Damn nice guy who initially seems like he'd make for a great professor. However, the course is a disaster. The amount of reading expected of you is absurd. The focus of the material is often very vague and he is not particularly skilled as a lecturer. Despite sharing many of the same viewpoints as him, his horrendous political bias was overwhelming

really nice guy who is enthusiastic for the subject. I dont blame the guy; the subject itself is very vague. Midterms not too bad. Lots of reading, but a lot of it can be easily skimmed and not really necessary for the tests.

Cut the guy some slack - Kurt's a great guy, and the topic of the course is vague in itself. Although the topic's dull, Kurt's enthusiasm makes it somewhat interesting. The reading list is huge, but still manageable. He's friendly, approachable and don't forget to go on the Angel Island trip- awesome!

i like this class! it's interesting esp the lecture on the Corn Mother myth and the beavers! however, the other parts (land grants, etc) was a bit dull. Kurt is really cool--go to office hours. Lots of extra credit! lots of reading--skim it.

Yes some of the readings are tedious and not as important but some of them were really interesting and made you relook at what you may have learned in elementary school. I learned a lot of things about settlers and shaping the United States that I never really thought about. He also cares about student learning and wants you to do well.

Not a fan of the material but he tries to make it interesting and does an ok good job at it. I did about half of the readings as alot of the material can be brought in from general knowledge and common sense. I took it P/NP because of the material, biggest regret because its definitely the easiest class I've ever taken. No excuse not to get an A.

Kurt is a really good professor... he's really passionate about what he teaches and is so understanding if you need to take a test later. He's a really nice guy and the grading for that class is super easy. You don't need to read the readers, most of the information you can get from lectures (if you go). The readings are usually redundant.

Kurt is a great guy and really wants his students to succeed. Very approachable before class and during office hours. The first section on American Indians is pretty tedious and anti-white man, but the other units are really interesting. Lots of extra credit available and easy exams. This is one of the easiest classes at Cal and really enjoyable.

Kurt is really enthusiastic, friendly, and GREAT! He tries really hard to make the class engaging even though it's not, but the class is really easy. There are tons of extra credit opps. and Kurt personally offers multiple review sessions. He even gave us the option of taking an alternative final. Make sure you have a good GSI (Edoardo)!!!

One of the easiest classes on campus! Kurt tries really hard to make the class interesting. However, the material is boring and repetitive. Don't buy the reader, it cost $100 and I never used it once and it wasn't on any tests. Do all the Extra Credit assignments. Get a good GSI (Not Edoardo).

this guy PWNS. i didnt buy a reader or go to class for a month and still got a solid A... HOLLA!

He was pretty easy, great attitude and energy during class. His lectures are a little dull at times, but at the end he manages to wrap everything together. Fair grading system (not curved), it's unnecessary to buy the reader, use it at Moffitt, overall great class

Professor Spreyer's class is extremely easy! He is a good teacher who doesn't see anything wrong with giving out A's to 75% of the class. You don't really need the reader, but you should still study for the tests, which can be a marathon with all the writing he wants you to do. The lectures can be somewhat boring and repetitive at times.

Kurt is really cool and really nice, and gives out A's for a very cool class. He's sometimes completely jumbled with his powerpoints and there's a lot of reading, but you really don't have to do the reading. His tests are all writing, so be prepared.

Easy A course, just what I wanted for my AC. Don't even have to read, but I did. Pretty easy class on the whole. Highly recommended.

Easy class, not much work but there is a weekly 1 page assignment and a few papers. Pretty interesting class.

Easy class, not too much work, boring course material but he's a great lecturer, very helpful if you ask him for help, very enthusiastic, decent if you need a humanities or AC

What a cool guy. Gives plenty of EC opportunities and makes the tests completely fair - nothing tricky - if you know the material, piece of cake. I learned a lot about how resources have affected the US's history. Interesting. Definitely recommended for AC req or for ESPM req. Great class and nice and fun prof!

Very easy class. Doesn't like to give low grades. Strongly recommend this class to fulfill an AC reqt. He seems to perspire when he lectures which I guess shows how passionate he is about the subject. Don't buy the readers.

You don't even have to go to class to get an A. Very easy.

teacher is passionate about material, just pay attention in class and you will get an A, don't bother reading the fat reader, there are quite a few papers but grading is very easy

Spreyer is a great professor. He has a liberal bias, but if you can get past that you will learn the history behind natural resource use in North America and how past trends continue today. Class is an easy A if you do the work and study for exams. Go to office hours, Kurt is a cool dude!

