My kid is Berkeley bound.
Please help me assemble a list of special classes or activities she should work to fit in.

I forget (we may have discussed this already): Does she play a band instrument?

concordtom said:

---

My kid is Berkeley bound.
Please help me assemble a list of special classes or activities she should work to fit in.

---

I don't think my list of best classes from the late 1970s would have much relevance today and my favorite profs are all retired or worse.

Most famous prof? Glenn Seaborg, though asking him questions about basic chemistry when he dropped into our freshman Chem 4A labs was pretty intimidating. After all, he was in the periodic table at the time.

Found this list:
https://digitaldefynd.com/IQ/famous-uc-berkeley-professors/

Grandfather was Professor Emeritus in Bacteriology and other Science & Math classes from the '40's - late '70's. Maybe some of older folks remember A. P. Krueger

Not relevant today but I remember a professor at Cal who stood out. When I was a student in the 70s Cal had a professor of Zoology who taught a survey course in biology . I don't remember his name but his teaching style was unique and interesting. Each week he would come in and lecture in full costume and makeup of a different luminary in the field of biology. He was a lover of theatre and did all his makeup himself. He came as Charles Darwin or Gregor Mendel and others. I didn't take the course but i enjoyed dropping in and hearing his fabulous lectures.

Human Happiness is probably one of the most impacted classes at Berkeley. Usually you can only get in in your last semester as a senior (unless you are a psych major - they are given priority registration). Note this shouldn't be confused with the Science of Happiness which is a free online course (although that may be good too).

Every student I know who has taken Human Happiness has raved about it.

https://classes.berkeley.edu/content/2023-fall-psych-c162-001-lec-001

Any class by David Presti. Took Drugs and the Brain and Brain, Mind, and Behavior. I enjoyed both classes - wasn't cutthroat like other MCB classes I took and he was a really engaging professor

Is Harry Edwards still around? I may not have thought Sociology was interesting but coming from a Catholic high school into a 500 person class made an impression. So did Harry's still buffed 6'6" 200+ lb frame. But what got me to the "we aren't in Kansas anymore ' mode was Edwards responding to some white kid taking a stance opposite his by blaring out, "Poor little white boy...!!!". I'd have your daughter take one of those classes. Congratulations to your daughter. She must take after her mom. ;-)

Astro 10 - Alex Filippenko, if he's still teaching. Guy won teacher of the year at least a few times in the late 90s when I was there. Incredible class.

Big C said:

---

I forget (we may have discussed this already): Does she play a band instrument?

---

Yes, She's a clarinet in high school band.
Her great grandfather was a flute and piccolo in the 38 rose bowl parade. She's going to focus on the Cal academic workload first year and see.

Any history class taught by Prof. William Slottman. He knew the names of thousands of students. My buddies and I drank with him at McNally's and went out to dinner with him once. He invited me to the Faculty Club for lunch years after I graduated. He cared about his students in a large school where you felt faceless to your teachers.

He was a dead ringer for Jack Benny, but funnier. His lectures were 2 parts history, one part stand up.




University of California: In Memoriam, 1995


http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb238nb0fs&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00073&toc.depth=1&toc.id=

*He did embarrass me once. He put me in his study section for a large history class 200+ (History 5 ?). I was dumb enough to get one of the first digital watches for my 21st birthday, a Pulsar. Prof. turns to me towards the end of the session and loudly says, "Mr. bearister, could you please look at The Obelisk of Time and advise." Much giggling by students. I wanted to shrink and disappear….but hysterical.

*The watch was a lemon. It literally ate batteries.

Leon Litwack was incredible (RIP). I'm pretty sure Fillipenko is still teaching chemistry, and he's pretty awesome too (he takes the big game titration *very* seriously).

bearsandgiants said:

---

Astro 10 - Alex Filippenko, if he's still teaching. Guy won teacher of the year at least a few times in the late 90s when I was there. Incredible class.

---

This is the correct answer, and it's amazing he's still teaching the class today. I recently saw a video of him, and it's like he hasn't aged from when I took the class in the 90s! Astronomy 10 with Alex Filippenko is a rite of passage for Cal students of all majors - he's a legendary lecturer, and makes you want to come to class.

