ANTH 2800

The presentations in class are based on the readings. Do the readings and you will get an A.

It's a required class for archaeology majors, but it is really dry. you'll get more out of an archaeology class that focuses on a specific location.

Pretty boring class. Grade is based on one midterm, one final and various discussion assignments and the material isn't that hard to get through. Not difficult, but not interesting either. If you have no problem wading through lots of reading, you'll be fine.

This class is a broad overview of archaeology so it's great if you're looking into being a major/minor and aren't quite sure. This, of course, means the material can be a bit dry at times too but you do learn a lot and some of the concepts are fun. As long as you complete the readings and study you will be fine on both midterms and the final.

This class I thought was a joke, it was not. It became the second year, second semester's vain of of existence. LaViolette sounds like she has never taught before. Her lectures are irrelevant to the exams and are VERY boring. She mumbles and says "Uhm" so much I could barely focus on what she was actually saying - which was irrelevant anyway. The exams are from the textbook but she asks for stupid information.

A testament to how useless this class is as well as the professor is she gave an entire lecture on "grinding stones" .....enough said

I have never taken a more worthless class in my life. The professor was useless, she mumbled, every other word was "umm" and she was unable to keep her thoughts straight in her head. The classes were incredibly boring, and she didn't give us the final exam format until four hours beforehand. The material she went over in class did not match the reading and was not on the exams. The lectures were also boring and sleep inducing, and the homework did nothing to further the course. I dreaded attending this class and will never take a class with this professor again.

NO NO NO NO NO. Do not take this class. I assumed an intro to archaeology class would be fairly simple and straightforward but this class turned out to be the bane of my existence for the entire semester. The first midterm is easy and LaViolette actually emphasizes the important things so you had an idea of what the short answers would be but the true/false is still tricky. The second midterm, on the other hand, was AWFUL - the time range was enormous, her lectures went downhill and mostly consisted of pictures of pots and other artifacts that were not applicable to the exam whatsoever, and she did not emphasize anything in particular. She expected us to know completely irrelevant and obscure facts. The textbook is close to useless, and literally the LAST week of class she assigned us 2 books to read, both of which were the least educational books I've ever read for a class. One was just stories about a South African archaeologist and the other - I don't even know what it was about. The final seemed like it wouldn't be so bad because she gave us the essays ahead of time, but we had no choice on the essays for the final and she chose the hardest ones by FAR for the final, and she knew that many people hadn't had a chance to read the books or watch the movie she played on the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING BREAK. The short answers on this final were also incredibly random and specific. She seemed to forget it was an intro class and didn't give clear lectures to make the information concise and easy to understand - she mostly rambled about her own experiences. Unless you need this class for some reason, choose a different intro anthropology class.

The class really isnt that bad. She basically tells you what you need to know on her study guides, and as long as you do the textbook readings/other ones (even if its the night before) you'll be able to pull off a good grade. Make sure to read the two books she assigns at the end of the semester. Lectures can be pointless, a lot of people either didnt go or were just on facebook, but make sure you go through the power points on collab.

She is a terrible professor and you don't learn about Archaeology, you learn mainly about history. the exams are unnecessarily difficult and it is hard to get a good grade. DO NOT TAKE!!

Would not recommend this class. Archaeology is boring at best, and her lectures are rambling with slides. Picky grader.