Fairly boring class but its mostly all common sense. Go to section, try hard on your essays, find someone who takes good notes and you're set. However, this professor's bias was so unbearbale I had to leave lection a few times. Tries way too hard to impose his radical liberal agenda on his students. If you can suck it up its an easy A.

Easiest class I have taken at Berkeley. Loved it . Pure memorization skills. Kurt gives you outlines and you just need to memorize them and recite it during the midterm and final. 2 midterms. Extra Credit incase u mess up. Piece of cake!

Spreyer read this site before and changed EVERYTHING to make it harder. we now have weekly quizzes which ask really specific questions so you have to read the reader carefully to get all the details into your head. He also grades the tests and essays really hard, but hes really nice and sweet and sweats a lot for some reason DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS

Awesome Professor! He tries to not only teach the subject, but also to instill life values. He cares a lot about the subject (and you can def. feel his passion for the topics). But in all honesty, lectures are very dry at times (and he seems to jump all over the place). But somehow, it converges at the end of each unit. Not an easy class, READ!

I really enjoyed this class and Kurt was a great professor. He was very enthusiastic and passionate about the subject and really tried to engage the class. I agree with others that his lectures were a little disorganized but everything tied together. Definitely recommend if you're interested in the history of natural resource use in America.

Easy course and a GPA booster. Professor clearly cared about the subject.

I knew people who took this class and did not read the readings at all. Some didn't even buy the second reader. All they did was sit in lectures, listen and take some notes that are important. And they all have A's or A-'s. I took this class the year after the people I knew did, didn't get the readers at all and followed suit. Got an A. Hooray!

This class is intensive. Usually classes with a final paper do not have test finals. But not this class. Lots of assignments, readings and tests. His lectures are not really clear (his voice is clear but probably phrasing/structuring is not that clear) and you may often times be lost in the lectures due to organization of lecture notes.

The class is writing intensive and pretty boring. Not hard to do well in but depends on GSI. Overall, only take if there's nothing better offered, no matter how many people say it's a good class

Kurt was a great professor. The class material is relatively easy, as long as you pay attention to lectures and do most of the readings. Kurt was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the topics covered, and he was incredibly willing to help students and work with them. To be honest, Kurt was the reason the class was interesting.

Spreyer is extremely enthusiastic about his subject. The class material itself will open your mind and make you see American History in new ways. Note: there is alot of reading but if you attend lecture you can easily get away with skimming it. Overall, an excellent way to fulfill your AC req. or just to learn more about American History

This class is so great. It truly exposed me to such interesting topics, which really urged me to look further into matters and to look beyond conventional knowledge... and, as everyone else has said, Kurt was absolutely amazing... ! He truly cares and gives clear advice for midterms/final; attend review sessions and look over the review materials!

Really easy class! You may think you need to know every detail in this class, but to do well on the midterms/final you only need to know the "big picture". I honestly thought the class was boring, but an easy A!

Professor Spreyer is really very passionate and genuinely cares about his students. He's such a great teacher and definitely my favorite class of the semester. He's a teacher who's here because he wants to teach. And the material isn't hard, the GSIs are all very helpful. Pay attention in lecture and attend review sessions and you're set.

Professor is really passionate about the topic but sometimes went too over + detailed with single concept, which made it confusing. A lot of EC opportunities and discussion (+GSI) is relatively chill if you've done your reading. Many people skips lecture after first few weeks but I personally think its all worth coming. Not much hw, MTsFinals r OK

Kurt makes this class fun and engaging. The reading is a bit dry. but thankfully most of it is unnecessary as he notes what is important for the tests beforehand. This doesn't mean don't read, but take it with a grain of salt. Lots of XC and the GSIs are chill. If you go to lecture consistently, you don't need 90% of the readings. Pop quizs in DS.

A good professor but wasn't the class for me. If you love sustainability, env sci, etc then you'll like the class but for me it was pretty dreadful. Slow on grading and GSIs are not that helpful.

Never went to lecture, had a great GSI, and course was a joke, but still required quite a bit of my time due to the number of assignments. One of the easiest, but still time consuming classes I've taken at Cal

I loved this class. Lectures were so interesting that I never missed one. ESPM50AC tells US history from an environmental perspective & shows the current world in a new light. Kurt truly cares about his students & the course. Stay organized w/ the many small assignments & do the extra cred! Lectures more helpful than readings; exams are big picture

Dr. Spreyer presents topics that could seem a little overwhelming in such a graceful way that I left the class feeling empowered and knowledgable about difficult topics. Absolutely incredible class and professor!

