AN N EA 130
Ancient Egyptian Religion
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - Worst class I have taken at UCLA with a bad professor teaching it. It is currently Spring 2018 and I made a bruinwalk account before graduating just to review this class I took two years ago in the hopes that some people see this and decide against enrolling. Dieleman means well, but he is an incredibly boring lecturer teaching only increasingly irrelevant material. In his lectures he shows a very vague and sparse lecture slide and fills in the details, often going on tangents that make the entire presentation hard to follow or take good notes during. This also means you can't skip the class and just read over slides, because the information on them incoherent without some of the things he says in class. To make matters worse, the class is not easy. You're tested on the names of Egyptian gods and goddesses based on drawings of them, and you need know obscure backstories and myths associated with many of them. It may depend on your TA, but the essay and bluebook tests are not graded easily. The research papers are mind-numbing and require long hours to complete. The only redeeming quality about this class is Dieleman's genuine interest in Ancient Egyptian religion (even if he cares much less about trying to make students share his interest). If you still feel like taking this class, download Microsoft OneNote, sit in the front, and record the lecture audio as you take notes so you can go back and try to make sense of what he says. But again, I wholeheartedly discourage you from taking this class; there are much more interesting (and easier) classes to take to fulfill your GE requirement.
Spring 2016 - Worst class I have taken at UCLA with a bad professor teaching it. It is currently Spring 2018 and I made a bruinwalk account before graduating just to review this class I took two years ago in the hopes that some people see this and decide against enrolling. Dieleman means well, but he is an incredibly boring lecturer teaching only increasingly irrelevant material. In his lectures he shows a very vague and sparse lecture slide and fills in the details, often going on tangents that make the entire presentation hard to follow or take good notes during. This also means you can't skip the class and just read over slides, because the information on them incoherent without some of the things he says in class. To make matters worse, the class is not easy. You're tested on the names of Egyptian gods and goddesses based on drawings of them, and you need know obscure backstories and myths associated with many of them. It may depend on your TA, but the essay and bluebook tests are not graded easily. The research papers are mind-numbing and require long hours to complete. The only redeeming quality about this class is Dieleman's genuine interest in Ancient Egyptian religion (even if he cares much less about trying to make students share his interest). If you still feel like taking this class, download Microsoft OneNote, sit in the front, and record the lecture audio as you take notes so you can go back and try to make sense of what he says. But again, I wholeheartedly discourage you from taking this class; there are much more interesting (and easier) classes to take to fulfill your GE requirement.
Most Helpful Review
I took ANE 130 and CM101A with Dr. Waraksa and believe her to be an outstanding lecturer who is dedicated to her students. As a disclaimer, I received an A+ in 130 (grades aren't out for CM101A yet, but I expect to have at least an A), did relatively less work compared to my science classes, and have always loved Ancient Egypt. For 130, scoring well on the quizzes by knowing details of deities and historical facts is a must. Dr. Waraksa was fairly forgiving when it came to spelling errors (but it's best not to rely on this -- just learn the material properly from the outset). Her TAs were also pretty generous with points on the exam (compared to my science classes, they didn't take points off for incorrect answers). Dr. Waraksa also has extra credit identifications on her exams so if you went through the study guide thoroughly you are in good shape. As for CM101A, there is a lot of material to learn with respect to the architecture and themes presented. The class consists of 1 midterm, a 10-12 page paper, and a final. Her exam format was almost identical to 130, and knowing the material from 130 was moderately helpful background knowledge before CM101A. I love writing papers, so I enjoyed that assignment. She also gives you lots of time to write it (several weeks) but expects a topic and rough draft before the final copy is due which keeps you on track. All in all, if you have the opportunity to take a class with her I highly recommend it.
I took ANE 130 and CM101A with Dr. Waraksa and believe her to be an outstanding lecturer who is dedicated to her students. As a disclaimer, I received an A+ in 130 (grades aren't out for CM101A yet, but I expect to have at least an A), did relatively less work compared to my science classes, and have always loved Ancient Egypt. For 130, scoring well on the quizzes by knowing details of deities and historical facts is a must. Dr. Waraksa was fairly forgiving when it came to spelling errors (but it's best not to rely on this -- just learn the material properly from the outset). Her TAs were also pretty generous with points on the exam (compared to my science classes, they didn't take points off for incorrect answers). Dr. Waraksa also has extra credit identifications on her exams so if you went through the study guide thoroughly you are in good shape. As for CM101A, there is a lot of material to learn with respect to the architecture and themes presented. The class consists of 1 midterm, a 10-12 page paper, and a final. Her exam format was almost identical to 130, and knowing the material from 130 was moderately helpful background knowledge before CM101A. I love writing papers, so I enjoyed that assignment. She also gives you lots of time to write it (several weeks) but expects a topic and rough draft before the final copy is due which keeps you on track. All in all, if you have the opportunity to take a class with her I highly recommend it.