RELG 2210

material was interesting but an EXCESSIVE amount of busy work, 50+ assignments over the course of the semester as well as three papers that were called "short papers" but were 1500 words each - busy work is a ton of reading responses for every reading and discussions, poll everywhere questions everyday for attendance; took it for 2nd writing requirement because i didnt want to do a seminar and was the only lecture i could find. still would've rather done this than ENWR or a seminar but the busy work was excruciating - will edit when i get my final grade back

I've seen a lot of different reviews so I thought I'd give a more recent one for people who are taking it closer to now. This class is comprised of 3 essays (1400-1700 words, not bad if you're used to humanities like me), reading responses for every lecture, weekly discussion posts, and lecture questions. So 40% of the class is just participation, the other 60% are those essays. Grading is totally hit or miss. I'm an English major and expect high essay grades, and not to say mine weren't high, but that my TA was a bit of a harsh grader and provided almost no communication or feedback, especially on the second essay. Makes it very hard to improve in this class when the TAs aren't doing their actual work.

As an English major, I didn't think the reading was bad, but I'm used to reading a ton. Yes, it's about 30-50 pages per lecture, but I thought most of the readings were pretty insightful. As others have said, you can easily get away with reading just one page and bsing a reading response if you want to. I did have to do that when I had more work, but I did like most of the readings I actually read. It's an interesting class if you do the readings.

Jenkins is a nice guy but he uses too many buzzwords—as a person who is used to English profs, that's saying something—to the point where I'd look at my notes later and have no idea what he meant. And as I said before, TAs aren't great at communication, so I'd be unnecessarily confused most of the time. If that lecture doesn't sound like something you plan on writing about in one of your papers, just don't go and do the lecture responses from home. It'll save you a lot of time and confusion. All in all, I have mixed feelings about this class. It's an interesting class idea but has poor execution if you ask me so take that how you will.

Not a fun class, but I took it as a huge stem guy who is not a fan of the humanities at all. Reading responses are due every class with about 50 pages of reading; however, I got away with picking the shortest one, reading the first page, and making up some BS - they're completion grades as long as your responses are coherent and long enough, I doubt the TA's even read them. Discussion posts are due every week that there isn't an essay due, also pretty much completion as long as it's long enough and coherent.

Class lectures have participation credit via questions asked in lecture, but you can do them from home and they're usually opinion-based or T/F. There are three essays due during the semester (1400-1700 words) on a given prompt - 10%, 25%, and 25% each, with the other 40% being participation. Grades for these are based on your TA - I didn't do great on my second essay and I thought the grading was kind of unfair, but it is what it is.

Didn't love the class lectures, I thought that they were mostly full of buzzwords without saying much of real substance and the overview of the religions we covered outside of Christianity were kind of surface-level and not terribly accurate (at least in my own experience with the religion I grew up with). I wished we'd focused on Christianity less.

In summary, not my favorite class but a decent somewhat easy 2nd writing requirement. The 95% cutoff for an A is kind of stupid as it is for most CLAS classes. Professor Jenkins is clearly passionate about his work, and his lectures are decent but again full of buzzwords without much practical or actionable information. #tCFSpring2022

Best class and best professor at UVA! Jenkins is passionate and enthusiastic about the topics and readings for the week, and his attitude makes class more enjoyable than it already is. The grade is three papers, in class poll participation, and completion reading responses/discussion posts. 40 percent of the grade is purely completion, and the TAs were fair graders but were not great at communication. Each week, you learn how religion and traditions are intertwined into everything around you, and it forces you to stop and rethink your stances on many issues. Highly recommend to absolutely anyone, as it counts as multiple requirements such as second writing and a few disciplines. Please take this. #tCFspring2022

I was pleasantly surprised by this class. I mostly take STEM classes so I'm always wary of classes of this nature, but it was actually really interesting. The course goes over a ton of different environmental issues through different lenses based on specific religions or ideologies. There is a lot of reading, usually three per lecture and each anywhere from 10-50 pages. If the reading was short, I'd read it through, but the longer ones I'd skim or just read the introduction or conclusion. Reading responses were also due before each lecture, so you have to go through at least one reading in enough detail that you can write 200-300 words. There were also discussion posts which was the TA asking some open ended question and everyone posting their thoughts. That was also 200-300 words were generally based on something Professor Jenkins said in lecture. All of that was half the final grade and based on participation. The class doesn't have exams for the other half, but three essays of around 1500 words due throughout the course. The essays were also fairly open ended and you could write about pretty much anything as long as you could fit it into the prompt. Grading on the essay was pretty lenient (I got two A's and a B and I'm not a great writer) and the TAs are pretty understanding about extending deadlines a few days if something comes up. I enjoyed the class overall, though I'll be honest I didn't expect to, and it counts for a writing requirement so I get to check that off my list. Overall a decent class for anyone to take, regardless of background. Good luck :) #tCFspring2021

