Prof. Garcia is way too harsh for an intro class. Be prepared for a ton of reading, most of which was written by him. If you don't stay on top of your readings, you will be too far behind to catch up. Also, don't sleep, talk, or eat in his class, or he'll personally yell at you in lecture. Subject material is interesting - teacher is too hard.

Excessive reading. Missing a section will result in a entire grade drop. Lectures are somewhat interesting. The books are great. Gee..not sure what to say..I guess if you keep up with the reading the class isn't so bad.

His lectures were as interesting as chicano studies can be - which isn't too interesting. Too much reading! Midterm and Final were easy , expect a 35/50 on the midterm if you didn't read, and expect a 40/50 on the final if you didn't read. Did I mention I didn't read?

easiest class ever, theres a lot of reading, so if your a big party person and a bunch of ****s like most of the people who didnt like his class then you most likely will do bad. if you keep up with your reading then you should get an A.

the quizzes in section were EXTREMELY helpful. Utilize your TA. His tests were all m/c, but if you did the reading (which is a lot some interesting some not) the midterm and final are very fair tests. A very interesting class. His lecture get a little bland because he is getting older though.

Don't fall asleep in class! Pay attention and do the mountains of reading, and it will be pretty easy.

Took him over the summer, so I don't know if it is different during the year, but this was my experience: The class is extremely interesting, and Garcia is passionate about the topic. His tests are super easy (midterm and final, worth 25% each), but there is no way to skip out on the reading (it is interesting). Paper is fun (worth 25% too)

His class was awesome! 95% of the reading was very interesting and enjoyable. He's very passionate about the subject PLUS you get to meet the people you read about in the books: Frances Tywoniak, Sal Castro, and Father Greg. He brings in a mariachi on the last day, he's really nice. It's pretty easy and really fun so enjoy the class!

He's very friendly and very personal with the subject. It's great. Overall, everything is really interesting. Yes, there's a 12 page paper and a good amount of reading but its UNBELIEVABLY worth it. But if you spend more time **** in IV than you do with you nose in books...I don't know if this is for you.

He is very passionate about what he teaches.

One of the most passionate teachers i have ever met in my life, the lectures are highly interesting and so is the reading if you do the work you are sure to get an A+ great class

Boring as hell but midterm is extremely easy, lots of reading but the reading is easy its broken up fairly. I dont know yet about the final. Worth it to take this class. I just took it fall 2009.

Garcia, Is by far one of the best Professors I've had. Extremely interesting. 8/9 of the books we have to read are novels(don't worry he brakes up the reading). If read, pay attention in class, take notes n go over them ur bound to do fine on the midterm and final. 10pg paper is on a autobiography of a person of ur choice. Really fun to do!!

If you go to lecture and do the reading, this class is by no means difficult. The TA can make or break it, however. I got stuck with a TA that gave hard weekly quizzes (all sections have weekly quizzes), but most of my friends got easy ones. Theres a LOT of reading, most is boring , but easy midterm and final! easy class, but not great

Great professor that is very passionate about what he teaches! I love how he brought in Sal Castro and so forth. READ EVERYTHING!!!! It's a lot though... great experience.

Very interesting class. Came in with no interest in Chicano Studies whatsoever and yet, he made it very interesting. There is a lot of readings but most of the reads are very elementary and there's nothing dense. Attending lecture helps quite a bit as he discusses the books and delves deeper into the material.

This is an easy A if you read the books (which most are what he wrote himself) The midterm and finals were easy, just know dates and people and have the readings done, which aren't hard to finish if you give yourself the time. The ten page essay is a breeze, you basically write about a friend, overall good class/professor :)

Garcia is like a grandfather, passionate about his subject. However, the reading was way too long, and most of the books were written by him. It seems like he's using us to make money off of royalties. Also if you miss ONE section, your final grade drops a whole letter!

He was passionate, lecture and reading gave you everything you needed to know for tests, but I felt like I got picked on in section for being white, and his lectures sometimes included stereotypes and generalized statements that felt like personal attacks. For an A on the paper, you probably should elaborate on how life is unfair for chicano/a(s)

Garcia is good, though he seemed to run out of topics towards the end of the quarter. The class is predictable and you can quickly assess his ideas and feelings towards Chicano history, making it easy to BS a little bit and tell him what he wants to hear. Worst part is the no absence policy for sections.

