Professor

Jeremy Smoak

AD
3.9
Overall Ratings
Based on 146 Users
Easiness 3.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 2.7 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.0 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.1 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (146)

6 of 10
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April 4, 2017
Quarter: Winter 2017
Grade: B+

This class was very interesting and the tests were fairly easy, but the papers (at least for me) were graded very harshly. You need to put in a lot of time and effort in order to get a good grade, so just be prepared for that. Your grade is mainly based on 2 papers. You first submit a draft, which is graded. Then you have a chance to edit and resubmit it, again for a grade. I really liked that aspect of the class, since you got direct and specific feedback! Overall, the class is great, just be prepared to spend a lot of time on the papers!!!

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July 6, 2017
Quarter: Fall 2016
Grade: N/A

Selling the required text "Jerusalem: One city, Three Faiths" for $10. Email me at *************

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July 22, 2017
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A-

I took this class as a GE course and I have to say that I liked it a lot. Professor Smoak is a nice guy who is willing to help his students any way he can. This quarter, for example, I wanted to take the class, but the class was over-enrolled, but he still gave me a PTE. The material itself is interesting to learn and Smoak makes sure to go over any uncertainties. While I did enjoy the class, I was not a fan of how much work this class required. This class had two quizzes, one midterm, one final, one group project, one research paper, participation, and a visit to LACMA. All of the exams were pretty straightforward. Professor Smoak would release a study guide that was useful for the exams. The annoying part about the class was the project, paper, and LACMA assignment. The group project is a gamble and your grade will depend on how well you work in a group. My group actually did stuff, so it was easy for me, but difficult for my peers. The LACMA assignment is inconvenient since you have to go all the way to LACMA on your own. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. The paper is pretty short ( 4 to 5 pages), but it requires you to find 6 sources. Also, don't be deceived by the paper's brevity: it's much harder to be succinct! Overall, Smoak's class was pretty fun and he is a great lecturer; however, the number of assignments you have for this lower-division course definitely mars it from being an excellent class. Nonetheless, I would still recommend the course to anyone looking to fulfill their philosophical/linguistic GE requirement.

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Aug. 3, 2017
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: P

Jeremy is an excellent lecturer.
He is an amazing storyteller and a very nice man.
I would recommend this class to anyone who finds interest in religion or Abrahamic religions. His exams are fair and papers are straightforward.
Not all the readings are required for this class. Just read what you need for your papers.

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Aug. 3, 2017
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A

Please take this class after taking 150 with him.
It is like a continuation of that class. If you didn't take 150 with him before, you may find the material progression to be a little jumpy.

With that being said, this was not a hard class except the final paper...
We had to do a 30-40 article research paper. Making the citations alone took me like 40 minutes. Don't procrastinate!
And be prepared to do some reading and writing. Every week or every other week, 1-2 page response for the reading is due.

I would not say this is an easy upper div. Only take this course if you like the subject.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 14, 2017
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A

This is a GE with a lot of work. We had 2 papers, a museum visit, weekly mandatory discussions with turned in summary, a project, midterm and final. In addition, this class was hard. Smoak is a great lecturer and the TA was awesome, but the material was still challenging due to the majority of it not being taught in any other classes. We had to memorize facts from 10+ different writing systems, and the difficulty showed on the averages of the quizzes which were quite low, despite a high midterm average. Final was quite difficult due to the need to recognize different artifacts, all which looked quite similar. Still, it was really enjoyable.

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1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Nov. 16, 2017
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A

I really enjoyed this class. I had no idea about the history of writing, and Professor Smoak really changed my view of language. This class relies heavily on memorization, there isn't a ton of material to memorize, but some terms are unfamiliar and could easily be confused. The book is worth the buy and very well written, although sometimes he did post the readings online. Martin was my TA, and he was so incredibly helpful and knowledgable. There is a group project where you invent your own writing system, which requires a fair amount of creativity and effort, but its pretty fun. Tests were simple, just memorize slide information and terms.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 1, 2017
Quarter: Fall 2017
Grade: A

One of the best professors I've had. Interesting and funny. He is very clear with what is expected of you and what assignments and tests will be like.

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March 29, 2018
Quarter: Winter 2018
Grade: A

I thought some of the assignments (reading summaries in particular) were a little much, but the class was interesting and the workload wasn't too bad.