This class is great - L&S 110: Brilliance of Berkeley. Many top Cal professors from all different disciplines guest each week to talk about their field of study. It would be a great way for a student to be exposed to lots of different areas of research they wouldn't normally come in contact with, as well as gain exposure to leading Cal professors.

https://curricularconnections.berkeley.edu/ls110/

I was at Cal in the early '60s, So any professor that I had is dead or over a century old. A few of the younger ones might be youngsters in their '90s.

75bear said:

---

This class is great - L&S 110: Brilliance of Berkeley. Many top Cal professors from all different disciplines guest each week to talk about their field of study. It would be a great way for a student to be exposed to lots of different areas of research they wouldn't normally come in contact with, as well as gain exposure to leading Cal professors.

https://curricularconnections.berkeley.edu/ls110/

---

Oh wow!
I want to sign up for this every semester until I die.

Can non students do so??

Any 10 series, freshman seminars in her program area if offered, PE classes, DECAL.

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

This class is great - L&S 110: Brilliance of Berkeley. Many top Cal professors from all different disciplines guest each week to talk about their field of study. It would be a great way for a student to be exposed to lots of different areas of research they wouldn't normally come in contact with, as well as gain exposure to leading Cal professors.

https://curricularconnections.berkeley.edu/ls110/

---

Oh wow!
I want to sign up for this every semester until I die.

Can non students do so??

---

It's in Wheeler - so lol if there's seat I'm sure you can attend.

bencgilmore said:

---

Leon Litwack was incredible (RIP).

---

I never understood the love for Prof. Litwack. I took his history 10B in Wheeler auditorium. He read his lecture off well prepared notes, which was fine. But he didn't really show any passion about his topic until we got to early 20th century and the IWW section. Also, he was aloof with students.

For my, I much preferred Prof. James Kettner (R.I.P.). He was soft spoken and lectured in small classrooms, but he always left time for comments and questions. Additionally, he was always available to students (and former students) during office hours and often outside them. Even though he was a graduate faculty advisor (including vice chair of the history graduate program), he always welcomed undergrads and advised us, too.

I wound up majoring in history, in no small part, due to Professor Kettner. I just kept taking classes he taught because I enjoyed his teaching style so much. When I graduated, I made sure to take some pictures with him, too.

Bringing this back to OP's question, my advice would be to ignore the "big names" who lecture in large rooms. Find the professors who care about their students and passing on their knowledge. Cal's a huge university; there are plenty of these professors around; just look for them.

bearister said:

---

Any history class taught by Prof. William Slottman. He knew the names of thousands of students. My buddies and I drank with him at McNally's and went out to dinner with him once. He invited me to the Faculty Club for lunch years after I graduated. He cared about his students in a large school where you felt faceless to your teachers.

He was a dead ringer for Jack Benny, but funnier. His lectures were 2 parts history, one part stand up.




University of California: In Memoriam, 1995


http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb238nb0fs&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00073&toc.depth=1&toc.id=

*He did embarrass me once. He put me in his study section for a large history class 200+ (History 5 ?). I was dumb enough to get one of the first digital watches for my 21st birthday, a Pulsar. Prof. turns to me towards the end of the session and loudly says, "Mr. bearister, could you please look at The Obelisk of Time and advise." Much giggling by students. I wanted to shrink and disappear….but hysterical.

*The watch was a lemon. It literally ate batteries.

---

Slottman, in a speech to a campus group: "My class, 'Hapsburg Empire and Succession States' is what students here call a 'Mick'. I think that's short for something, but I'm not sure what. Okay, seriously, it's the easiest class on campus. I only ever flunked one student. A fairly well-known football player. I can't give you his name, of course, but it rhymed with 'Smartkowski'. Had that been his actual name, his first name would've been 'Not'."

01Bear said:

---

bencgilmore said:

---

Leon Litwack was incredible (RIP).

---

I never understood the love for Prof. Litwack. I took his history 10B in Wheeler auditorium. He read his lecture off well prepared notes, which was fine. But he didn't really show any passion about his topic until we got to early 20th century and the IWW section. Also, he was aloof with students.

For my, I much preferred Prof. James Kettner (R.I.P.). He was soft spoken and lectured in small classrooms, but he always left time for comments and questions. Additionally, he was always available to students (and former students) during office hours and often outside them. Even though he was a graduate faculty advisor (including vice chair of the history graduate program), he always welcomed undergrads and advised us, too.

