Overall:
I had Prof Vroon for Slavic 40 (Christianities East and West--covers Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant branches of Christianity). He's a great professor who is truly knowledgeable about the subject matter and concerned about his students. He answers all questions thoroughly and presents the information in an objective manner.

If you're considering taking Slavic 40, Make sure you have some interest in the subject matter. Although Prof Vroon is great, if you're just taking this class for the GE requirement and his reviews on bruinwalk you might find the readings to be tedious! Also try not to take this course at the same time as another history/reading intensive class.

What to expect (as of Fall 2011)
-1 Midterm (20% of final grade)
-Final exam (35% of final grade)
-Papers, at least 1500 words each (30% of final grade)
-Participation (15% of final grade)
-3 Field Visit reports (you have to visit 3 church services: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant)
-Readings from 3 textbooks (Orthodox/Catholic/Protestant church history and doctrine)
-Online readings (Biblical excerpts, catechisms, creeds)

To get a good grade:
-Attend all lectures! Prof Vroon covers a lot of info. I would suggest bringing a laptop so you can type more of the information he discusses (sometimes he can go rather quickly)
-Go to office hours. Prof Vroon is very helpful in his and this is especially useful when he begins covering the more confusing theological concepts. Also go to your TA's if you have questions about how the papers are being graded.
-Do the readings. Although you can get by with skimming/not doing all of them, it will be harder to participate in discussion if you haven't read (and participation counts for your grade)

To sum up, I would highly recommend Prof Vroon and Slavic 40 as long as you have genuine interest in the course material. There is a lot of reading and memorization but once again this will not be annoying as long as you want to learn more about the three main branches of Christianity. You can pull an A as long as you put sufficient effort into this course!

Not a walk in the park, this GE. It's certainly a fascinating class if you have an interest in Christianity from a historical and theological standpoint. You do have an edge in the class if you are familiar with the religion as some of the terminology and rituals you might already know. I won't lie though, the lectures were very dense. The lectures are not recorded and even though the prof releases his lecture slides, they are very bare and not helpful on their own. It is paramount to not only go to every lecture but to actually take notes and pay attention. It's in the detail for this class. The two books you need to buy for this class aren't necessarily needed for any of the exams. There was no midterm (a mock one for students to just do but ungraded and he went over the answers) but there are two papers and a final. The first paper is a research paper in which you go in-person or online to a Roman Catholic service, Protestant service, and Eastern Orthodox service then write about the similarities/differences in them. The second paper is a choose 1 of 2 prompts, which were either about the two books you could've bought/read or picking a controversial topic and discussing the POV's of each branch e.g. capital punishment. The final was hard. If you didn't study or attend lecture, you would be cooked. The professor can be a little soft-spoken sometimes so listen closely. Overall, an interesting course with a fine professor that is very dense and time-consuming.

While the readings can be a little overwhelming, they gave me insight and knowledge about religion that i had never known before. Professor Vroon is an incredibly smart man and is always encouraging class participation and makes sure every one understands what's going on without being condescending. I definitely recommend this class- UNLESS you're taking another class that requires a lot of reading.
I AM SELLING BOTH OF THE REQUIRED BOOKS!!
A Concise History of the Catholic Church and The Orthodox Church - Both $10!!
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I have mixed feelings about this class. While the readings can be a little overwhelming, they gave me insight and knowledge about religion that i had never known before. Professor Vroon is an incredibly smart man and is always encouraging class participation and makes sure every one understands what's going on without being condescending. I definitely recommend this class- UNLESS you're taking another class that requires a lot of reading.
I AM SELLING BOTH OF THE REQUIRED BOOKS!!
A Concise History of the Catholic Church and The Orthodox Church - Both $10!!
Text me at **********

This class is so hard and confusing. I hated it.

The entire grade depends on the final and a final paper which was rather stressful not knowing his grading style, but he was surprisingly kind in his grading. Professor Vroon is incredibly knowledgable and the lectures are decently interesting--just be prepared to be asked questions and for awkward silence. The books, while a lot to read, were very interesting even though some were difficult to analyze on the first read. As someone who randomly took the class, I am glad I was exposed to the books I read (The Silver Dove, Dr. Zhivago, The Master and Margarita, We). I recommend this class if you are genuinely interested--or even mildly interested--in Russian Lit!

Vroon is well-spoken, kind, and clever - overall, a truly outstanding professor.
This class, however, is not outstanding.
It's certainly not an "Easy" GE; there is SO much reading, three field visits that require write-ups, two 1500 word essays, and a Midterm and a Final that will make you want to cry. He gives out historical tables for the midterm and key terms for the final, but they really didn't help. What you should do to prepare for them is actually just to Wikipedia every (and I do mean every) single concept, person, fact you learn in the class and try to memorize as much as you can. Then just regurgitate for the exams. For the papers, be sure you speak with your TA about what an "A" paper will look like so you can make sure you're on the right track.
If you do decide to take this class, do it Pass/No Pass, especially if you have other classes to focus on. Otherwise it's just going to haunt you all quarter.

The class:
This was the first time Slavic 40 was offered: Christianity, East and West. It was EXCELLENT because it offered a relatively fair, unbiased look at the three branches of Christianity. We focused both on history and theology, considering the similarities and differences of each branch (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant). TAKE IT. Many different people were interested in it, and I'm telling you that it's worth it. Intriguing stuff.

The professor:
Vroon is GOOD. Period. So good that I want to take him again. Sure, he's a little unorganized and not always focused. Sometimes we'd go off on tangents for a long time or explore little details that were not extremely important. Still, it shows his desire to teach, his flexibility, his openness, etc. He's approachable, fair, extremely interesting, passionate about what he's teaching, good to his students, knowledgable, thought-provoking, willing to yield, and everything a good professor is.

So, it's not too hard of a class because Vroon just wanted you to know the material: it's straight forward. It wasn't too much work, but a fair amount to get you to think and understand. Tests were fine. Took a long time to get grades back, though.

For this course, Christianities of the East and West, Professor Vroon attempted to cover an extreme amount of information regarding the history and theology of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Even though I knew alot going into the class, this was NOT an easy GE. A ton of reading, lecture three times a week with frantic scribbling the whole time, and a discussion that never really expanded on ideas in class.

Would I take this again?
Maybe, but you should definitely prepare yourself for a TON of reading and work to even get a B.

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed Prof. Vroon's class. I simply took it for a GE and while there was quite a bit of reading at times, the topic was more interesting than I thought it would be. He was very excited about the topic and that made it much more engaging.

He speaks clearly and loudly, so vocally he is easy to understand, and he takes questions in stride in case you don't understand the topic.

The essays are a hassle but those really depend on your TA; mine was effective at MCing the discussions but very relaxed when it came to due dates & discussion homework.

The midterm and final leave you drained, but it's curved as everyone seems to feel that way.