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Jan. 8, 2018
Quarter: Fall 2017
Grade: A

Take this class with a grain of salt. It's not an easy writing II class by any means, but it wasn't necessarily unfair. It's really up to you how you do in this class. Do not take it if you're not willing to put in a lot of effort into reading, researching, and writing for the papers. The TAs grade fairly, and they will shred poor work and reward hard work. The tests are easy enough if you know his study guides. The information in this class is not difficult to understand, but you do need to put in a lot of work to do well. If you have a decent understanding of the material and put in a lot of effort in the papers (and go to office hours to see what your TA wants with your paper) you will do fine.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 10W
Quarter: Winter 2017
Grade: B+
April 4, 2017

This class was very interesting and the tests were fairly easy, but the papers (at least for me) were graded very harshly. You need to put in a lot of time and effort in order to get a good grade, so just be prepared for that. Your grade is mainly based on 2 papers. You first submit a draft, which is graded. Then you have a chance to edit and resubmit it, again for a grade. I really liked that aspect of the class, since you got direct and specific feedback! Overall, the class is great, just be prepared to spend a lot of time on the papers!!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 10W
Quarter: Fall 2016
Grade: N/A
July 6, 2017

Selling the required text "Jerusalem: One city, Three Faiths" for $10. Email me at *************

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
NR EAST M20
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A-
July 22, 2017

I took this class as a GE course and I have to say that I liked it a lot. Professor Smoak is a nice guy who is willing to help his students any way he can. This quarter, for example, I wanted to take the class, but the class was over-enrolled, but he still gave me a PTE. The material itself is interesting to learn and Smoak makes sure to go over any uncertainties. While I did enjoy the class, I was not a fan of how much work this class required. This class had two quizzes, one midterm, one final, one group project, one research paper, participation, and a visit to LACMA. All of the exams were pretty straightforward. Professor Smoak would release a study guide that was useful for the exams. The annoying part about the class was the project, paper, and LACMA assignment. The group project is a gamble and your grade will depend on how well you work in a group. My group actually did stuff, so it was easy for me, but difficult for my peers. The LACMA assignment is inconvenient since you have to go all the way to LACMA on your own. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. The paper is pretty short ( 4 to 5 pages), but it requires you to find 6 sources. Also, don't be deceived by the paper's brevity: it's much harder to be succinct! Overall, Smoak's class was pretty fun and he is a great lecturer; however, the number of assignments you have for this lower-division course definitely mars it from being an excellent class. Nonetheless, I would still recommend the course to anyone looking to fulfill their philosophical/linguistic GE requirement.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
JEWISH M150A
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: P
Aug. 3, 2017

Jeremy is an excellent lecturer.
He is an amazing storyteller and a very nice man.
I would recommend this class to anyone who finds interest in religion or Abrahamic religions. His exams are fair and papers are straightforward.
Not all the readings are required for this class. Just read what you need for your papers.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA M135
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A
Aug. 3, 2017

Please take this class after taking 150 with him.
It is like a continuation of that class. If you didn't take 150 with him before, you may find the material progression to be a little jumpy.

With that being said, this was not a hard class except the final paper...
We had to do a 30-40 article research paper. Making the citations alone took me like 40 minutes. Don't procrastinate!
And be prepared to do some reading and writing. Every week or every other week, 1-2 page response for the reading is due.

I would not say this is an easy upper div. Only take this course if you like the subject.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ASIAN M20
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A
June 14, 2017

This is a GE with a lot of work. We had 2 papers, a museum visit, weekly mandatory discussions with turned in summary, a project, midterm and final. In addition, this class was hard. Smoak is a great lecturer and the TA was awesome, but the material was still challenging due to the majority of it not being taught in any other classes. We had to memorize facts from 10+ different writing systems, and the difficulty showed on the averages of the quizzes which were quite low, despite a high midterm average. Final was quite difficult due to the need to recognize different artifacts, all which looked quite similar. Still, it was really enjoyable.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
SLAVC M20
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A
Nov. 16, 2017

I really enjoyed this class. I had no idea about the history of writing, and Professor Smoak really changed my view of language. This class relies heavily on memorization, there isn't a ton of material to memorize, but some terms are unfamiliar and could easily be confused. The book is worth the buy and very well written, although sometimes he did post the readings online. Martin was my TA, and he was so incredibly helpful and knowledgable. There is a group project where you invent your own writing system, which requires a fair amount of creativity and effort, but its pretty fun. Tests were simple, just memorize slide information and terms.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
HEBREW 110A
Quarter: Fall 2017
Grade: A
Dec. 1, 2017

One of the best professors I've had. Interesting and funny. He is very clear with what is expected of you and what assignments and tests will be like.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ASIAN M20
Quarter: Winter 2018
Grade: A
March 29, 2018

I thought some of the assignments (reading summaries in particular) were a little much, but the class was interesting and the workload wasn't too bad.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
AN N EA 10W
Quarter: Fall 2017
Grade: A
Jan. 8, 2018

Take this class with a grain of salt. It's not an easy writing II class by any means, but it wasn't necessarily unfair. It's really up to you how you do in this class. Do not take it if you're not willing to put in a lot of effort into reading, researching, and writing for the papers. The TAs grade fairly, and they will shred poor work and reward hard work. The tests are easy enough if you know his study guides. The information in this class is not difficult to understand, but you do need to put in a lot of work to do well. If you have a decent understanding of the material and put in a lot of effort in the papers (and go to office hours to see what your TA wants with your paper) you will do fine.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
6 of 10
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