I wound up majoring in history, in no small part, due to Professor Kettner. I just kept taking classes he taught because I enjoyed his teaching style so much. When I graduated, I made sure to take some pictures with him, too.

Bringing this back to OP's question, my advice would be to ignore the "big names" who lecture in large rooms. Find the professors who care about their students and passing on their knowledge. Cal's a huge university; there are plenty of these professors around; just look for them.

---

I took one of Kettner's US history classes (P/F - I was an engineering major) and enjoyed his teaching style so much that I signed up for another. He wasn't a riveting lecturer, but yes, a nice guy who was well organized and who realized that you could be trying to get something out of his class even if you weren't a history major. Some of the reading material was excruciatingly dry, but he only required two short papers per quarter along with midterm and final, so it fit well into my workload.

My all-time favorite Cal prof was actually a visiting professor from New Zealand who taught Phase Transformations in Materials (I was a Materials Scienced & Engineering major). He taught the entire course with no textbook, had more enthusiasm than 7/8 of the faculty, and by the end of the quarter, we were all asking about job opportunities in New Zealand. His response was, "Christ, no! New Zealand can't find jobs for all the engineers they produce now."

Big C said:

---

bearister said:

---

Any history class taught by Prof. William Slottman. He knew the names of thousands of students. My buddies and I drank with him at McNally's and went out to dinner with him once. He invited me to the Faculty Club for lunch years after I graduated. He cared about his students in a large school where you felt faceless to your teachers.

He was a dead ringer for Jack Benny, but funnier. His lectures were 2 parts history, one part stand up.




University of California: In Memoriam, 1995


http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb238nb0fs&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00073&toc.depth=1&toc.id=

*He did embarrass me once. He put me in his study section for a large history class 200+ (History 5 ?). I was dumb enough to get one of the first digital watches for my 21st birthday, a Pulsar. Prof. turns to me towards the end of the session and loudly says, "Mr. bearister, could you please look at The Obelisk of Time and advise." Much giggling by students. I wanted to shrink and disappear….but hysterical.

*The watch was a lemon. It literally ate batteries.

---

Slottman, in a speech to a campus group: "My class, 'Hapsburg Empire and Succession States' is what students here call a 'Mick'. I think that's short for something, but I'm not sure what. Okay, seriously, it's the easiest class on campus. I only ever flunked one student. A fairly well-known football player. I can't give you his name, of course, but it rhymed with 'Smartkowski'. I'm pretty sure his first name was 'Not'."

---

"Mick" was around when I was at Cal '71 to '73, and my understanding is that it is short for "Mickey Mouse", i.e. an easy course.

I believe Prof. Slottman was a WWII vet. Gunther Barth who was a terrific history teacher i believe was in the wermacht as a reluctant young German.

Litwack was absolutely tops....passionate with a remarkable speaking style...

concordtom said:

---

My kid is Berkeley bound.
Please help me assemble a list of special classes or activities she should work to fit in.

---

Step 1: Build a time portal
Step 2: Send her back to 1987 so she can listen to Leon Litwack talk about US social history (his very right and very wrong opinions alike) and attend at least one Bill Slottman lecture on the Habsburgs and one of his weeknight parties.
Optional: Once she sobers up from Slotty's party, have her listen to Gene Brucker talk about Renaissance Italy.

18yo me can be her chaperone. I've always been very respectful.

Once she gets back to the present, she'll be an instant curiosity with her exposure to old world liberal arts.

HearstMining said:

---

01Bear said:

---

bencgilmore said:

---

Leon Litwack was incredible (RIP).

---

I never understood the love for Prof. Litwack. I took his history 10B in Wheeler auditorium. He read his lecture off well prepared notes, which was fine. But he didn't really show any passion about his topic until we got to early 20th century and the IWW section. Also, he was aloof with students.

For my, I much preferred Prof. James Kettner (R.I.P.). He was soft spoken and lectured in small classrooms, but he always left time for comments and questions. Additionally, he was always available to students (and former students) during office hours and often outside them. Even though he was a graduate faculty advisor (including vice chair of the history graduate program), he always welcomed undergrads and advised us, too.

