Never take this class with Natasha Heller. I signed up for this class after seeing the good ratings and reviews for Buddhism by Kurtis Schaeffer, thinking it would be the same this semester too. Little did I know that this class with Professor Heller would be 10x harder than his. The readings she assigns are ridiculously long, and you won't be able to finish them on time (she expects us to finish a 110-page reading within a few days btw). The tests are not standardized at all, and your grade is basically determined by which TA grades your test. So if you did well on your test but got an extreme ascetic monk TA grading your test, you're just cooked. Not only that, you get little to no feedback on your tests, so you have no way of knowing why you got points taken off, let alone know how to improve. To make it worse, she has the audacity to make an A in the class a 95.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Professor Heller's exams are extremely flawed, as the TA's and herself have such a high variance when it comes to what one exam might be graded. For instance, my friend did not study at all and got above a 90% on an exam. I got an 80%, and studied during spring break and since then for Exam 2, which is utterly ridiculous (~ 3 weeks of studying). I compared answers after exams came out, and my answers were objectively better. The lack of standardization between graders means that your grade is completely luck-based, as the exams are worth 60% of your grade. That means that if your TA isn't in a good mood, you could get significantly different exam scores. Also, the professor expects too highly of people, making people read 60 pages in less than 2 days, just for it to NOT be on the exam.. This is completely unreasonable, especially for an "introductory class to Buddhism." Are you kidding me? For details about the nature of the exams, she chooses random passages from random texts that were reviewed in lecture/discussion, and asks you to demonstrate your understanding of what is happening in the text. For those questioning whether I may be just less academically inclined, I studied for less than an hour for a computer science exam and got a 100% on the exam. This class should objectively be easier than a computer science class right? Especially since it's an "INTRODUCTORY CLASS...." Completely and utterly wrong. You will have to study for more than 6-7 hours a week, and even then you will get a 75% because you simply got the wrong TA/Professor to grade your exam.

This course has been the biggest trap of my first year career. I was looking for some "Easy A" classes and signed up for this one. I didn't think that the professor change this semester would've screwed with the average gpa that much but boy was I wrong. Not only does Heller not really teach that well, the amount of readings you're expected to do for this class is insane. None of the TA's except for maybe one are actual UVA students (just straight random late age dudes) but they grade with straight terrorism. They grade as if they get bonuses for giving out low grades. They stack around 300 tests in one pile and the professor and 6 ta's js take it and grade them. You can get lucky and get a TA grading your test that's feeling jolly and would slap a high grade on there. Whats worse is that they don't give feedback on you're tests. They underline some stuff, checkmark, and slap a score out of 10 on each prompt you write. No feedback, no good, no bad suggestions. No way to figure out what you did wrong or how you can be better on the next test. You can objectively write "better" information on your essay than your peers but it truly is a luck draw and your friend who writes less stuff than you can actually score better just from that TA grading your stuff. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH THIS TEACHER. you gotta take it with the other professor or just find a better easy discipline class. I'm fuming at the fact this class is a 95 minimum for an A, making only straight Bodhisattvas able to end an A in this class. Last time I give a new perspective for a chance.

Over the course of my academic career, few teachers have stunned me, appalled me, and questioned my reason for being a student. Natasha Heller is one of them. I am deeply disappointed in myself for choosing this course. The TAs do not know what they are doing, and the grading is truly a matter of luck of the draw.