I took this class as a second writing requirement fulfillment and I actually ended up enjoying this class more than I thought I would! I found the lectures and readings to be very interesting and felt more knowledgeable about environmental problems and ethics in general. Professor Jenkins was a good lecturer and he structured the class in a asynchronous manner with weekly due dates which I enjoyed. 50% of your grade was basically 100% as long as you watched the lectures which had questions embedded and did the reading and discussion posts. The other 50% were 3 essays where the first was 10% and the other two were 20% of your grade. I found the prompts for the essays to be intriguing and not too hard to write about but I generally scored around a B to B+ on these essays. The essays weren’t graded as easily but you did essentially get 50% of your grade just as participation. #tCFspring2021

Professor Jenkins is an incredible lecturer that you can tell really knows his stuff. The papers in the class, which are the main graded assignment, are not too bad if you go and talk to the TAs about what they're looking for. Got a B+ on my first paper because I was off focus, but then got A+s on the others to end with an A in the class bc I went to talk about my outline w the TAs. Class is definitely worth taking if you have any interest in ways of thinking about the environment.

Definitely not an easy A because of the writing portions, but the subjects are so interesting and Jenkins does such a great job at explaining them that if you want to put in the effort, you can 100% get a good grade. Jenkins is so knowledgeable about these topics that his lectures can be very quick at times which is annoying when writing notes, but subjects are very interesting. Good class for 2nd writing req. or for major/minors, or if youre just interested in this subject and dont mind writing some papers.

Amazing course, probably my favorite at UVA. I will say the reading was tedious and the due dates of the assignments are quite inconvenient, but that is my only, very minor, complaint about the class. Jenkins is an incredible lecturer and transitioned phenomenally to the online format. You do have to attend every class, but this was no issue as I never wanted to miss a lecture, and this issue was pretty much eliminated once we began online stuff because you had 24 hours to watch and complete the tophat assignments. It was so eye-opening and really honed my methods for discussing environmental issues, as he presents almost every perspective you can imagine, allowing you to gain a comprehensive understanding/view of the subject

This class was truly eye-opening and fantastic for anyone interested in the environment/philosophy/religion. Definitely my favorite class I have taken. Jenkins is a great lecturer and really loves what he is teaching. There is quite a bit of writing: two 150 word reading responses and one 250-300 word discussion post each week. But all are for completion so if you do it before the deadline you get full credit. The reading assignments can seem like a lot, but you do not need to read all of it, just pick what seems interesting. There are 3 papers 1400-1700 words that are very manageable and open-ended, and the TAs grade them pretty easily. Highly recommend this class!

This is an ASTOUNDING class that helps you understand how religion and ethics have huge impacts on the way people view their environments and vice versa. Takes an approach to environmental/sustainability topics that is less science-y and more "how do we think and feel about these issues in our own unique ways?" Covers a large range of topics including climate change, animal rights, connection to nature, and several of the major world religions, connecting all of these things to different ethical frameworks. It's a bit hard to wrap your head around at first but it all fits together by the end of the semester. This class challenged my previous ways of thinking about environmental issues, because they are so much more than just the scientific facts. Professor Jenkins is incredibly wise and kind, and also very humorous and #relatable, and has been studying these topics for like two decades. There is a lot of weekly writing for this class (blog posts and discussions), but you get used to it and it's not too much at one time. The three papers are somewhat open-ended and I did well on all of them, as long as you clearly explain where you're going with it you will succeed.

This was my favorite class this semester and probably my favorite class that I've taken at UVA. As some of the other reviews have said, it was a lot of reading that you don't necessarily have to do to complete the reading responses that are due each class, but I still did them because they were interesting and engaging. As a result, although the reading responses before each class and the weekly online discussion initially seemed a little daunting, I found myself having so much to say that I'd be done with each in about 15 minutes. Professor Jenkins discusses lots of different viewpoints in his lectures which have been incredibly thought-provoking and made me not only reconsider so many of my own beliefs, but also strive to understand those of others. There were also several moments where I realized how narrowly I had been looking at environmental issues- the connections made between the environment, religion, and ethics are very eye-opening. Besides the reading responses and discussions, there are participation points (tracked through TopHat) and three short essays. I took this class as a requirement for the Global Sustainability major and to fulfill my second writing requirement, but I would highly recommend it even if you don't need it to fulfill anything. Jenkins is an amazing professor!

