ANTH 3390

Before taking this class, I read reviews about how disorganized Professor Fraser and the class itself is. After taking the class, I couldn't agree more. Professor Fraser is brilliant and the concepts and readings we go over in class are very interesting. I will say I missed most of the classes this semester just because I personally could not follow along with her lecture style. Much of it is dissecting her brain as she is very knowledgable in the topic. The assignments throughout the semester are not hard as long as you do some of the readings. Her grading varies, but many times you can talk to her about an assignment and get your grade changed.

The material for this class is very interesting but the course itself is kind of disorganized. Everything is on canvas now and it was difficult to find what readings were required for class. The rubrics and description of what assignments were for class were also vague (no one really knew what she specifically wanted and we had to ask for clarification mult times). Prof. Fraser is very knowledgeable about what she talks about. There was no textbook just articles (1-2 readings that wer 15-40 page...) and you had to read and understand them if you want to do well on the exams. I'm not a fast reader so reading took like an hour. The exams were short definitions (sometimes mult choice) and essays and were based off the readings in class. The class itself was mostly discussion but she never forced anyone to speak. She sometimes did slideshow presentations but it was mostly reading off slides. It also took awhile to get grades back. I will say she's very accommodating to the students but that meant that the schedule for class was always changing. I honestly found just reading the material and doing the study guide she gave us for exams sufficient instead attending the class (by the end there wasn't may people who showed up...)

Grade breakdown: Group project (30 pt) - she also gives you time in class to complete, Midterm (20 pt), one 4-5pg Essay (25 pt), and Final (25 pt); She also gave extra credit if you submit notes for your classmates (2 pt)

Overall take the class if you're interested in the material and want something relatively low commitment, but don't expect lectures to be all that enriching. #tCFF23

The course lacks organization and is overall unpredictable. Fraser is a knowledgeable instructor and very approachable, but she admittedly was "unsure" about her assignment expectations when students requested clarification on many occasions. The materials provided were fascinating (no textbooks, just articles) and our class certainly had many enjoyable discussions. But Fraser is slow to grade, so we had no idea how we were doing in the class until the middle of November, and the vast majority of assignments were assigned during the last month of class. This course has so much potential and I did learn, but it was definitely a major point of anxiety for me and other students.