Lots of opportunity for extra credit. Kurt really just wants you to 'engage' in the material. He is passionate and his lectures are interesting, however not amazing. He does relay the material quite well, however almost always runs out of time. GSI mattered a bit-they'll nail down what you have to know. Fair amount of reading/reading quizzes.

One of the best professors I've had. He is definitely passionate about the material that he teaches, and he genuinely cares that you come away from the class with a new perspective on life and more knowledge on how to make a difference in the world. Definitely would recommend the class, shows you the side of history that you often don't hear about.

Kurt is a genuine guy who cares about his students and this topic! Some lectures will be more interesting than others just by the nature of their subject matter (i.e. Native American fire usage vs present-day CA water management). A good grasp of the readings is important for weekly quizzes and the midterms. iClicker used for in-class attendance.

Professor Spreyer's lectures covered the broad ideas of the readings but did not go into the details that were featured on the quizzes and midterms. There was a lot of reading assigned but not all of it was tested.

This professor really cares about the topics covered in this class! Go talk to Kurt and you'll get insight you would never have thought about. Deep, profound conversations will be held at office hours and it'll make you enjoy the class even more! (Plus, it'll only make the class easier!)

Kurt enjoys talking. Don't worry too much about the grade. There're plenty of XC.

Kurt speaks really quickly during lectures so sometimes taking notes is a struggle, but other than that, this class is a must-take. A lot of the topics are super interesting and applicable to thinking about everyday environmental issues. The writing assignments are graded easily, but there are a lot of them. Be on top of deadlines and be organized!

Lectures are long and cover what the reading goes over. Just skim the readings. Kurt offers a lot fo extra credit, so you will get a solid grade. Make sure to come to lecture for the clicker attendance. Great professor who really cares!

Kurt is a super nice guy, and a great, passionate Professor. iClickers are used in attendance and he actively calls out "click-and-run"ers, so beware of that. Somewhat reading heavy; weekly quizzes - 13 of them, but only 7 count for a grade. Great, interesting class (and perfect for an engaging, but low stress AC)! Would recommend.

Kurt is pretty cool, and very enthusiastic, and the subject matter is interesting. The class has a ton of readings, homework (essays; weekly quizzes; a big project; etc), and lecture is mandatory. I had a hard time keeping up w attending every lecture and doing all the readings, as well as keeping up with hw. I will say lecture is very disorganized

Kurt puts his heart and soul into ESPM 50AC and it really shows. You can get 60-70 points of credit (6-7%) of your grade by just doing Extra Credit. Readings are tough but skim through them. Overall I came into this class wanting to get the AC requirement out of the way but I felt like I genuinely enjoyed the class with him. Also class is easy!

Kurt is an amazing prof. He truly cares for his students, and he makes sure that you can at least get a B or higher in his class. Use OH to your advantage. Kurt answers questions clearly, and he is willing to chat with his students anytime. The organization of bcourses would be the only criticism I have, but the class was overall very enlightening!

The class was huge, so I didn't get to know Kurt well, but he's is very passionate in his lectures. People complain about the readings and sometimes he goes overtime on his recorded lectures, but the information is repeated and assignments are extremely easy; so, you don't have to attend all lectures and skimming through the readings is enough!

Great class & prof. I hardly did readings, did final project solo & last minute. Maybe I got away with that bc I really focused on lecture & discussion! Bcourses site was confusing but eventually ok. Detailed syllabus & schedule for all assignments/exams! Loved it, nothing catches u by surprise. If u don't have interest in subject, you'll struggle

His lectures are very disorganized, but you can tell he is passionate about the subject. There is a lot of reading for this class which can be seem intimidating, but just skim it because he will go over it later. If you pay attention during lecture you will do fine on the tests! Also, there is a TON of extra credit so do not worry about your grade.

This was probably my favorite class I've taken so far. I learned a lot about race, culture, and how those things interact with policy and relationships with the environment. Also, it was not hard, as long as you go to lecture. Take this class!

This is my second semester with Kurt, and he is the GOAT. He truly cares and understands about the course material, and he wants to know every single student in his class. He wants to try to make all of his students pass his course. ESPM 160AC was slightly more challenging than 50AC, but he gave many extensions for students who are struggling.

