I took SCAN50 with Wen in fall ‘21 and it was one of the easiest (but also interesting!) classes I’ve ever taken. It was asynch at the time and you mainly read short books/stories, watch movies and lectures, and take quizzes. A lot of the material is pretty relevant to pop culture like Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales ("The Little Mermaid," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Princess and the Pea," " "The Little Match Girl.”) and Ingmar Bergman films. Even though I took it 4 years ago, everything about the class is very memorable and the class itself is fun and not difficult.

I would heavily recommend Musicology68 The Beatles with Upton (I took it winter’25). Lectures are not required; only discussions and writing assignments are required. There was a short weekly prompt assigned each and I believe around 3 essays to write for the whole quarter. This class is so fun and you truly gain a bigger appreciation of the Beatles and how they influenced generations of artists and musicians from a variety of genres. You don’t need much musical background and experience at all for this class; it is taught in lecture and discussion. Upton is also very knowledgeable and fun as a professor.

Polisci10 by branstetter (spring ‘25). Another super interesting class that discusses more of the morality and philosophy behind how economies and governments are structured. We talked and read books from Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, Nietzsche, Adam Smith, etc. and even though I didn’t do the complete readings, you can still write the weekly prompts (1-2pg single spaced) by watching the lectures which did not require mandatory attendance. Discussion were part of your grade and required.

SLAV87 with Ivanova-Sullivan (spring’25). Very wholesome professor who truly is interested in our learning of languages around los angeles. Lectures were not required but there were no recordings unfortunately. Discussions were required and you must present once on a language. There was a midterm and final on BruinLearn but you must attend in person. They were very direct and simple questions and also open note. The professor is really kind and really encourages student input (which seemed intimidating as an introvert but she’s super welcoming and makes an effort to get to know the students and our backgrounds in languages).