I wound up majoring in history, in no small part, due to Professor Kettner. I just kept taking classes he taught because I enjoyed his teaching style so much. When I graduated, I made sure to take some pictures with him, too.

Bringing this back to OP's question, my advice would be to ignore the "big names" who lecture in large rooms. Find the professors who care about their students and passing on their knowledge. Cal's a huge university; there are plenty of these professors around; just look for them.

---

I took one of Kettner's US history classes (P/F - I was an engineering major) and enjoyed his teaching style so much that I signed up for another. He wasn't a riveting lecturer, but yes, a nice guy who was well organized and who realized that you could be trying to get something out of his class even if you weren't a history major. Some of the reading material was excruciatingly dry, but he only required two short papers per quarter along with midterm and final, so it fit well into my workload.

My all-time favorite Cal prof was actually a visiting professor from New Zealand who taught Phase Transformations in Materials (I was a Materials Scienced & Engineering major). He taught the entire course with no textbook, had more enthusiasm than 7/8 of the faculty, and by the end of the quarter, we were all asking about job opportunities in New Zealand. His response was, "Christ, no! New Zealand can't find jobs for all the engineers they produce now."

---

Morris for E45 (Intro to materials science) was excellent.

General thoughts from my recollection:

Astro 10 I could never get the class but heard it was superb.
Same with Slottman, Litwack and Edwards--- all legendary.


LOWER DIVISION TIPS
- Avoid Rhodes in mathematics, he's Emeritus now, I don't know if he teaches---- but his mind was drugged out in the 60s and the majority of my freshman Math 1A class got a D or flunked.
- On that note any math class prof has to be researched extensively. I took a lot of math and in lower division the profs can make up their own notation systems if they like. Most are exceptionally poor teachers. Everything except 16a and 16b are weeders and they don't care what happens to you.
- Art History sounds amazing and fun, but it is deceptively hard and has ridiculous amounts of content. *A lot* of people are tempted to take it, and a lot of people get Cs and lower.
- Be careful with Rhetoric, it's mostly taught by TAs and since it's about arguing... if your viewpoint differs from the grad students, you can get dinged.
- Be careful with visiting professors from other UCs. Many get imposter syndrome and try to stress the "smarter" Cal student with 2X workload and tough grading.

95bears said:

---

General thoughts from my recollection:

Astro 10 I could never get the class but heard it was superb.
Same with Slottman, Litwack and Edwards--- all legendary.


LOWER DIVISION TIPS
- Avoid Rhodes in mathematics, he's Emeritus now I don't know if he teaches---- but his mind is drugged out in the 60s and almost 60% of my freshman Math 1A class got a D or flunked.
- On that note any math class prof has to be researched extensively. I took a lot of math and in lower division the profs can make up their own notation systems if they like. Most are exceptionally poor teachers. Everything except 16a and 16b are weeders and they don't care what happens to you.
- Art History sounds amazing and fun, but is deceptively harder and has ridiculous amounts of content. *A lot* of people are tempted to take it, and a lot of people get Cs and lower.
- Be careful with Rhetoric, it's mostly taught by TAs and since it's about arguing... if your viewpoint differs from the grad students, you can get dinged.
- Be careful with visiting professors from other UCs. Many get imposter syndrome and try to stress the "smarter" Cal student with 2X workload and tough grading.

---

All very good advice, at least based on my experience from 87 to 91. 16a/16b were not hard but friends who made the mistake of enrolling in 1a/1b (with no need to) regretted it. Def all true about rhetoric and art history. The visiting prof part is just common sense. Maybe some change there if Cal has lost some of its luster.

95bears said:

---

General thoughts from my recollection:

Astro 10 I could never get the class but heard it was superb.
Same with Slottman, Litwack and Edwards--- all legendary.