Professor Garcia is a pretty cool dude. The class is ridiculously easy if you do the readings. Like someone else mentioned though, I did feel like I got picked on for being white in my section. I also wasn't a fan of the more radical speakers that Garcia brought in, such as Sal Castro. Overall though, easy class.

Great class. Gives several chances for extra credit. Its quite a lot of reading but nothing that is impossible if you know how to manage your time. Attendance to section is mandatory or it will affect your grade a lot. Midterm and finals are easy even if u only study the night before. Ten page paper isn't hard. Highly recommend the class.

The class is designed to screw over those who fall behind and dont pay attention. As long as you show up, pay attention, and keep up with the reading, you will learn a thing or two about the Chicano experience. Professor Garcia is very passionate and the Guest he brings in are wonderful, correlating exactly with what you are reading!

He's very passionate, clear, and inspiring. Attendance is mandatory and there are weekly quizzes. To get an A, do all the reading (9 books), do well on the quizzes, take detailed notes and pay attention to things like dates (for the midterm and final), and connect the class concepts to your oral history papers. Final is not cumulative :)

Professor Garcia was definitely an excellent professor.He knew the material and was very passionate. I got an easy A in his class. fell asleep in some lectures but still managed an A. His sections are mandatory as are some out of class presentations. Those are the worst part. Easy Class. Lots of reading. easy midterm and final. 10 pg paper was cake

Lots of reading, interesting lectures and a pretty long interview paper. As long as you do the work your going to get an A.

Attendance is very mandatory. He gives you lots of handouts to try guide you and assignments very early. I did have a few issues with him though. We used 4 books by him which were expensive, one of which, his newest, he couldn't put on reserve because "he had no copies." And I felt like he was trying to force his beliefs on me.

Knowledgeable, approachable, very passionate about the topic. You have to buy like 6 books though and 4 of them are written by him so he cashes in off of that. Lectures are important, take great notes & I also recommend reading the books & annotating them. Not an easy class, it's a lot of work, but the midterm wasn't hard.

This is an extremely easy class as long as you do all of the readings. Don't forget to buy the book Sal Castro because 80% of the final is on that book. I would recommend attending lecture and guest speaker lectures. T.A.'s are wonderful especially William Calvo. Take this class for a letter grade for the Ethnicity requirement.

Its an easy class if you do all the readings which aren't that bad, during section they'll go over things. I recommend this class.

Great Professor, I studied a day before the final and I still got an A.

The Professor was great. You learn a lot about what is not told in regular history classes. His grading is fair. Read all the books and take good lecture notes and you will get an A. The class is not that hard, he a really good professor

Spent the whole class over generalizing about Chicanos. According to the professor, Chicanos are the best. The only reason this is a problem to me is because he discusses his opinions like they are facts.

Class is super easy. there are 6 books to read and quizzes in section each week. Attendance is mandatory for section or grade drops. His lectures are a bit out of order but if pay attention, you will be fine. The midterm and final both have 40 M/C questions about the books and lectures with a short essay. Super easy, take for GE.

Incredibly easy A if you do all the readings. He assigns like 6 books, but most of them are entertaining and quick reads. It's important to go to lecture because he goes over concepts that will be on the midterm/final that aren't in the book. TAKE THIS CLASS <3

The lectures were clear, however, four out of the six books he assigned were written by him. If you miss section ONE time, your grade gets lowered by a whole letter grade.

Took Garcia for Ch St 1A, and wanted to take him again because his lectures are amazing- he is SUPER passionate about Chicano history. If you get the opportunity PLEASE TAKE 168I! Although we had to read 6 novels for the class, they were interesting and we got to discuss them in detail in 15 person lecture. This class helped me read a book a week!

Garcia is not too difficult. If you don't want to read this is not the class for you. Midterm and final are 40 multiple choice and one essay. One long oral history paper that wasn't too difficult but it was time consuming. Yes he assigns books he wrote that's kind of strange but he's a nice and passionate professor

This class is very lecture heavy, you have to listen to what he says and takes notes. There are no power point slides during lecture nor posted online. The books are necessary for this class. Pretty straightforward class, as long as you go to class do the readings it is a pretty easy GE to fulfill and GPA booster.

Garcia thinks of himself as a celebrity. I thought it was pretty strange how he made the whole class only read the books he wrote. The class is super easy though. You will definitely get an A if you do all the readings even though there is a lot. Attendance is mandatory for section and there is a 10 page paper. Overall this is a good class 2 take

Amazing class, amazing professor. Only one 10 page paper, but is actually a lot less daunting than it seems. A lot of reading, but the books are pretty interesting and Professor Garcia wrote most of them. Amazing lectures, he's really passionate about what he teaches. Material for tests are taken from lecture and the reading but very easy.

