RELG 2650

Took this fall 2023 and they changed the prof from Flores to Scherz and I hadn't heard anything about him. He's honestly a pretty good lecturer but sometimes the material can get kinda boring to sit through (not his fault though). He's knowledgeable on the material and didn't seem to be biased about any of the info he was teaching and gave mult perspectives.

The current breakdown: Participation: 20% (15% discussion, 5% External lecture - 1 page summary of what you learned) , Midterm: 25%, Paper and Case presentation: 30% (15% 4-5pg essay, 10% leading a discussion, 5% one page reflection of presentation), Final: 25%

I stopped doing the assigned readings (you don't really have to get the textbook b/c there were only like 3 readings you were "required" to read from there) b/c I found that going to lecture was sufficient to get the material. He doesn't record his lectures so you had to go to class to get notes (the slides for class were pretty vague sometimes). Exams were pretty easy if you study and he gives you a study guide of key terms and info you need for the exam (if you fill it out exams were so straightforward) and the exam itself was mult choice, short response definitions, and one short essay. The other half of the grade was discussions and leading the discussion is daunting but wasn't too bad because it was with 1-2 other people. Hopefully you get a good TA that doesn't grade too hard for your essay, reflection, and how you led the discussion (30% of your grade!)...The external lecture is also pretty easy and Scherz gives you multiple options throughout the semester on lectures you can watch (the one page summary is basically a grade booster).

100% would take this class if you need to fulfill a gen-ed, if you're prehealth, or you want an easy A with a class that doesn't take too much of your time!
#tCFF23

This course was very interesting and very easy. The lectures were always directly from the readings so it wasn't necessary to buy the textbook. There was one midterm and a final, for both of which we were provided with a study guide. The exams were on paper, but relatively easy if you studied the material that he told you to study. They were 10 multiple choice, 9-10 definitions, and a short essay. There is a discussion session each week, and the biggest assignment throughout the semester is one essay and leading a group discussion about an ethical case. As long as you participate in class and build a good relationship with your TA (who grades all of your work), you'll be totally fine. The biggest thing that messed people up during the exams was not knowing the names of certain authors paired with the ethical arguments they made, so definitely study those. #tCFF23

Overall this was a pretty easy class. The concepts are not difficult to understand, and Scherz only discusses very general philosophical or ethical issues--all very easy to grasp. If you have little background in ethics and want to see how ethics can apply in medicine, this is a great class to take. The midterm and final are also not difficult; Szherz will provide you with a document of all topics to study, so it's very clear what you're expected to know. His lectures can be a bit dry, but the concepts themselves are interesting. I find myself referring to the topics taught in this class in other classes. He assigns a lot of reading, but I eventually stopped doing all of the readings and still did exceedingly well on the midterm and final. The midterm and final do not include material that is in the readings; you only need to know the names of the people who discussed or came up with certain ethical frameworks/ideas.

This class is soo interesting! I highly recommend taking it, especially if you are wanting to have a career in health care. But even if not, the concepts are still really interesting and relevant for everyone. Scherz does a good job of covering different concepts in healthcare and how they pose ethical concerns/debates as well as highlighting each of the Abrahamic religions' perspective on the different topics. I will say that for Christianity, he really only speaks about the Catholic perspective, but still, with so much material to cover, it can be difficult to include a lot of detail. Discussion section was great because there was only one week where you would present a case study with a group and have to write a paper, the rest of the weeks were dedicated to you listening to the other case studies and asking questions-- so really chill. Lecture was interesting but also not MANDATORY. I definitely skipped a few and just went back and took notes on the slides, he really puts a lot in them which is nice. Exams were pretty easy if you knew the material -- no tricks or complex questions, either you knew the concepts or you didn't. Vocab is important. My favorite class at UVA so far, and easy to get an A! He's also a nice professor and the TAs were great.