Teaching at UCLA Extension | UCLA Extension

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As one of the largest and most comprehensive continuing education providers in the nation, UCLA Extension combines top-tier academics with practical, real-world applications. We are committed to the success of our students, both in and out of the classroom.

We are always looking for talented instructors to join our team.

As a UCLA Extension instructor, you will:

Be a part of UCLA, a leading public research university in the United States
Help others grow, learn, and transform their lives
Educate the next generation of professionals in your field
Engage with and learn from our diverse, dedicated, and goal-oriented student body
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Instructor Spotlight

UCLA Extension instructors are experts in their field, top performers in their industry, and experienced practitioners of their craft. They use the power of education to transform lives, businesses, and communities.

From filmmaking to medicine, legal to architecture, our instructors impart a wealth of wisdom and experience onto our students year in and year out.

To recognize those who exemplify excellence in teaching, each year we honor select members of our teaching staff at the Distinguished Instructor Awards. Instructors are nominated by their program departments.

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cynthia chung and i teach the show

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running courses television writing

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screenplay writing

CYNTHIA HSIUNG Writers' Program

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at ucla extension writers program i love

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so many things about teaching i love my

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students my students make

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everything for me the one piece of

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wisdom would be that anything is

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possible

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in television and filmmaking you just

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have to do it and if you just keep doing

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it then you kind of form your own center

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of gravity

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my name is rishabh gupta

RISHAB GUPTA Health Sciences and Sciences

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students they are motivated they know

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what they want and i tell them one thing

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and they grasp too

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just be yourself do not overthink

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and

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read what you want to respond to very

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carefully

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my name is maricela limondresendez and i

MARISELA LIMÓN RECENDEZ Teacher Education

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teach culture and inclusion for a cloud

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program at ucla extension

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what i most love about teaching are my

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students the relationships i build with

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my students what they're able to

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accomplish

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the bit of wisdom that i would offer my

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students is to fight for the things that

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they care about i would like for my

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students to be passionate about what

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they believe in and fight for those

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things to better serve the students that

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they serve

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[Music]

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jim smith

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and i teach in the landscape

JIM SMITH Landscape Architecture

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architecture program i teach basic

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design amongst other classes in the

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program

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don't be intimidated by anything my goal

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is to teach or guide my students to

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develop their own design process

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and for them to move forward rapidly

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don't think too much about the end

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result

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just work their process

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and the end result will appear to

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my favorite thing about teaching is

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being able to

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get that aha moment when students

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really don't know what they're capable

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of and you've taught it for so long and

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you know what they can accomplish some

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of my favorite students at ucla

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extension

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because a lot of the students that we

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get here are returning back to education

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or extending their education and they

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they are passionate and driven and are

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willing to put the time and effort in

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and the lessons that are taught don't

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really fall on deaf ears they're taken

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sincerely and adapted and integrated

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never stop

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my name is lori jones i teach project

LORI JONES Technical Management

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risk and procurement management

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what i love about teaching is giving

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back to students

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my name is mamoon hashem

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i have been teaching at interior

MAMUN HASHEM Architecture and Interior Design

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architecture program i think it's the

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interaction with students it's a two-way

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path for me when i see they learn

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something from me and i end up learning

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something new from them and i think

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that's the best part take chances think

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outside of the box

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make mistakes do it again do it again do

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it again and do it differently

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jeanette milio i teach entertainment

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finance what i love about teaching is

JEANETTE MILIO Entertainment Studies

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the exchange with my students first and

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foremost i have a mix of students in my

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class some are very experienced some are

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new to the entertainment industry

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and it's very invigorating and inspiring

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to have such a beautiful mix of students

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from all over the world in my class

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the wisdom i would like my students to

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take with them is not giving up and

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being determined

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and not thinking everything has to be so

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perfect

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my name is victor schulte and i teach

VICTOR SCHULTE Legal Programs

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the paralegal

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extension classes

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in all the 20 years i've taught here i

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have the pleasure of watching them grow

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and getting them from paralegals to law

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school

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and watching that is unbelievable it's

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just a joy

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never think

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at any time

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that you're not good enough to attain

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anything you attempt

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my name is misha kuzet and i teach three

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courses at ucla extension i teach global

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business practices and sustainability

MISHA KOUZEH Sustainability

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strategic social impact and digital

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marketing

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being able to make an impact on students

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lives is incredible it's just really

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rewarding as an instructor to witness

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their growth and be part of this

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community that they create with each

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other and be part of their empowerment

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and see the impact and the legacies they

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can leave by just being themselves

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find what you're passionate about find

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out what makes your heart tick and what

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you would like to see in the world and

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the change you'd like to see in the

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world and be part of that change you're

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all incredible you're inspiring and you

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all make a difference

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my name is curt hall i teach in the

KURT HALL Accounting and Finance

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accounting department

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probably the most obvious thing would be

