ANTHRO 116Q
Selected Topics in Archaeology of China
Description: Lecture, three hours. Examination of current developments and key issues in archaeology of early Chinese civilizations. Consult Schedule of Classes for topics and instructors. May be repeated for credit with topic change. P/NP or Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - As a person, nice and accommodating. As a professor, not the worst but not particularly engaging. Participation is mandatory on the syllabus but he doesn't take attendance. Personally, I found the lectures boring and he tends to ramble a lot. Open book tests, 1 literature review, and a 10-page final paper. You can pass the class if you just use his textbook, which he provides for free.
Winter 2023 - As a person, nice and accommodating. As a professor, not the worst but not particularly engaging. Participation is mandatory on the syllabus but he doesn't take attendance. Personally, I found the lectures boring and he tends to ramble a lot. Open book tests, 1 literature review, and a 10-page final paper. You can pass the class if you just use his textbook, which he provides for free.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - I can tell Professor Li is very smart and knowledgable in his field, but he is not a very concise or organized lecturer. He basically just assigned his own book and lectured from it, but the book was WAY more clear than his lectures. For example, we spent the whole first half of the quarter (literally 5 weeks) on "background" information on the landscape of China. Although I understand that this is helpful for understanding the dynamics of state formation in China, he also teaches a whole other class called "landscapes of China" where this would be more relevant. The actual bulk of the archaeological information felt rushed in weeks 6-9 and he never went into depth about the requirements of the book review. His midterm was take home, which was really nice and I appreciated it, especially considering that his lectures were sort of difficult to follow (he didn't really use slides, just maps and pictures). The final is also take-home so I guess I can forgive him for the structure of the class. He's really nice and wants students to succeed but I wish his lectures were more clear. Oh yeah, his "slides" were labeled as "Chinese Civilization 50" which is another class he is teaching this quarter so I assume he just uses the same slides and pictures for all of his classes.
Fall 2018 - I can tell Professor Li is very smart and knowledgable in his field, but he is not a very concise or organized lecturer. He basically just assigned his own book and lectured from it, but the book was WAY more clear than his lectures. For example, we spent the whole first half of the quarter (literally 5 weeks) on "background" information on the landscape of China. Although I understand that this is helpful for understanding the dynamics of state formation in China, he also teaches a whole other class called "landscapes of China" where this would be more relevant. The actual bulk of the archaeological information felt rushed in weeks 6-9 and he never went into depth about the requirements of the book review. His midterm was take home, which was really nice and I appreciated it, especially considering that his lectures were sort of difficult to follow (he didn't really use slides, just maps and pictures). The final is also take-home so I guess I can forgive him for the structure of the class. He's really nice and wants students to succeed but I wish his lectures were more clear. Oh yeah, his "slides" were labeled as "Chinese Civilization 50" which is another class he is teaching this quarter so I assume he just uses the same slides and pictures for all of his classes.