This is the best GE I have taken at UCLA. If you are a good essay writer, then this class is for you. When I took it, the grading consisted only of three essays which were weighed at 30% each, and then an additional 10% of section participation. You are given over two weeks to complete each essay which is only about five pages (double-spaced), and the TAs are very helpful when it comes to providing clarification on what exactly they're looking for. I started each essay only a few days before they were due, and was able to get around an A- on each one. If I had put more time aside, I definitely could've done better. The only work I had to do for this class was the essay-writing and discussion attendance / easy participation. In terms of content, you can definitely get away with not taking lecture notes and still doing incredibly well on the essays, because they are completely document based, or you're just asked to analyze excavations with extremely clear prompts. The readings should be referred to during the essays, but can be easily navigated, and you'll definitely find supporting evidence in them. Professor Papadopoulos is extremely passionate about his work, and while lecture is not mandatory, I still attended and took very little notes or did work during class. He is an incredible professor, and also very kind and clear!!

I really enjoyed this class as I find the topic extremely interesting and Professor Papadopoulos is clearly educated on and passionate about his field. Many of the reviews say his lectures are boring and I don't agree, but I can see how they would be if you don't enjoy ancient art history. It is not necessary to attend lectures to succeed in this class, as grading was based on 3 essays as well as participation in the discussion section, which you definitely need to attend. If you find writing papers difficult, you might have a hard time in this class.

Okay GE, but def requires some effort although lectures are not needed at all to do well in class, just the discussion sections.

Such a gem of a professor. Your grade is three essays, so don't procrastinate and you'll do fine. Lecture is not required, but you should probably go at least a little. Highly recommend if you're into classics generally and would like an interesting GE.

This class is a super easy GE but is a bit TA-dependent. I never showed up to class once. There are 3 essays, each worth 30%. each is about 4-5 pages long, and the prompts and associated readings for the lectures are posted on the syllabus from day 1. The readings are kinda long and boring but if you get the gist on them that's fine. Before you submit your essays, be sure to revise them with your TA as they usually look for specific stuff. The other 10% of your grade comes from discussion attendance and participation. If you have a hard TA, essays are graded harder and participation matters more. Most TAs are chill. Super easy class overall.

I would consider this an "easy" GE. I say easy because the class during my quarter was solely graded on three essays of about 1000 words, and there were no tests or homework. Attendance in discussion is required, but the essays aren't even dependent on the lectures; you are given sources to use instead. In fact, I stopped going to lectures after about the second week and never looked back. Professor Papadopoulos is pretty nice and accomodates his students well.

No tests and no need to go to the lectures. We had 3 papers throughout the quarter that weren't even related to the lectures. Super easy GE if you don't mind writing about a boring topic.

If you need an easy A for a GE then definitely take this class. The only assignments are three 5 page papers that you have to write. Go to sections because of attendance but you can for sure skip the lectures because nothing that is taught there is what the papers are about.

This class is rly rly chill. Your grade is basically 3 writing assignments (based on a documentary or based on some readings) and participation in section. The lectures and the weekly readings have nothing to do with the writing assignments that actually go into your grade so you basically just have to focus on the writing assignments right before they're due and go to section. The writing assignments did take me a few hours each especially when the readings were dense but I didn't mind since there's only three the whole quarter

LITERALLY THE EASIEST CLASS EVER.
structure:
no homework, no attendance required for lectures, no exams
3 essays: 750 words, based on documentaries, super easy, wrote all the day before and got A+ on all three
readings are assigned for HW but really not necessary
lectures are SUPER boring but prof papa is so sweet and really passionate