Phenomenal class. The work is very doable. Everyone here says that the readings are a lot but you don't have to do all of them in order to complete the responses due before lecture. It also helps that all the readings are very relevant and interesting to read. The essays are all fairly easy too - there are three in total, and about 5-6 pages double-spaced. All the topics in this course are thought-provoking and have made me reconsider a lot of what I stand for. It is challenging in the best way possible. 10/10 Jenkins you deserve a medal

This class was a looot of work. With that being said, it was by far my favorite class I have taken at UVA. Although the readings often took me about 4 hours to do in preparation for each class, I found most of them extremely interesting and eye-opening, so I didn't even mind. The class introduced me to so many concepts and I had never thought of before and changed the way I perceive the world. Overall, I would highly recommend this class if you are interested in the material and willing to spend a lot of time reading and writing. Jenkins is also an amazing, engaging lecturer and definitely one of the best professors I have had. Additionally, 50% of the class is just turning in short reading responses and tophat answers by their given due dates.

AN AMAZING CLASS! Professor Jenkins is one of the best professors I've had at UVA; he is incredibly passionate about what he teaches and a very engaging lecturer. There is kind of a lot of reading but it's not necessary to do all of it. Even if you're not interested in religious studies I highly recommend it.

If you are looking for an easy A class to fulfill the second writing requirement I would recommend this class hands down. Your grade consists of 3 essays which are 1700-2000 words each and are graded fairly, class attendance tracked via tophat, and discussion posts. Combined the essays are 40% of your grade and the remaining 60% is all participation based meaning if you do it, you will get a 100% on everything. Although Jenkins assigns 50+ pages of reading a class, by this point in college you should realize you don't need to read all of it. I would typically pick the shortest article and skim it before writing my discussion posts which you will get 100% on as long as you submit them on time. Coming into the class, I certainly didn't expect to be interested in the subject but Jenkins is a compelling lecturer so I didn't mind having to go to class. Overall, this is an easy class that I would recommend to anyone wanting to complete their 2nd writing req.

Starting off with the positives, the course has interesting lectures from time to time and great guest lecturers. Professor Jenkins clearly knows what he is talking about, and it is definitely not a completely boring class.
Now for the negatives:
The discussion posts and reading responses are dreadful, especially since they are due at such awful times.
I cannot understand for the life of me why the reading responses are due at midnight before the class starts as it has no effect on the class. Many students are busy throughout the day and closing the responses on midnight is not a good deadline for them.
Furthermore, the deadline for the discussion posts is put awkwardly on Saturday at 11 A.M.
This would be fine if they did not post these discussions post prompts at awkward times and make them due shortly after.
They should make these due by the class meeting time not awkwardly at midnight and Saturday morning as they are not being graded for content but for completion.
Furthermore, the readings are pretty long but I tend to skim over them rather than read it all.
As long as you get the general gist, you should be good for the readings.
The essays are pretty fairly graded, and I do not have a lot of complaints for them.
Overall, do not take this course unless you are interested in the material and you have an alarm clock constantly reminding you when to turn things in.

With one month still left in the course, I have written nearly 12,000 words. I will hit 15,000 words (50+ pages double spaced) before the semester ends. The workload is entirely superfluous, even for someone interested in the material, as I am. I am very interested in environmental ethics, but this was a bear of a class for no reason. I would not recommend taking it unless you have to, as it is an incredible amount of work even for a second writing requirement. For each class, Jenkins assigns ~50 pages of reading, which students must write 150-300 words responding to. After this happens twice per week, there is a mandatory online discussion post of 400-500 words that must be done between Thursday night and Saturday Morning (the absolute worst timeframe for mandatory weekly work). Then 3 times per semester, a 1700-2000 word paper is due. Class attendance is mandatory, and students only get 1 unexcused absence. This is the entire course, so just know what you are getting into.

