In response to the last two reviews on here, I have to agree with the one made on June 21. The person who has said they have earned straight As for the past 3 years clearly has not gained any study skills whatsoever because this class is pretty straightforward in what it requires you to study and know for exams. Professor Joseph uses lecture slides and they are not too dense because that is how powerpoints are. Do not just write the lecture slides and ignore what he is going to say. Instead, I suggest addressing each bullet point as he does and incorporating his commentary into your notes as well so that it makes sense when you go back and read those notes. He elaborates and gives more context. I did not find it too difficult to keep up with. If you still find it difficult, on the first day or two he allows some time to exchange numbers with classmates so that students can ask each other for help in case they miss class. He provides the study guide approximately a week before the exam with a list of topics. Unlike what the other review says, they really are not that broad. There is often a lecture slide with the same title that pertains to what you are required to know. If you feel unclear about a topic, you can simply email him, go to office hours, or look at other similar slides from your notes and deduce what might be related. I found in office hours, he gave me the full answer of what I was required to know. Sometimes dates and names are important but it depends on the topic. Many are straightforward. There are 30-35 free response questions that require 1-3 complete sentences. The final essay is 10 pages, but do not wait until the last minute to do it. It is straightforward and I actually enjoyed the essay topic that I got to choose. Grading was done by a TA but he goes over it and adjusts the grading. The majority of the class got a B or higher, and many complained about getting a B. It is UCLA, classes are not easy here in general and will require you to put in the effort, but that's how everyone got in in the first place. As a transfer student myself, I found this class great and I wish I could take another class with Professor Joseph.
During our midterm, the fire alarm went off for approximately a minute and did not require us to evacuate because it was caused by the construction in the building. It went off again for like 10 seconds right after the first one had finished, but honestly, that was not much of a disturbance during the exam. On the day of the final, our exam began at 8 am and yeah the fire alarm was going off constantly between 7-7:50, but not throughout the exam. People used the fire alarms for the midterm to complain that it had completely thrown them off and many people jumped on that to state that the professor should give us extra credit. The professor stated that this would be unfair to others who did work for their grade, and even later when he did offer extra credit for being able to answer a question from the reading, only 1 student in the whole class could do it (also reading isn't required but it is interesting). He is very generous with answering questions.

I had a great experience in this class and the review written on June 18th is grossly exaggerated with hints of truth. Although I would appreciate the slides being available and the lectures being recorded, this class was just not set up like that. There are readings assigned but, you are not tested on them. Prof. Joseph only asks questions that pertain to the material he has presented. I too was not happy with my midterm grade (added two weeks into class) but It would have been highly inappropriate to vent to the whole class about it. Some group members did not have the emotional intelligence to censor themselves and share their grievances in a productive and professional manner. I thought the final paper and final exam were VERY generously graded. The grade and notes for the final paper were not reported in Canvas but they are on MyUCLA/Classes/Exam and homework grades. Overall, Professor Joseph is a very engaging and welcoming professor who is an expert in the field and I would absolutely recommend his class to others. In other words, go ahead and sign up for his class.

where do i begin? i have an extremely hard time believing the last 2 reviews are legitimate. his class this quarter was a nightmare. as a straight A student for the past 3 years, i was in danger of a fail in his class. the midterm and final are 30-35 free response questions and rather than pulling from relevant information, they ask you for things like dates and names. upon people complaining about their C’s and D’s in groupme, he went off on a tangent in class about how that was “bullying him” and “threatening his reputation”, and played the victim.

the “study guides” he gives are simply a list of topics that are so broad that you have no idea what to know about any of them. his “lectures” are slides that he doesn’t post online nor let you take photos of, and only consist of a few words per bullet point…leaving your “notes” to be senseless. so essentially, you spend all of class quickly writing down all of his bullet points, and they don’t even do you any good.

during the midterm and final, fire alarms were going off the whole time and what did he do? he plugged his ears during the midterm, and listened to headphones during the final…and clearly on a volume loud enough that he was not respondent to students trying to ask him questions. not only all that, but the room was so hot during the final that i could hardly focus through my perspiration.

you don’t even know who the grader is so there is no TA to talk to about any of it. additionally, he had us write a 10 page paper that he never even ended up grading.

save your time and sanity by avoiding this class at all costs.

I have absolutely no religious background, but really enjoyed Professor Joseph's lectures. Huge paper due at the end of the course. Discussions online. A lot of IDs to memorize. Midterm and final are tough, but I think he's a fair grader.

Professor Simon is an amazing lecturer! He was passionate about the history of religion and made the lectures engaging. In order to succeed in this class, you need to go to the lectures because he will not post the lecture slides for you to view at your own leisure, so make sure to take good notes and pay attention. He provides readings for the course (I didn't read any of them since I had other classes and work) and he may ask questions about the readings on the exams. However, I did fine in the class even though I missed a couple questions. He has you write a paper at the end of the course, give yourself plenty of time to do it! It is easy to procrastinate, start early on this and it shouldn't be too much of a hustle. Finally, if you have any questions, Professor Simon is very accommodating. During office hours he supported many students who were having trouble with the final paper. This class really makes you think about the impact of religion in our political system. Is America a Christian Nation?

Easy A class. Professor Simon will provide study guide for the midterm and final. The exams are heavily based on the lectures and the study guide. This class also has a final project which is at least 10 pages long but Professor Simon was super helpful. You can ask him anything about the project.