LOWER DIVISION TIPS
- Avoid Rhodes in mathematics, he's Emeritus now I don't know if he teaches---- but his mind is drugged out in the 60s and almost 60% of my freshman Math 1A class got a D or flunked.
- On that note any math class prof has to be researched extensively. I took a lot of math and in lower division the profs can make up their own notation systems if they like. Most are exceptionally poor teachers. Everything except 16a and 16b are weeders and they don't care what happens to you.
- Art History sounds amazing and fun, but is deceptively harder and has ridiculous amounts of content. *A lot* of people are tempted to take it, and a lot of people get Cs and lower.
- Be careful with Rhetoric, it's mostly taught by TAs and since it's about arguing... if your viewpoint differs from the grad students, you can get dinged.
- Be careful with visiting professors from other UCs. Many get imposter syndrome and try to stress the "smarter" Cal student with 2X workload and tough grading.

---

Does Cal still weed people out as I heard from long ago?

Nothing like this "welcome to Cal" message. She might not be so excited knowing a bunch of hidden pitfalls await.

95bears said:

---

General thoughts from my recollection:

Astro 10 I could never get the class but heard it was superb.
Same with Slottman, Litwack and Edwards--- all legendary.


LOWER DIVISION TIPS
- Avoid Rhodes in mathematics, he's Emeritus now I don't know if he teaches---- but his mind is drugged out in the 60s and almost 60% of my freshman Math 1A class got a D or flunked.
- On that note any math class prof has to be researched extensively. I took a lot of math and in lower division the profs can make up their own notation systems if they like. Most are exceptionally poor teachers. Everything except 16a and 16b are weeders and they don't care what happens to you.
- Art History sounds amazing and fun, but is deceptively harder and has ridiculous amounts of content. *A lot* of people are tempted to take it, and a lot of people get Cs and lower.
- Be careful with Rhetoric, it's mostly taught by TAs and since it's about arguing... if your viewpoint differs from the grad students, you can get dinged.
- Be careful with visiting professors from other UCs. Many get imposter syndrome and try to stress the "smarter" Cal student with 2X workload and tough grading.

---

Still have nightmares about Stankova for Math 1b. No 1 series class should ever be like that

Nelson Polsby, Poli Sci. Amazing professor.

concordtom said:

---

95bears said:

---

General thoughts from my recollection:

Astro 10 I could never get the class but heard it was superb.
Same with Slottman, Litwack and Edwards--- all legendary.


LOWER DIVISION TIPS
- Avoid Rhodes in mathematics, he's Emeritus now I don't know if he teaches---- but his mind is drugged out in the 60s and almost 60% of my freshman Math 1A class got a D or flunked.
- On that note any math class prof has to be researched extensively. I took a lot of math and in lower division the profs can make up their own notation systems if they like. Most are exceptionally poor teachers. Everything except 16a and 16b are weeders and they don't care what happens to you.
- Art History sounds amazing and fun, but is deceptively harder and has ridiculous amounts of content. *A lot* of people are tempted to take it, and a lot of people get Cs and lower.
- Be careful with Rhetoric, it's mostly taught by TAs and since it's about arguing... if your viewpoint differs from the grad students, you can get dinged.
- Be careful with visiting professors from other UCs. Many get imposter syndrome and try to stress the "smarter" Cal student with 2X workload and tough grading.

---

Does Cal still weed people out as I heard from long ago?

Nothing like this "welcome to Cal" message. She might not be so excited knowing a bunch of hidden pitfalls await.

---

She'll be fine and have a great time; very excited for you and her. Strategic class selection is, however, something I wish someone had counseled me on. It's part of going to any big school but especially so at Cal, and *especially* if she has any interest in the sciences. I regularly tell kids interested in medical school to avoid Cal. Whatever passes for a quota system at Med schools works against Cal grads. A kid with a 3.9 from Cornhole state will get a med school spot over a Cal grad with a 3.2 in Molecular Cell Biology.

I presume there is so much info on the web about profs and classes that class selection is not the minefield it used to be. I also presume that there are fewer hard-asses from the 50s and 60s that were still teaching when I was there.

concordtom said:

---

95bears said:

---

General thoughts from my recollection:

Astro 10 I could never get the class but heard it was superb.
Same with Slottman, Litwack and Edwards--- all legendary.


