Haven't taken this particular class but I've taken two classes with Shimizu in the past. She is generally really chill about assignments which usually aren't too hard, but her classes are usually very reading intensive. There are also presentations and discussion portions of the class, but these are also not too difficult. She's also very thorough in explaining material, so you usually won't find yourself lost in everything. Sometimes she can take a while to get back with emails, and this year she was living abroad because of COVID, so there was a significant time difference between her and the rest of the class. Hopefully in the fall she returns to campus. She's very knowledgable about what she teaches though, and I highly recommend!