Professor
Thomas Wake
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - I have never written a review for any class or professor before, but Mr. Wake has officially changed that for me. This class is very bizarre, the lectures are a lot of rambling. He will tell us one thing and then do another. He is bad at answering emails and there are no TA's we can reach out to instead. His grading scheme is incredibly unclear, we never got any of our tests or quizzes back unless we went to his office. Not a single grade was uploaded on canvas so there was no way to gauge our progress throughout the quarter. I wouldn't be surprised if he had just assigned everyone a random letter grade as their final score for the class. I seriously would not recommend this class.
Winter 2024 - I have never written a review for any class or professor before, but Mr. Wake has officially changed that for me. This class is very bizarre, the lectures are a lot of rambling. He will tell us one thing and then do another. He is bad at answering emails and there are no TA's we can reach out to instead. His grading scheme is incredibly unclear, we never got any of our tests or quizzes back unless we went to his office. Not a single grade was uploaded on canvas so there was no way to gauge our progress throughout the quarter. I wouldn't be surprised if he had just assigned everyone a random letter grade as their final score for the class. I seriously would not recommend this class.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - Wake is the coolest professor ever. He assigns a ton of reading and his exams can be a lot of writing, but it's totally doable. First or second week of class, Wake busts out a bunch of frozen deer legs on the table for students to deflesh for their final projects. Using your hands to make tools or ornaments using the same technology as our ancestors was such a fun and immersive process. I highly recommend taking a class with Dr. Wake if you are at all interested in lithics.
Fall 2019 - Wake is the coolest professor ever. He assigns a ton of reading and his exams can be a lot of writing, but it's totally doable. First or second week of class, Wake busts out a bunch of frozen deer legs on the table for students to deflesh for their final projects. Using your hands to make tools or ornaments using the same technology as our ancestors was such a fun and immersive process. I highly recommend taking a class with Dr. Wake if you are at all interested in lithics.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - Professor Wake is one of the most amazing professors at UCLA. I've taken all of his courses, and they were a bit difficult to handle at first. The professor, however, does an excellent job of helping you along the way. Since this is a selected topics course, there are no more than 15 people in the class. Therefore, the professor gets very involved with his students. This is a hands-on learning experience that beats any lecture. I have learned more from his selected topics courses than any other Anthropology lectures. His tests are a little difficult, but if you are attending all the lectures and keeping up with the readings then you are in solid shape of getting a good grade. Dr. Wake is a brilliant man, and a gem to the Anthropology/Cotsen Archaeology department!
Spring 2017 - Professor Wake is one of the most amazing professors at UCLA. I've taken all of his courses, and they were a bit difficult to handle at first. The professor, however, does an excellent job of helping you along the way. Since this is a selected topics course, there are no more than 15 people in the class. Therefore, the professor gets very involved with his students. This is a hands-on learning experience that beats any lecture. I have learned more from his selected topics courses than any other Anthropology lectures. His tests are a little difficult, but if you are attending all the lectures and keeping up with the readings then you are in solid shape of getting a good grade. Dr. Wake is a brilliant man, and a gem to the Anthropology/Cotsen Archaeology department!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2017 - ARCH OF EXTINCTION - You will be memorizing over 150 scientific species names and the location of multiple countries, ecosystems, and other important places. You won't have a lot of notice for what to focus on. It's a lot of work for one class. If you have any interest in zooarchaeology, the megafauna of the Pleistocene, animal conservation, etc... you will be able to make this class interesting for yourself with some effort. It's just a lot of material, and he isn't the most accessible professor. He never answered emails from me or my classmates. He is very helpful in office hours though. He also does offer extra credit and he does give study guides, which is great!
Winter 2017 - ARCH OF EXTINCTION - You will be memorizing over 150 scientific species names and the location of multiple countries, ecosystems, and other important places. You won't have a lot of notice for what to focus on. It's a lot of work for one class. If you have any interest in zooarchaeology, the megafauna of the Pleistocene, animal conservation, etc... you will be able to make this class interesting for yourself with some effort. It's just a lot of material, and he isn't the most accessible professor. He never answered emails from me or my classmates. He is very helpful in office hours though. He also does offer extra credit and he does give study guides, which is great!
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