RELB 2715

This was the worst class of my semester. What was supposed to be a fun and easy introduction to Chinese religions turned into hours of reading and cluelessness. The absolute worst part was the reading. Unless you plan on giving up your life for this class there is no way you can read everything. Pretty much everyone I talked to couldn't complete the reading, which made it pretty hard to participate (a huge part of the grade). Whenever we got into groups we would literally just laugh at how none of us could complete the reading for the Xth week in a row. The exams were also about how well you could remember quotes from the ridiculous amount of reading.

If you are not Chinese or have a ton of prior experience with Chinese family experience then you won't do well in this class. Natasha is so focused on reading off her script and flowing through the slides so quickly (you have zero time to copy down notes or read the tiny paragraphs) that she doesn't realize no one is paying attention and only a select few (those whose parents told them about Chinese religions) are able to answer the questions.

This class was pretty slight and fairly interesting. I'm not big on religious studies, but I'd recommend this class. Go to the lecture twice a week and do at least half of the reading. Underline in the book since the professor checks it before in-class exam / essays. Most of this class is participation, with a good portion from the two exams and a book check. The readings are fairly short but some could reach 10 pages in the reader. As long as you talk in class and try to predict the exam essay question it's a walk in the park.