Easy class. Professor is really nice. There was a 10 page final report but he shortened it to 8 pages in the end. I'm not too religious but some parts of the class were interesting. Readings were okay too. Despite the final report being quite exhausting, I found it was a really nice experience. Basically, you can visit two different religious places, you don't have to but it is better if you do because it gives you more things to write about on your report. He lists down multiple locations and you have to compare and contrast the two religions. You can also write down your experience when you visited the locations. For the midterm and the final he gives you a study guide powerpoint which is quite a lot. All you have to do though is memorize the whole powerpoint because the exams are exactly the same as the powerpoint he provides. Technically you don't have to pay attention in lecture because you can just memorize the study guide, but paying attention in lecture and doing the readings will be better if you don't want to cram the whole material in a couple nights.

Great Professor really interesting class.

This is by far my favorite class I've taken at UCLA. I took it my first quarter of my freshmen year as an undeclared major, and came out wanting to be a study of religion major. The information is very interesting and gives you a great perspective on the history of Los Angeles as well as a good overview of the general study of religions. There was one midterm, a final and a final research paper. The tests were incredibly straightforward with basically the same questions as those on the study guide. The paper was given to you at the beginning of the quarter so you have plenty of time to finish it, and professor smith is very helpful during office hours and is always very interested in your work. I would 100 % recommend this class and will surely be taking a class with this professor in the future.

Easy A class. Professor Simon will provide study guide for the midterm and final. The exams are heavily based on the lectures and the study guide. This class also has a final project which is at least 10 pages long but Professor Simon was super helpful. You can ask him anything about the project.

Professor Simon is an amazing lecturer! He was passionate about the history of religion and made the lectures engaging. In order to succeed in this class, you need to go to the lectures because he will not post the lecture slides for you to view at your own leisure, so make sure to take good notes and pay attention. He provides readings for the course (I didn't read any of them since I had other classes and work) and he may ask questions about the readings on the exams. However, I did fine in the class even though I missed a couple questions. He has you write a paper at the end of the course, give yourself plenty of time to do it! It is easy to procrastinate, start early on this and it shouldn't be too much of a hustle. Finally, if you have any questions, Professor Simon is very accommodating. During office hours he supported many students who were having trouble with the final paper. This class really makes you think about the impact of religion in our political system. Is America a Christian Nation?

Professor Joseph is a gem and can be categorized as a traditional lecturer. The content discussed is very interesting and he loves when students participate. The class is broken down as there is one midterm which is an exam 33% a final paper 33% and a final exam 33%. Class notes are integral for doing well on the exams and the assigned readings are secondary to help curb your knowledge of the material. I would definitely recommend him, and I am looking forward to taking another class with him in the near future.

This class has 3 components: midterm, final paper, and a final exam. The midterm and final exam are based on memorization only. The midterm and final exam are short answer questions. If you memorize everything he asks of you in the study guide, you'll be more than fine. I used to cram 2 days before the tests and got A's in both of them. I didn't find the need to attend every lecture; however, he does not hand out his ppt slides. The answers to the study guide are from his lectures; I found most of them on Quizlet and from fellow students. The final paper can be exhausting because it is really long. It's a 10 page (excluding the title page and bibliography) comparative essay. You basically compare two religious traditions. He didn't share his comments on the essays, but from my understanding if you stick to the prompt and START EARLY you're good. Overall, it is a good GE if you're good at memorizing and start your paper early in the quarter.

This class was interesting, but the hour plus lectures did get a bit boring sometimes. It was in person, without the recordings or slides posted, so you had to get the notes from someone if you did not go to class. The issue with this is he adds on a lot of important stuff that are not included in the slides, and if someone did not take notes on what he talked about you kind of missed the material. He gives a study guide for the midterm and final, and if you know the study guide by heart you will do extremely well. The midterm and final were 20+ short answer questions matching the study guide exactly. I did not study enough for the midterm and did not do well, but ended up getting an A anyway (I think he curved the class a lot). Professor Joseph was really nice and provided all course readings, so there was not a need to purchase anything except blue books for the midterm and final. The final paper was kind of tough but as long as you wrote more than 10 pages and put in effort you got a good grade.

This is the 2nd course I have taken with professor Joseph, and he is an absolute gem. He is for sure an old-school professor who values attendance and respect in the classroom. He has a dry and witty sense of humor and he is so knowledgeable and passionate about the subject he teaches. Even if religious studies aren't your thing personally, I guarantee you that his class will be thought-provoking. The class breakdown is as follows--one midterm which is short terms/concepts based on class lectures, a 10-page research paper, and a final exam. I'm not going to downplay the exams, they're not difficult they're just dense concepts to memorize. The 10 page paper was a drag for sure, but I suggest just to start early (he does not grade these harshly just put in effort, offer a meaningful analysis and you're fine). The final exam tested students on about 40 concepts, again not hard just dense information and memorization overload. Be sure to write class notes thoroughly, he does not post class lectures to canvas, and he is super against phone usage in class (he perceives it as a sign of disrespect and I've seen him snap at students for it). He is such a cool professor and I've taken 3 classes with him and have gotten an A in each one. Put the work in, don't crame for the tests, and you'll be golden,

Prof Joseph is very knowledgeable about his field and an awesome guy. He helped me so much with my research paper and providing powerpoints for the lectures after I got sick.