LOWER DIVISION TIPS
- Avoid Rhodes in mathematics, he's Emeritus now I don't know if he teaches---- but his mind is drugged out in the 60s and almost 60% of my freshman Math 1A class got a D or flunked.
- On that note any math class prof has to be researched extensively. I took a lot of math and in lower division the profs can make up their own notation systems if they like. Most are exceptionally poor teachers. Everything except 16a and 16b are weeders and they don't care what happens to you.
- Art History sounds amazing and fun, but is deceptively harder and has ridiculous amounts of content. *A lot* of people are tempted to take it, and a lot of people get Cs and lower.
- Be careful with Rhetoric, it's mostly taught by TAs and since it's about arguing... if your viewpoint differs from the grad students, you can get dinged.
- Be careful with visiting professors from other UCs. Many get imposter syndrome and try to stress the "smarter" Cal student with 2X workload and tough grading.

---

Does Cal still weed people out as I heard from long ago?

Nothing like this "welcome to Cal" message. She might not be so excited knowing a bunch of hidden pitfalls await.

---

From what I hear, much less so than in the "good" ol' days.

No doubt that culture still exists to some extent, in certain departments and with certain professors, but I think that, now that admissions are so much more selective, there is less reason to "weed". Saw a stat recently that showed that grade inflation has absolutely hit Cal the past decade or two, though less so than at many institutions (mostly private).

95bears said:

---

concordtom said:

---

95bears said:

---

General thoughts from my recollection:

Astro 10 I could never get the class but heard it was superb.
Same with Slottman, Litwack and Edwards--- all legendary.


LOWER DIVISION TIPS
- Avoid Rhodes in mathematics, he's Emeritus now I don't know if he teaches---- but his mind is drugged out in the 60s and almost 60% of my freshman Math 1A class got a D or flunked.
- On that note any math class prof has to be researched extensively. I took a lot of math and in lower division the profs can make up their own notation systems if they like. Most are exceptionally poor teachers. Everything except 16a and 16b are weeders and they don't care what happens to you.
- Art History sounds amazing and fun, but is deceptively harder and has ridiculous amounts of content. *A lot* of people are tempted to take it, and a lot of people get Cs and lower.
- Be careful with Rhetoric, it's mostly taught by TAs and since it's about arguing... if your viewpoint differs from the grad students, you can get dinged.
- Be careful with visiting professors from other UCs. Many get imposter syndrome and try to stress the "smarter" Cal student with 2X workload and tough grading.

---

Does Cal still weed people out as I heard from long ago?

Nothing like this "welcome to Cal" message. She might not be so excited knowing a bunch of hidden pitfalls await.

---

She'll be fine and have a great time; very excited for you and her. Strategic class selection is, however, something I wish someone had counseled me on. It's part of going to any big school but especially so at Cal, and *especially* if she has any interest in the sciences. I regularly tell kids interested in medical school to avoid Cal. Whatever passes for a quota system at Med schools works against Cal grads. A kid with a 3.9 from Cornhole state will get a med school spot over a Cal grad with a 3.2 in Molecular Cell Biology.

I presume there is so much info on the web about profs and classes that class selection is not the minefield it used to be. I also presume that there are fewer hard-asses from the 50s and 60s that were still teaching when I was there.

---

Well alrighty then.
3.2 is the new bogey.

Two English classes with Adam Duritz. He was always chatting up the girls, and talking about his band, Mod-L Society I think.

Cool dude. Spent some evening in group study sessions with him. And he put some of us on the guest list for a couple of local gigs (I want to say Starry Plow, but that might have been later in their evolution when saw them there).

In answer to the OP, whom I have on ignore: leave her alone. Let her live her own path - it's a different place and she will find her own way. Just be there to support her, but get the ef out of her way with this foolishness. Don't turn her into you.

Big C said:

---

Slottman, in a speech to a campus group: "My class, 'Hapsburg Empire and Succession States' is what students here call a 'Mick'. I think that's short for something, but I'm not sure what. Okay, seriously, it's the easiest class on campus. I only ever flunked one student. A fairly well-known football player. I can't give you his name, of course, but it rhymed with 'Smartkowski'. Had that been his actual name, his first name would've been 'Not'."

---

Well, I was withholding a Slottman story but since you let the cat out of the bag:

It was Spring Quarter 1975 and a couple of us were having drinks with Slottman at McNally's. Slottman told us he had just congratulated Bartkowski by giving him an F on a paper he had submitted and writing on the paper, "Congrats! I'm giving you an F for Falcons because there is no way you wrote this paper."

*Bart was the # 1 selection in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons