I had Professor Suman when I took the class, and he was a great professor. He joked a lot during the lectures, which were never boring. I also appreciated the help my T.A., Matt Luckett, gave me when I needed help on my paper. It was a fun class, and I learned a lot.

The professor expects the students to memorize everything he says in lecture and all the materials in the readings (the readings are discussed only in discussion, so you can't skip out on those, and it's really dependent on your TA if he/she gives you the best information to prepare for the tests). The information itself isn't difficult at all; it's almost deceivingly simple. However, the professor does expect you to remember every little thing for the test. The TAs are tough graders and rarely give full credit even if you cover everything the question asks. There is a curve that the professor shows after the midterm. There is also a paper based on a question that he asks-- it's very broad and you can really talk about anything. It's also difficult to get full points on the paper. Overall, it's a manageable class, but it's a lot of work to keep up with the readings and then memorize all the lectures for the exams. The midterm is 40/130 points, the paper is 30/130, and the final is 60/130.

This is definitely a weeder class for the Comm major. I'm a Comm major so I had to take this class and it was quite a lot of work. The information and class itself is pretty interesting and Suman is a great guy, but I don't recommend taking this class if you're looking for an easy GE.
Getting a B requires some effort and getting an A is very difficult.

Comm Studies 10 seemed like a weeder course for the major. Otherwise it was a freshman killer course. Though it is still easy to get a b.

Pros:
subject material is interesting.
nice curve to the grades.

cons:
He is not very concerned about each individual: He has taught this class for like 10 years, but the subject material hardly changed.
essential you come to class and not miss any lecture because the lecture notes make up a good deal of the exam.

agree with the evaluation below. very easy to get a B in, difficult to get an A in. the material's pretty interesting and simple to understand, but the fact that he doesn't have power points or podcasts makes things much harder, especially because what will get you that A is your attention to detail. one midterm, one essay and a final. midterm and final include i thiiiink around 20 short answer and 3 essays. i got a B, and honestly, I wouldn't suggest this class if you're not willing to work and are not a comm major.

His class is supposed to be a freshman killer class. It is overall easy to get a B, but not easy to get an A. Cramming doesn't do any good for you, but its not like there is any critical thinking done in this class. It is pretty much memorize a lot and regurgitate a lot of it. The topics are very interesting though. Should you take this class? My answer is: sure.

When I had Suman for Comm 10 I absolutely loved him. The material was so interesting and I looked forward to go to class even though it was a long class period. He's the teacher that inspired me to be a communications major. He was my favorite teacher at UCLA until I had him for comm 152- the effects of the mass media. That class was so dreadfully boring. I rarely looked forward to going to class, and I had trouble focusing in class. I feel that if someone else taught that class, it would be so much more enjoyable. The tests for that class were open notes, so you think it would be easy, but the grading was so much harsher. I don't know if I would take another class with Suman. I thought he did an amazing job at teaching comm 10 but he can be a bit dry and goes on with a million examples of the same thing. It gets a tad boring after a while.

THIS IS A WEEDER CLASS FOR THE COMMUNICATION STUDIES MAJOR. DO NOT TAKE IT UNLESS YOU A CS MAJOR.

ONLY TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU ARE A CS MAJOR, EVERYONE WHO THINKS THIS IS AN EASY GE, THINK AGAIN.
This class is a nightmare of memorization, regurgitation, and excessive note taking (he talks fast, bring tape recorder). Suman likes to subtract points just to subtract points, yet curves the class back up. He does this in all his classes. Make sure you get a good TA, I had Eloise, and she was really nice. Suman is very monotone and boring, good luck.

I really enjoyed this class. That said, there are some downsides to this class (to be covered later).

The material really interested me. The class is divided into two parts in order to give a brief introduction into the communications major. I thought interpersonal communication was pretty fun, and I actually quite enjoyed mass communication. I'd say that the latter half of the class was a little more difficult as there weren't as many "lists" but rather more details scattered over the history of the development of various media such as newspapers, radio, film, TV etc.

Definitely take notes in this class (and make sure to get everything because Professor Suman talks fast), especially the terms he writes on the board because it WILL be covered in the exam.

Content aside, your grade in the class is based solely on a midterm, paper and final. Exams required a lot of memorizing and writing. There are around 20-30 short IDs and 3 essays (to be done in 2 hours for the midterm and 3 hours for the final). To do well on the exam, make sure you are very specific with your answers. The essays will be on the bigger "lists" that are given. Make sure to include EVERY bullet point in that list or you will lose points. For the final, Professor Suman gave out two of the three essay topics in advance. It would pay to write out (or at least outline) those essays before the final and memorize them.

The paper is observational and must be very specific. I thought this was a little more difficult but I'd recommend running your thesis by the TA.

As for studying, just make sure to memorize everything related to the terms written on the board and from the reading. Discussions aren't mandatory but I'd recommend going because this is the only time the readings are covered.

Overall, I'd say this class is difficult. You need to put in a lot of work and memorization to get an A. I wouldn't recommend taking this as a GE. If you are, however, interested in the material, this is a good class to take and will definitely broaden your knowledge about how people communicate with each other and the functions of the mass media in society.