Hes a great professor who enjoys teaching very much but his lectures can be super long. His 50 minute lectures become 2 hours. Just skim the readings to get main ideas and watch your lectures and youll do great. His exams are straight forward and comes right from lectures/readings. Great guy who is very accommodating.

Kurt is a great professor and the class is fairly manageable because of how many opportunities you are given to improve your grade or score better. On papers, he doesn't grade too harshly and most people get As as long as you complete the assignment. Great professor and really cares

I haven't taken the course yet but this professor has the HEART OF GOLD! Due to personal reasons, I needed online courses for Spring 2022 and couldn't find any, until I came across this one. He took the time to manually enroll me and responded to all my emails. He's the absolute sweetest! Idk any other professor who would take the time to do this!

Makes you think about the world more critically, a lot of reading but much of it is gone over in lectures, amazing person!

This was a good class overall. Some of Kurt Spreyer's lectures were a bit boring and long at times but he is a very nice person and is very knowledgeable about the impacts of natural resources on societies, past and present. Most of his lectures were interesting. It's easy to get a good grade in as long as you put in a decent amount of effort.

Pretty easy class, just have to show up to discussion and know what the reading is about for the exams

Easy class Idk how I got by with only have attended so few of the lectures. They are usually very boring. I liked some of the readings/lessons more than others. Tests are easy essays and super detailed mc that I failed lol. Super caring teacher and GSIs. Easy class, but there are AC classes you will likely learn so much more from.

Great prof, engaging lectures and the class is pretty easy/ straightforward. Highly recommend. Kurt is a great example of a prof who really cares about what he teaches and cares about his students.

Great Professor who always had an interesting lecture. Class is organized. He is very lenient with grading and offers plenty of extra credit. I myself was not interested in the content of the class, but he made it enjoyable. Would recommend.

pretty easy content but a lot of readings. the grading was weird and it seemed like the graders put no thought or effort into it at all. not difficult to get an A with all the extra credit and quizzes that u only have to pass with a 70%

A no-stress class. We had plenty of time to complete the final project, and the steps were so planned out that it was easy to get the points. The quizzes are easy and we got multiple tries to complete them. Attendance for discussion was mandatory but I took it online so it wasn't a big commitment. Hay plenty of resources study guides to ace espm50

Powerpoints don't offer much of anything unless you actually listen to lecture. Reading heavy for weekly quizzes. Entire class was online and mostly asynchronous so fairly easy but I learned nothing. He is very passionate about the subject. I'm sure I would have liked the class more if I also liked Env Sciences oops.

Kurt is really accommodating to all of his students. The course is an easy breadth where you have 2 months to work on your final project, weekly MCQ quizzes w/ 5 attempts, & 30 points of EC options. You should expect to write 2 midterm papers & 3 other papers in addition to 2 final exam essays (changed to MCQ due to Fall 2022 strike bless) though!

Kurt was a great professor, who was interesting to watch even online. Though his class had a lot of reading and a decently large amount of assignments, including a project you have to create, they were relatively self explanatory, and it was easy to ask questions. Interesting subject that covered many topics, and animated lecturer.

Literally, the world's easiest class at Berkeley alongside Music W26AC you can get an A without going to lecture and just using common sense on the quizzes and tests with some written portions of the test and a group project for a final which seemed to be graded on completion. Such an easy class! Also interesting if you want to pay attention.

I loved this class, despite the difficulties associated with zoom, Prof. Spreyer made lecture quite interesting. All of the readings associated with the course are incredible and worth reading regardless of enrollment. Also there were two guest lectures from people with direct personal experience with the topics covered which was awesome.

I really enjoyed Kurt's class! It was highly informative, reaching into content that is important for people to understand. He gives detailed lectures that would often run over time, but everything he said was worth listening to. His readings are dense but again super informative. He is very accommodating and wants to see his students succeed!!

Professor Sprayer is probably the most understanding teacher you will have. He makes this course very easy to follow, gives a lot of EC opportunities, & is very passionate about what he is teaching. There is no textbook, but there is a lot of readings and I would recommend taking notes during lecture and when he talks about the readings.

Midterms & weekly quizzes r take-home, written response portions r in person, making it easy to pass. u DO have to put in effort, there r graded papers and a major final project. Weekly readings r 15-35 pages. No HW. Attendance for every zoom or watch the recordings before the next week. Won't be ur hardest class but does require consistent work.

Don't be fooled by the negative reviews of fall 2023. I'm a freshman and this class was quite manageable. You just have to keep up with the readings, the quizzes are not too difficult and the exams are part take home mcq part in person essay. They give so many attendance options. Kurt is passionate. Grading took forever b/c of a GSI shortage.

