Professor
Anthony Friscia
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Cluster 70A is a great class for non-stem majors. It is super interesting and you can really learn some fascinating and interesting things if you open yourself up to it. Throughout the quarter the main grades were five quizzes, a paper, and some lab assignments. The quizzes were 10 multiple choice questions and a few free responses. The free response was generally straight forward, but sometimes the wording could be a bit confusing on the MC. The paper was also not too difficult and there was a lot of opportunity to work on it. In addition to these assignments there were lab assignments. These were not too difficult but could all build up if you procrastinate. Professor Friscia was a great lecturer. He was super informative, answered questions well, and used his slides effectively. Overall, he was really clear and covered a lot of information without the lecture feeling too dense.
Fall 2020 - Cluster 70A is a great class for non-stem majors. It is super interesting and you can really learn some fascinating and interesting things if you open yourself up to it. Throughout the quarter the main grades were five quizzes, a paper, and some lab assignments. The quizzes were 10 multiple choice questions and a few free responses. The free response was generally straight forward, but sometimes the wording could be a bit confusing on the MC. The paper was also not too difficult and there was a lot of opportunity to work on it. In addition to these assignments there were lab assignments. These were not too difficult but could all build up if you procrastinate. Professor Friscia was a great lecturer. He was super informative, answered questions well, and used his slides effectively. Overall, he was really clear and covered a lot of information without the lecture feeling too dense.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Literally my favorite class. If you have an interest in space and are a humanities major who wants science credit out of the way—take this cluster. All of the professors held ample office hours and for the most part TAs were really helpful with any questions too. Grading is super easy with the final only 10% so I definitely know people who failed the final and still got an A. There is the smallest bit of math so be aware but very manageable and this was definitely the better of the two quarters, very engaging, interesting, and most of the time understandable. Shout out to my favorite professor Erik Petigura
Fall 2024 - Literally my favorite class. If you have an interest in space and are a humanities major who wants science credit out of the way—take this cluster. All of the professors held ample office hours and for the most part TAs were really helpful with any questions too. Grading is super easy with the final only 10% so I definitely know people who failed the final and still got an A. There is the smallest bit of math so be aware but very manageable and this was definitely the better of the two quarters, very engaging, interesting, and most of the time understandable. Shout out to my favorite professor Erik Petigura
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - This quarter was mainly taught by Friscia and Supriya and while Friscia was understandable, I never could quite grasp Supriyas lectures. I will admit I am not the biggest fan of biology but I was often bored and even when I tried to pay attention to the slides I could not make sense of even simple concepts. Not hard if you just memorize the main terms before the final but actual classtime was not useful and all slides are read off of and posted on canvas.
Winter 2025 - This quarter was mainly taught by Friscia and Supriya and while Friscia was understandable, I never could quite grasp Supriyas lectures. I will admit I am not the biggest fan of biology but I was often bored and even when I tried to pay attention to the slides I could not make sense of even simple concepts. Not hard if you just memorize the main terms before the final but actual classtime was not useful and all slides are read off of and posted on canvas.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - I loved Winter quarter of this cluster, especially because I really enjoy biology (though not a bio major) and it was therefore also much easier than Fall in my opinion. The big change from Fall quarter is that Friscia lectures on evolution instead of Larkin lecturing on astronomy. Friscia is hilarious and great at explaining the concepts he presents. The textbook (Tangled Bank) is "mandatory". If you have a good grasp on the bio concepts, you can probably do without it, but it's definitely a good resource if you struggle with bio. It's not a difficult read so it's worth having around. Again, they guide you through the paper throughout the quarter so that it's not so daunting. I would definitely recommend going on the field trips (there were 3 in Winter quarter alone when I took the class), as they are all paid for (in terms of transportation, lodging, etc. except food). The overnight one to Nevada was super fun and we got to collect fossils. I would say this is one of the few classes that has a field aspect to it. I would recommend sticking it out for Winter even if you struggled with Fall because the material is more familiar to most people, especially if you've taken some sort of biology class in high school. Overall a great class and one of my favorites.
Winter 2019 - I loved Winter quarter of this cluster, especially because I really enjoy biology (though not a bio major) and it was therefore also much easier than Fall in my opinion. The big change from Fall quarter is that Friscia lectures on evolution instead of Larkin lecturing on astronomy. Friscia is hilarious and great at explaining the concepts he presents. The textbook (Tangled Bank) is "mandatory". If you have a good grasp on the bio concepts, you can probably do without it, but it's definitely a good resource if you struggle with bio. It's not a difficult read so it's worth having around. Again, they guide you through the paper throughout the quarter so that it's not so daunting. I would definitely recommend going on the field trips (there were 3 in Winter quarter alone when I took the class), as they are all paid for (in terms of transportation, lodging, etc. except food). The overnight one to Nevada was super fun and we got to collect fossils. I would say this is one of the few classes that has a field aspect to it. I would recommend sticking it out for Winter even if you struggled with Fall because the material is more familiar to most people, especially if you've taken some sort of biology class in high school. Overall a great class and one of my favorites.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - This is by far the best part of Cluster 70. My TA, Hayley, was clearly passionate about her topic and the class became fun because of that. We had to writing assignments and essay often (the workload can be significant sometimes), but the grading scheme is super reasonable across the board. I don't think a single person got less than an A- in this class, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority had an A or A+. If you can deal with the first two boring quarters of this cluster, the third quarter is rewarding!
Spring 2024 - This is by far the best part of Cluster 70. My TA, Hayley, was clearly passionate about her topic and the class became fun because of that. We had to writing assignments and essay often (the workload can be significant sometimes), but the grading scheme is super reasonable across the board. I don't think a single person got less than an A- in this class, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority had an A or A+. If you can deal with the first two boring quarters of this cluster, the third quarter is rewarding!
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - Professor Friscia is actually the best. His lectures are clear, interesting, and educational. Everything about his class is so well structured, I cannot stress enough how much I encourage you to take this cluster as an incoming freshman. We have had some great field trips to Nevada and the La Brea Tar Pits, and I have gotten a few good friends from this class as well. Tony is so helpful and it is clear he cares about his students learning. At times the class can be a lot of work, but generally it is really spread out and manageable. TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU ARE A FRESHMAN STUDENT IN A HUMANITIES MAJOR.
Winter 2023 - Professor Friscia is actually the best. His lectures are clear, interesting, and educational. Everything about his class is so well structured, I cannot stress enough how much I encourage you to take this cluster as an incoming freshman. We have had some great field trips to Nevada and the La Brea Tar Pits, and I have gotten a few good friends from this class as well. Tony is so helpful and it is clear he cares about his students learning. At times the class can be a lot of work, but generally it is really spread out and manageable. TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU ARE A FRESHMAN STUDENT IN A HUMANITIES MAJOR.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - In the spring, I took the geology of mapping seminar with Travis Gilmore and it was the best class I have taken. Weekly assignments were doable, classes were enjoyable, and no long, unnecessary papers were involved. The form of grading was through presentations, which could be geared in any direction you wanted them to be.
Spring 2024 - In the spring, I took the geology of mapping seminar with Travis Gilmore and it was the best class I have taken. Weekly assignments were doable, classes were enjoyable, and no long, unnecessary papers were involved. The form of grading was through presentations, which could be geared in any direction you wanted them to be.
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