A lot of reading & information to sink in. I rarely went to lecture. I dreaded going to discussion b/c I disliked participating & speaking up in class esp since I didn't keep up with the readings. Had to do some last minute reading, but it wasn't all that bad. The midterm & final is pretty simple since you get a study sheet. If you are a fantastic essay writer, then take this class. If not, then you'll just have to work a bit harder.

Dr. Rapp is a genius...she is highly intelligent and intimidating but she is an EXCELLENT PROFESSOR. She speaks like a queen--with what sounds like a formal British accent. She speaks beautifully and is a fabulous lecturer. I would highly recommend taking her class! She is by far, the most organized professor...she gives you the study sheet far in advance (after Week 1) for the midterm, giving one plenty of time to prepare for the midterm. If you prepare in advance and WORK HARD, you are sure to receive an A/A+. Professor Rapp's system cleverly rewards those who plan in advance, work hard, and attend lecture with her study guides. For the exams, you have a list of IDs that you must identify, followed by quote identification from a large book of source texts (Make sure to read!!!!). I thought it would be scary, but you should be fine if you read everything and prepare for the IDs. You will learn so much in this class and become a more refined individual, I feel. Her powerpoints are nice to look at, but you must write a lot to have good notes (use these notes to help you with writing your IDs). TAKE THIS CLASS, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. Section was also fabulous with my TA and they really help you! :)

Professor Rapp was a pretty decent teacher. Her lectures were kind of boring. She has this crazy thing where she doesn't allow you to record her because of "copyright" issues. The first few lectures were quite interesting because you can tell she was really into the stuff. However, she lectures pretty fast so you need to keep up. She tries to use powerpoint but those slides are not that helpful because it's very general and instead, she goes into detail through the lectures. Her class is fairly easy if you go to lecture and discussion. Something I didn't do. I stopped going to lecture after the midterm because for her midterm and final she basically tells you what's going to be on it. She emails out an outline of 30 IDs and 20 of them will be on the midterm or so and you'll have to analyze one the source texts (MAKE SURE TO READ THEM AND GO TO DISCUSSION). I had a great TA, Kate Craig, she summed up the source texts because some of them were confusing. Going to discussion basically sums up lecture too. I got a B+ in that class after ditching lecture half-way through the quarter.

Rapp is brilliant. However, you won't absorb any of that brilliance without going to class, which was a pretty big mistake I made. Yes, a lot of students skip class, because you can do the required reading and still know your ish, and Rapp isn't very engaging in her lecture. She does seem pretty damn excited about what she's teaching, which is inspiring. At first, the course seemed like it was focused on the source texts (which were very interesting and fun to read, if you're that sort of person) and used only the "actual" history as context. That changed once we got the final study sheets and realized that we do have to know the history... I had to cram before the final on the Roman Empire because those were all the lectures I skipped. For your own sake, go to lecture, even if you're only going to sit there. Taking notes by hand is pretty difficult, and you'll miss some of her stuff, but at least you'll know the general flow of history (Mesopotamia -> Int'l Bronze Age -> Dark Age -> Archaic Greece -> ... -> Babylonia -> Barbarians). Knowing this much at least is vital. You'll have two papers to write, of about 1200-1500 words. I have to admit, I did have fun writing them. For the exams, you are given study sheets, which means like 70% of the exam is in your hands beforehand. But Rapp is tricky. For the final, we had a list of 30 IDs. The final listed 20, and we had to identify 10 of them, or something like that. If you have buddies, study with them beforehand by dividing it up and having everyone email the IDs/significance around. If you don't have buddies, make them. There will also be an essay on the source texts, and three general essays, of which ONE will be on the test. That part was the hard part. You'll need to outline every essay, so if you procrastinate on studying for the final, you're pretty screwed, unless you're pro at pulling stuff out of your bum.
I came into the class with absolutely no interest in the material or in history in general. I skipped lectures, which ended up in my cramming like a madman. I did, however, keep up with the source texts because they were interesting. I had the chill TA, and I came out with an A-.

Rapp is very knowledgeable about Western Civilization, and the class wasn't too bad. However, her lectures are a bit boring (since she's a tad boring). Midterm and Final are relatively easy, since all you have to do is memorize (she gives you a list key words to help you study). Discussion requires a bit of reading, but really you can just skim the book, since the midterm/final's word list require only specific things. Also, you can skim the source texts also, since the discussion will point out all the key parts.

Possibly the most boring and least effective history professor I've had yet. Her lectures are not at all cohesive and I learned next to nothing even though I went to every class and took notes. She jumped around and neglected to give students the bigger picture of western civ. In general, her tests are relatively easy, but only because she gives you a list of IDs to know beforehand. Avoid her if possible.

Good class. Rapp's lectured were very good, although the way the course was designed, lecture attendance wasnt as important as discussion attendance. It's a good GE, my only gripe is that the professor did not have a uniform grading scale that applied to all TA's. For example, her syllabus required 2 papers. One TA had those papers be 2 1/2 pages long each, the other made them 5 pages long each. So basically the class difficulty was entirely based on your TA, which is somewhat unfair. The class isnt really hard, but at the same time, the assignment difficulty and expectations should have been uniform among the different discussion sessions.

Good:
-study sheet w/ all the terms that will be tested is provided for the midterm and final
-tests are very fair and easy if you prepare
-powerpoint presentations are posted after lecture
-very approachable and willing to help students

Bad:
-so much reading it's not even funny

Other notes:
-your TA is completely responsible for your grade
-two papers due (one before midterm and one after); each given out about one week before it is due
-it is important to attend lecture even though the textbook covers most of what she says; use the textbook to supplement her lectures