Lecture's can get boring, but Prof Garcia is a very nice man. Quizzes every week in section, a big paper (10 pages) and multiple choice with short answer mid term and final. Attendance isn't taken at lecture, but you need notes in order to pass the tests. A lot of books to read.

A lot of reading but then again that's every humanities class. Not a lot of people go to his office hours so he really appreciates it when someone does.

There's professors and then there's real expert famous professors here at UCSB. Garcia is the later one. It's cool to study with someone famous and expert, even if it is kinda' strange for him to make us read his own books. But he's been around for a while, and doesn't that mean something? Enroll in his class, the work is really no worse than usual

If its like the past, your class with Prof Garcia will be in a huge hall like IV Theatre or Campbell or some other place. I enjoyed the class. He uses a lot of his own books so he can tell you anything you need to know about them and what they mean. He's a good lecturer and I think the best professor in the department. Take him and his TAs.

Must attend lecture because powerpoints arent posted online and you are quizzed on it every week as well os on the midterm and final. Requires a ton of reading and buying 5 books. Key to getting an A is reading everything and taking good notes during lecture

So far the best professor at this university. He is very passionate about what he teaches and is very inspirational. His lectures are never boring. Attendance is mandatory for sections along with weekly quizzes. You will be required to read 5 books for this course however, they are very interesting and not very dense. Love this class.

Lectures are the key to passing. Keep up on your readings bc you have weekly mini quizzes in section. He's incredibly passionate about what he teaches that it makes learning easy. Graded on midterm, quizzes, one 10-pg paper, and final.

Garcia was a great professor who was really passionate about the brief Chicano history that you get to learn while taking this class. The only downfall of this course while i took it was that HE REPEATED A LOT of stuff from the prior lectures. Midterm and Final are easy as long as you pay attention and read.

Loved the class, I attended all the lectures and read all the required material, so the midterm and final were easy. There is a 10 page paper that was required, but that wasn't too bad. His passion for the class made it easy to be interested, although sometimes he was repetitive.

I loved Prof. Garcia. Really cared about the information and made it interesting. 6 books (not textbooks) to read (half written by him) and one 10 page paper. Super easy, nice TAs. The final isn't cumulative so it's like a second midterm. Would definitely recommend, GREAT GE

Mario Garcia was an Amazing Professor. He only reads off his notes, and only has pictures for his slides. It is 25% Section with super easy weekly quiz. 25% Midterm, 25% 10 page interview paper that you make into a narrative (easy) and 25% Final. Midterm and final were both 40 multiple choice Qs with a choice of 2 free response about the books.

Prof. Garcia is very passionate in his lectures and knows the information thoroughly. The tests contain no tricks and are primarily based on what he stresses and clearly emphasized in lecture. Very straightforward. Class can get boring if you aren't interested in the topic.

Strict policy on section attendance and lots of reading, but as long as you can attend section and read it's a pretty easy A. Quizzes every week on lecture and reading but they were all easy (all MC). Midterm and final were both composed of just short-answer type questions. Class is interesting, and overall he's a pretty good professor.

Pretty cool GE class with fascinating subject matter. Slightly strict with some policies but not a hard class if you do the reading.

I loved Prof Garcia &amp; this class! He seems to really care and doesn&#39;t get too complex with the material. Weekly quizzes every Monday are based on the past week&#39;s lectures/readings and are super straightforward. Section participation is required but manageable. As long as you stay on top of the reading and lectures, you&#39;ll be fine.

I enjoyed taking Chicano Studies, the material was fascinating to learn about and the class was easy overall. The only complaint was that we had five required readings which seemed like a lot for a GE but the readings was very fascinating. The weekly quizzes were easy as long as you did the readings and attended lecture. Final was also manageable.

Easy class, weekly quizzes requires reading and watching the lectures. But midterms and Finals are super easy.

Mario was probably the best professor I've had at UCSB. Not only was he caring, but his lectures were also soo interesting. Definitely, my favorite class I've taken at UCSB. I highly recommend taking CH168 with him. There's not a lot of homework, only readings. The tests aren't hard as long as you pay attention to the lectures and the readings.

Kindest man and so intelligent. An honor to take a class with him.