Course consisted of 3 essays, 2 midterms (take home MCQ+timed essay&2 short answer), 1 detailed final project, 1 final test (MCQ, essay, 3 short answer), weekly quizzes, mandatory attendance. Passionate professor but very work heavy. Took course as a freshman and ended with an A if you put in the effort+time but there are easier AC classes.

he's a good guy. i took 50AC and 100 w him, 100 is a useless class but its not his fault. and 50AC was pretty fun as a sophomore. I like the guy. hes cool.

You can tell he is very passionate about the subject he lectures. I personally am not interested in environmental science, but professor was able to keep me engaged. He is also a very understanding professor. 10/10

Awesome Professor, awesome GSI's. As a professional half-asser this class was pretty easy, but if you don't take lecture notes/ do at least some of the readings you might struggle with quizzes. Spreyer is a very understanding chill guy and although sometimes his lectures can be a bit muddy I found everything very interesting and I learned a lot.

Spreyer's a really cool guy! If you've taken an AFRICAM, SOCIOL, or ESP class before this, it's kind of like a cool mixture of all 3 and you'll def have an easier time. Extremely time consuming though!!! Only annoying part was how he can be hyper specific on exams. Tends to ramble/go on tangents in lectures pretty often though.

Kurt is quite a strange guy. Had him for ESPM50AC which was partially on zoom. Class started out well-structured but I felt it devolved by the end of the second unit. Sometimes you're not really sure what he's talking about and I don't think he was sure either. He likes when people participate.

I enjoyed this course- professor obviously cares a lot about his students and his line of work, and he is super empathetic and understanding. That being said, this is a reading heavy course- do not get behind on the readings because they will come up on the exams. Lecture attendance is mandatory.

Kurt is genuinely a good professor who cares about what he's teaching his students. He's also super lenient and understandable. Midterms and final is based on lectures and readings.

Easy class with minimal assignments. Knows how to explain concepts and give context to key ideas during lecture. Lecture slides are outlines with minimal words, so be prepared to pay attention and take notes on Kurt's elaboration/expansion of the slides. Bcourses is unorganized, but you will get used to it. Passionate for what he teaches & caring.

Kurt is very passionate about his teaching and lectures in an engaging way. His lectures do get hard to follow at times though and his online materials aren't the most organized. He gives lots of extra credit opportunities and his grading criteria for papers is pretty lenient so as long as you attend lecture, passing the class should be no problem.

kurt was awesome! a fun lecturer and charismatic guy. 3 papers outside of final project and tests. other than that, barely any assignments. grading is lenient, content is interesting and simple. reading is heavy but not really required to do well in the class. lectures are recorded and optional attendance. test essays are easy if you pay attention!

The class was extremely doable and pretty easy! Don't read every single reading material - I used notebook lm to more easily understand and interact with the material but videos/films are important and very interesting! Grading is lenient and GSIs were awesome and super helpful. MT and FE were pretty easy except for multiple choice portion - STUDY!

A remarkably caring and lenient professor at Berkeley. Though he occasionally rambles and can be confusing, he genuinely wants students to succeed. Super flexible with attendance, and the GSI was laid-back. Generous with extra credit opportunities and provides abundant resources on bCourses. Got an A despite minimal effort.

really chill guy teaching a chill class

I don't know what's with all the hate, but these students are just LAZY! Yes, you have to study for exams and whatnot, but they are curved and the study guides are extremely accurate. As long as you study, you will get an A.

Listen to lectures and you'll be ok. Interesting class--lectures a bit boring at times--but solid topics.

Solid, nice, got me a SPUR position

Easiest class of my life. Studied for maybe 2 or 3 hours night before midterm and got a 95. Papers are graded very easily as well. As long as you have 3 braincells and can BS a little on the midterm (and know how to use ChatGPT for the papers) you're fine.

Great professor and great class

Very chill and understanding guy. Lectures can just get boring sometimes. Exams are easy to study for. You can get up to 3% extra credit you just gotta write a bunch of essays. Type of class where you're pretty much guaranteed at least an A- if you turn in everything and put effort into the final.

It's clear he is very passionate about what he teaches but sometimes things felt a bit discombobulated jumping from topic to topic. I also felt at times that his lectures were difficult to grasp and you had to be entirely attentive to get the main idea, all making it hard to take notes. Exams were not too bad and there were some essays.