opposing opinions). Attendance is not mandatory but recommended. She does not post lectures online. If you go to class and take notes of everything on the slides and the videos she shows, you will do fine. You have weekly assignments which is a one-page single spaced response paper, and they are basically easy points for the class. There is one paper about 6 pages single spaced long about an invasive species in California that you choose. It is very easy to do because you follow a certain format, and not that time consuming like you might think. Just show up to class and be engaged with the lecture and you will be a-okay. Professor Illes is funny and the class is not boring at all. The tests are a mixture of multiple choice, short answer, and a couple essays (no minimum length for those). They can be hard, so study up on the notes and make sure you know every detail mentioned on the slides and what she's said in lecture.

Professor Illes is hands down one of the coolest professors in the Geography department. She is funny and extremely passionate about this class, considering that she has done a lot of field work in Africa. For summer, there are weekly assignments which are a one page, single-spaced response paper to readings she posts (easy points). There are two field trips, one to a small zoo (Wildlife Learning Center), and a large zoo of your choice. The tests are very easy if you go to class and take good notes on the slides and things she says. I would take this class again. The topic is very depressing though, so be prepared.

I took this my first quarter at UCLA and I thought it was pretty easy. The lectures are very surface level and it was about animals and the environment, the class is about memorizing basically. The lab section was an absolute joke though, learned nothing, but easy points. I feel like I had somewhat of a unique experience though since my TA left halfway through the quarter so she lightened up on the lab assignments. So it was easy, but not the easiest. We had a final presentation on an extinct animal and a multiple choice final and midterm. Pay attention to the little reviews that she does during class before the tests, she basically gives you all the answers then. Be sure to pay attention in class and take notes and you will do well!! We also talked about current events in the beginning of every class which was interesting.

Do not listen to the ppl under this review. I was scared to take this class as my ge, but the workload is extremely easy with a weekly 500 word reflection on an article of ur choice, and a presentation that u will get full marks in. The tests were exactly like the study guide so if u study the study guide u will do good. Midterm is fairly easier than final exam (bc of the length, 30 questions vs 60) and they were straightforward (u either knew it or u didn’t). I did unfortunately leave off the lectures until last minute, but it’s just a 2 hour lecture per week. It seriously wasn’t bad. Liles is strict but she cares. She’s a lovely person and she’s honestly really funny too. She’s a human being!! She just hates ppl who don’t take this class seriously. Her lectures were SO engaging and very clear with how she organized them, (each week was a diff region). She gave out one extra credit opportunity for reading her syllabus. Don’t slack off and u should be fine!!

Prof Illes was funny and engaging. The class was very accommodating for remote learning as it was asynchronous, minus weekly quizzes on the lecture material. There were three 3-page papers we had to write about movies in different eras of LA history. The final and midterms were solely based off lecture, multiple choice with one or two short essays and were open note. Overall the class was super interesting and made so much sense as someone who has always lived in Metro LA. This class has forever changed my view of LA and it's history. Thank you!

This class isn't too hard for a GE in my opinion--I was worried that I wouldn't do well since the teacher has pretty low ratings but we never even met her. All the lectures were recorded online so that was nice since we didn't have to go in person, the only homework each week is to watch the lectures + write a 500 word analysis paper about a news article on a certain region for each week, which honestly isn't too hard but I feel like everyone procrastinates on those. The exams are lowkey pretty specific, but the entire course is kind of like if APHUG was in hell. For the exams there are def some specific questions but I feel like if you study theyre not that hard,,, the average on the first midterm was like a high 70s to low 80s ish but i got a 95. I would recommend the course if you're interested in world geography and politics and stuff, but if not it might be a bit boring! I really loved my TA Natalie though!! she was the best and a really light grader who definitely wanted us to do well, so i credit my success to her.

Do not take a class from this woman. The entire class got lost on a field trip, following the map she provided, and she blamed us for not following the map. She grades far too harshly, and expects a level of background knowledge in the geography of Los Angeles that a student who is a different major from somewhere else would not have. She is not only a bad professor, but she is mean to students she doesn’t like. She has a very clear group of favorites, and they are the only ones who will ever enjoy one of her classes.

Do not take her class. She is so rude to any questions asked and is very passive aggressive. If you have any issue at all, good luck getting a clear respectful answer from her. I’m a geography major and love geography, but I hated this class and it was one of the worst courses I’ve ever taken at UCLA. Badly structured, rude professor, extremely strict rules that you cannot make a single mistake on, and weird assignment due dates.

I enrolled in this class because I was very interested in learning about the history of Los Angeles, especially as someone who did not grow up in the area. I enjoyed the opportunity to explore the city, and the mandatory field trip was a highlight. However, I found the course content to be somewhat disorganized, and lectures sometimes went off topic, which made it hard to follow. While I appreciate the professor’s knowledge, I would likely not take another class with her, as her tone occasionally felt discouraging to students. I also felt like the grading was pretty harsh at times, and it really depended on which TA you had this quarter.