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.

The class material was interesting and I liked the way the professor lectured for class. However, the class is not recorded and the slides have bare minimum information on them, so attending class is important. I took the class in winter quarter so there wasn't a mid term. The main basis of your grade is on a fairly easy field report, a final paper and a final. The final paper was pretty easy to write, but the final asked for a lot of recall. His expectations for what you should know on the final are high. There was a study guide and a times table that we were given as study materials that I feel didn't really prepare me for the amount of information that was asked to be recalled on the final. Also, the reading assignments for the class are fairly heavy. You do not go over the reading in either lecture or discussion, but there were topics in the reading that were included on the final, so it would be smart to do most of the reading. Overall, the professor was willing to help at any time and was very willing to answer questions. He was good professor and the class was somewhat interesting, but it was not easy. If you are looking for an easy A this class would not be the class to take.

I loved this class! It's not a super easy GE, but if you're interested in the material, it is definitely worth it. It covers the history of the early Church, Orthodox/Catholic/Protestant branches, theology, and ecclesiology. You don't need to have knowledge of Christianity to succeed in this class - it's largely historical and for the theology unit, he explains everything you need to know.
The readings are very lengthy around week 6-8, but Vroon helps unpack them during lecture. The readings are very interesting and help you understand the material better, but virtually everything on the final appeared in lecture.
There is a field report based on your observations of an Orthodox, Catholic, and a Protestant service. Basically, you just need to write a coherent report explaining prescribed aspects of each service you attend. There is also an essay for which Vroon provides several options. If you can write a good research paper this wasn't a big deal.
The challenging aspect of this course was the final. I think he alters the format each quarter, but it basically consisted of defining historical figures, locations and terms (and their importance). There were some short answer questions. A half page question and a short essay question allowed you to choose between two or three prompts.
Vroon provides you with two VERY helpful items: a timeline and a list of terms. If you understand the terms and the importance of the people/events in the timeline, then you will do fine on the final. He also provides an example of a midterm (although there is no midterm for the class), which gives you a very good idea for what to expect on the final.

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.
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