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when a student gets it when they didn't

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get it before the aha moment that makes

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you feel like you're doing something

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that contributes to the universe

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just realize that it's a slow climb

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every step

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is one step closer to what you're trying

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to get to

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my name is myrna hand i teach current

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events and women's studies i've got an

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old group and i adore them

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they all have such stories to tell

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they have life experiences that are

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fascinating

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i like working with them because when i

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bring up a topic other than

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nfts and cryptocurrency

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they have a lot to say

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don't get

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ruined by the current events

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just try to stay positive it will change

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we've had these same things happening

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over and over and over again we're gonna

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make it

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keith jeffries and i teach digital

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technology courses

KEITH JEFFERIES Digital Technology

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my students are all over the place

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i found that some were coming from

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medicine nuclear physics

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surfing

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the art world

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everything

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i always tell them that they're going to

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always have to keep going back to school

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and they kind of ride the crest of the

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wave

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and if they do that they're going to

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succeed

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you

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When I first started teaching, I thought, you know, what kind of professor did I-

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did I want to have, or what kind of professor did I wish I have when I was

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in an undergraduate student. So I thought, you know, I wanted a professor who cared

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about my learning. A professor who just wanted me to succeed, and so I've tried

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to become as as much as I can to be the professor that I've always wanted and

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that's why I've put a lot of effort into my classes. The thing I enjoy most about

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teaching is that I can help students learn and I've always enjoyed learning

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myself and I love to see other people learn and even gain an appreciation for

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a certain subject. A lot of my students tell me that they never enjoyed math or

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that math was never their--their strong suit, but after taking my class maybe

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math still might not be their favorite subject but they've at least gained an

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appreciation for a subject.

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So I really try to create a structure for students so that within that

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structure, they can thrive and they can find their own voice, so I do have to

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push them in terms of the technology, in terms of design principles, and also in

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terms of, you know, the topic and the conceptual thinking and really able to

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communicate what it is they need to communicate, because at the end of the day,

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graphic design is about communicating a message from here to here, visually.

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My name is Jennie Lew Tugend,

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and I am an instructor

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in the pre-production

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and production class for film and television.

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Well, I'm by profession, a film producer.

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I've been in the business for 40 years.

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The class that I teach is a global class,

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because it's a survey class

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for everything having to do

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with the motion picture business , really.

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It's a class

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that should be taken

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by anybody who wants to be in the business,

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whether it's

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directing, writing, acting, producing,

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only because it's an overview

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of the business at large.

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Online, each week is a different facet of producing.

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And so week one is "What is a producer?" Week

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two is finding the story.

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Week three is development and so on, so forth.

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The advantages of an online environment

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is that you can study

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and do your classes any time of the day

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from anywhere in the world.

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On a global level,

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you can meet filmmakers in Paris,

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you can meet filmmakers in China,

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you can meet filmmakers in New York

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or wherever or in your hometown

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and have a much wider expanse of the business

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and relationships forever.

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You know, so the opportunities are there.

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If the student from France

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connects to the student in Korea,

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connects to the guy in New York,

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it's a beautiful thing.

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That is all part of the online environment

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that stems from the interaction

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between instructor and student

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and the active discussions that are possible.

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You know, and you get what you put in.

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We benefit from being associated with UCLA.

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We hold the high standards of UCLA

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and all that that represents.

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But we are our own entity

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and it is a focus for adult learning.

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UCLA Extension offers a large curriculum

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for all people,

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various taste, and if it's an online environment,

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you can take it at three in the morning.

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When you're eating breakfast in another country,

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it doesn't really matter,

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and that's what's great.

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The other instructors at Extension are top notch.

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We are chosen

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because we are active in the community

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that we teach.

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We are current.

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We are still doing what we do best.

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That is a benefit to the students to hear it

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authentically from people

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who actually are doing it.

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It's the real voice that you're hearing, not just

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a textbook.

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The students give us lots of feedback in the paralegal program, for which we are

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always grateful. The students of course have an opportunity to evaluate each and every class as

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they proceed through the program, but lucky teachers like me get to keep in contact with

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students for many, many years. I have students who email me that were my students 15 and up

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to 20 years ago, and I have emails almost every day from a student who has found out that something we

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said in class was actually true--came true--and they've been able to use the knowledge that they

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learned in class, whether it was a hint, it was a bit of background knowledge, whatever it was,

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they're great about letting us know how applicable the education is to their everyday lives.

Mission and Values

Mission

We are UCLA, offering exceptional continuing, lifelong, and professional education to empower individuals and organizations to thrive in an ever changing world.

Vision

We create innovative, socially just pathways to pursue knowledge and apply skills by connecting the resources of UCLA with diverse and worldwide communities. Our alumni are leaders, change-makers, and open thinkers, whose creative impact effects positive change in local and global communities.

instructor surrounded by students