I will say I liked this class, but I barely went to lecture (my fault). A little frustrating because even if you 100% understand the content of the class, there's a good chance that you still might get an A- because of the sole reason that the grade is composed of the midterm and final, and the exam questions are extremely niche (sometimes a multiple choice about a statistic mentioned once the entire quarter). Sherrer is a great professor overall though, while the class content is basic American politics you probably learned in high school or on the news.

The prof is extremely clear and detailed during lectures. He’s really laid back and wants to share his passion/knowledge with you, so he’s very engaging to listen to. We only had 1 midterm (multiple choice with a couple free response questions that can be answered with a couple sentences) and 1 final (only multiple choice questions). There are 2 or so assignments where you discuss a social issue of your choice that the TAs grade but they’re super lenient, and you turn your two assignments into a final slideshow presentation. The prof assigns readings, but you’re fine not doing them as long as you attend class. The exam questions are solely based on the material discussed in class and very few will cover the readings, but the content overlaps so you can usually guess the answer on those questions. Also you get to use any handwritten notes on exams including the final! You are not allowed to print readings or typed notes, but anything written with pen and paper is fair game. The prof is honestly so chill, and he is genuinely informative about the subject so I highly recommend taking the class with him as an easy GE or a way to get extra units

Pub Aff 10 with Professor Sherrer was a great introduction to the public affairs major. Sherrer is an eloquent and engaging political scientist and speaker who genuinely cares about the subjects at hand. I went into the class thinking that I was simply going to learn about the same old civil rights, women, and LGBTQ+ movements I had already studied about in high school, but I actually left the class with a new perspective on these movements and the US government in general. Professor Sherrer's love for the class content was contagious, his class is definitely going to be one I will miss having in my schedule.

2 Tips
1. Keep up with the readings their contents will show up on the multiple-choice section of his exams. He only assigns about two readings/videos before each lecture, and they are not very long, the course load was so light

2. To best prepare for exams is to not simply rely on the posted slide decks, but by attending lectures. A good deal of exam content is on information the professor says in class

Dr. Sherrer is great. Midterm was very easy exam, final was a bit more difficult but with the research presentation it is very easy to get an A! Good class.

This class is a super easy GE. There’s a midterm and a final which were both really straightforward and open note, along with three homework assignments spread throughout the quarter. Content-wise, Dr. Sherrer is a really great lecturer and lets you know everything you will be tested on for the exam. He keeps the class really engaging with a lot of graphs, photos, and videos. While the first half of this class might be a review for a lot of people, the second half was super interesting and dove into a lot of policy issues that I didn’t know about yet. Would highly recommend!

Relatively easy and simple class. An occasional assignment here and there. Midterm which was based on readings and slides. Final was almost all slide material from lecture that he posts after class.

One takeaway: you have to get perfect scores on everything in order to do well.

Because this class is dependent on very little assignments and those assignment not containing many points, unless you get a perfect score it is very difficult to get a good grade.
Sherrer overall is a good professor who makes lectures entertaining

Professor Sherrer is my favorite professor I've had at UCLA. He's super funny, engaging, and good at conveying information. You can tell he really cared about this class and put a lot of work into it. There's a once a week discussion section that just reviews the material we went over during the week and a few exams that are nearly impossible to get a bad grade on. The exams were pretty easy, but there were definitely some questions that were very specific to certain readings (so make sure to do all of them). I would definitely retake this class!

I really enjoyed this class! Professor Sherrer is SO funny and chill, I found that I was super engaged every time I attended lecture. His exams are fair and the assignments are quite easy and practically grade cushions. You just need to select a social issue that interests you and write a few hundred words about it. He allows unlimited handwritten notes for the midterm and final which is super helpful as I pulled some of the answers for both MC and short answer right out of my notes. I'd love to take another Public Affairs class with him, he's awesome!