This class is a requirement for the Global Studies Sustainability Major and speaking as one, this class was not as insightful as I expected it to be.
I thought the reviews were a bit over-exaggerating with the praise for Jenkins - he's a nice guy but I was pretty bored in class because it seemed to usually just summarize what we read about.
Moreover, the structure was disorganized when it came to religions because we always jumped back and forth between religions so we would end up repeating the same overall message about a religion after a few classes.
The essays are very flexible in which you just need to pick what readings you want to incorporate in them. They might say you don't need to use the class readings, BUT YOU DO - they do grade on your understanding of readings evident in your essays. They just give you a very broad prompt so you can mold your essay to fit the readings the way you want it. So you don't have to read all of them, you just need them for your essays. The readings for discussion posts are also very useful resources for essays. I got A's/A-'s on all my essays ended the class with an A having missed one of the discussion posts - so good way to knock out the second writing requirement.
The only struggle is that the essays are so broad that every essay kinda felt like I was writing the same thing, with a little bit of difference from the readings but same point about sustainability.

Each week you have 2 prompts due before class which require up to 300 words and each Saturday you have a 300-500 word discussion and this is all based on participation. You have generally 3-4 long passages to read for each class but I just skimmed through one and wrote about that, and then during the lecture Jenkins goes into depth about each but more so the more important passages. He's extremely intelligent and you can clearly tell he's passionate about religion but sometimes the material is a bit dry, but if you actually listen to every word he says, it's powerful. You have 3 essays throughout the semester each being roughly 7 pages in length and they're not too challenging if you did your readings throughout the semester. I had Patrick as my TA and I wouldn't recommend him unless you want your grades a month after your liking since most of the TAs all grade on roughly the same scale. It's not hard to get an A as long as you complete every assignment.

Professor Jenkins is one of the most eloquent professors I've ever had that made material that can be very theoretical, very accessible. 2 200 word responses + 1 300-500 word response per week and 3 term papers but all of the TAs grade very fairly. Would highly highly highly recommend this class, Professor Jenkins is really awesome!!

Every sentence that comes out of Proff Jenkins mouth is golden. His syntax is quite upgraded which sometimes makes the material hard to digest. During many classes I saw myself typing every single word he mentioned since it was THAT important. However, I later (too late I think) realized that it was better to understand and digest the material right there rather than reading my beautifully crafted yet vague notes. The weekly posts are interesting and selective reading is key since the course is reading heavy. The essay topics are flexible enough for anyone to choose their own path without feeling too restricted. I truly enjoyed the course and GO TO OFFICE HOURS!! although he may seem intimidating because of how brilliant and knowledgable he is on the topic, he is super approachable and really cool to talk to!! loved loved loved this course!! Jeremy was a fair grader and good TA.

This was a very interesting course and I highly recommend it for those looking to branch out into humanities. However, I will say that the readings get dense sometimes; you are assigned about 2-3 readings at a time that average about 40-50 pages but you really don't have to do ALL the readings. I found it better to understand one of the readings in depth rather than try to cover so many different ideas. If I had more time I would've definitely read it all.
Overall do recommend!

Prof Jenkins is smart and interesting, and the content is really great. The course is basically just readings, with 200-word response posts on collab due at midnight before every lecture and a 500 word discussion post every Friday. There are 3 papers throughout the semester. It's a great class!

I highly recommend this class!!! Professor Jenkins is a genius and he is an amazing speaker. The readings are very interesting, though a little dense sometimes, but that's expected when trying to think like an ethicist. But they definitely challenged you to think like you never have before- which was very cool for me. I don't think I ever spent more than 3 hours of homework a week, which is pretty good for a class that challenges your everyday type of thinking. Just readings before every class and a short response to the readings. Honestly, take this class because you will learn a lot, Prof. Jenkins will challenge your normal thinking, and because he's an amazing professor. That being said, I highly recommend going to class so you can actually understand what's going on in order to write good papers. Plus, I think lecture was worth going to every time. Five stars- a must take!

This was my favorite class of the semester by far. The homework was writing a short response on short readings the night before classes, and then posting a question you thought of after each lecture, all on Collab forums. Really simple; if you answered and it was relevant you got points. 4 essays over the semester, no exams.

Discussions were also supremely chill. You can get by with doing at least one of the readings, but I highly highly recommend doing them all if you have the time. They're always interesting and insightful, and sometimes the impression you'll get after just one is completely different from where the lecture will go. It's worth it to check them out.

Prof Jenkins is really great and really friendly. Take this or any other of his classes, he's a great lecturer.