This class was INCREDIBLY easy. She co-wrote the textbook that the class uses and her lectures are podcasted, so you never need to go to lecture. Just read the book, go to section, and you are sure to get an A. Her exams are extremely straightforward and nothing to worry about if you have given at least a little effort to the class. The material is interesting and presented in an organized fashion. Professor Silk is an effective lecturer and a wonderful professor!

I took anthro 7 with this professor and absolutely LOVED it. She is a great, engaging, funny professor who makes lectures enjoyable. The material is sooo sooo interesting. You definitely have to put work into it, though. DO not take this class as an easy G.E because it isn't. You need to read the book and probably skim over readings both before the midterm and final. Her practice midterm was very similar to the actual midterm so know that cold. Also, what helped me was that I did a lot of the questions in the back of teh chapters (even the ones that were not assigned). She uses a lot of those too. The answers to all of those questions can be found online. I went to office hours before the final for the first time and she was super nice and very helpful.... I only wish I went to more office hours before.

Basically,if you want to learn a lot and don't mind doing the readings and putting effort into the class, I cannot recommend it enough. If you work hard, you'll get the A

Challenging, worthwhile GE. i missed a decent amount of lectures, but actually found them extremely helpful so tried not to miss them. i did however read the entire book cover to cover, which although somewhat tedious, was overall interesting and i think necessary to succeed in the class. Silk is extremely interested in anthro and you can tell when she teaches. i also took anthro 89 and it was an easy, moderately interesting A. i never had an interest in anthro, but following her course, i do. Take it if you want to learn and dont mind doing some work.

This isn't an easy class, but its definitely doable, and definitely interesting. You'll learn some pretty fascinating stuff about how evolution applies to modern behavior, like - why men prefer tend to favor good looks over resources (wealth) in potential mates, and why that pattern is reversed in women. The really interesting stuff only comes at the end, though, so don't be disappointed. If you want to know more you should read "The Moral Animal" by Richard Wright - about evolutionary psychology, i highly reccommend it. But anyway, its an interesting class, though there is some super boring stuff in the middle part about fossils and neanderthals and stuff like that.

In lecture, SIlk pretty much repeats what you just read in the textbook in her powerpoints. Her lectures are podcasted and the powerpoints are posted online, so you really don't need to go to class at all - I didn't go to a single lecture after the 2nd week. You do need to read the book, though, and its a fair amount of reading, so you can't be lazy. However, the book is clearly written (she wrote it) and well organized, so its not too painful.

structure of the class: section: 10%, midterm: 40%, final: 50%. section is mandatory, and there's homework due every week, but the TA you get doesn't matter much becuase all they do is go over the answers in section. As you can see, your grade pretty much depends on two tests, so its easy to mess up. DO the practice tests she gives you, and not just the night before the test. Also study the homework questions, because they usually cover the main concepts she wants you to understand. If you've read and studied, the tests are pretty straight forward; she doesn't throw any random or trick questions at you. Overall, its a good class. If you're looking for an interesting but slightly challenging ge, take it.

Silk is a boring lecturer, but I thought the material was fairly interesting. Her lectures were podcasted so there wasn't much incentive to go to lecture... however, make sure you study her practice exams before you take her midterms and final. She always wants very specific answers on her tests. If it's possible, it might be helpful to find exams that she's given in the past, to get an idea of what she wants. Both of the exams are also curved. She always responded to my e-mails and was willing to answer my questions, as well.

I never went to any lectures, but the course is on Bruincast and powerpoints are posted. Alot of the questions are from the practice she handed out so it is straight forward. I dont know what the other person is talking about...it isn't a premed class.

Definitely do NOT recommend taking this class as a GE; it's a pre-med pre-req, so you can imagine the level of competition. The lectures are interesting enough, but 90% of your grade is based on the midterm and final, so if you do poorly on one there's really nowhere to make up for it. The average grade on the midterm was around a 60%, though the class is curved. As far as the material is concerned, it really did nothing to convince me that evolution is a legitimate possibility for the origin of human life...in fact, it probably did the opposite. There's a lot of molecular genetics material covered in the first half of the course, which could be good or bad depending on if that's your forte. If you want an easy A, this isn't the place to look!

I loved, loved, loved this course!!! I am into all the evolution stuff so I think that helped me connect with the material. I also am a science major so I had a bit of background with genetics and evolution to begin with. The class works like this lecture 3x a week, one midterm, one final, 10 HW assignments form the book due in discussion, super easy and the answers are on the web to confer with. I am not going to say this class is easy, easy. I read the book cover to cover and reviewed and attended lecture every day, but I really liked the book and found the stuff to be interesting so I was motivated. My TA was great. Midterms are all short answer questions, however I have looked at previous year midterm and they are almost identical! So pick some of those up and you will be fine. Concepts are easy to learn and for once make sense, unlike HNMR- in O chem.. ugh! Silk is very into her subject and really thinks all this stuff is fascinating and i agree! I loved learning and appreciating the human race!!! It is a wonderful class and I had a wonderful experience. There is a curve, so even if you don't do very well on the MT its not the end of the world. The final was 14 questions, it was dense and intense, but I honestly mastered the class and material. I would really recommend Anthro 7 with Silk if you want a great class that will really foster your growth as a college student in understanding where we come from and why we act the way we do!

Man where do I start? First off, the class was pretty interesting I'm not going to lie, but this women spent her entire life studying primates so you could imagine how strenuous the class was. I only saw the lecture full three times: 1st day of class, midterm day, final day, heck I was rarely there. The tests are harder then you think. Short answer, but you really have to read the book to get a good grade in the class. In discussion, my TA was too smart for her own good, and only confused us more, so that kind of made the class a little more difficult. Definitely choose and good time and go because it's mandatory. Honestly, you can get away with not going to lecture and just reading the book and going to section. Meet with people in your section before the test and make study guides and you should be fine.

She's an ok lecturer. The lectures weren't that boring. Yes, all her slides and class videos are posted online. Homework wasn't so bad because the TAs give you credit for doing it. My TA didn't really check our answers. We just got points for going to discussion ON TIME and turning in our homework.

HOWEVER I don't understand the professor's grading. On both the midterm and final, I really thought I did well, but the grades I got on both weren't what I expected. Maybe there were certain answers she was looking for and I didn't put down. I really thought I knew all the material..I guess she was looking for something else. But nonetheless, midterm grades are curved and the final grades are also curved. I expected to get an A, but ended with a B+ .

Take this class if you're interested in macroevolution. It was not my favorite class.