CLAS 2020

I was disappointed by this course! Having taken Latin in high school and at UVA, I was really excited to jump into Roman Civilization in a college setting, however I feel like we only scratched the surface here. I think my biggest disappointment with this class is that its not set up for the student to succeed. There are hours of readings each week which are very dense but have little relation to course ideas and these readings are necessary to participate in discussion. Participation in discussion is necessary and you have to do the readings to adequately participate. In my opinion, the lectures are not organized well a require a lot of outside-of-class time to connect all the ideas. The exams are long which is expected, they are just very picky. For writing assignments, you are graded on things not listed in the prompts or on things you are not asked which is insane! I know I also had a weird semester with Hays being out for a medical issue for an extended period of time, but I feel like this course is not set up for student success given that no adjustments were made with Hays out and it was on us to teach ourselves. #tCFS24

Really interesting class!! I took Latin in hs so I had some background in Roman history, but I still learned so much. Readings are long, but you can get by without doing all of them/just reading parts of it. Participation and attendance to discussion are part of your grade, but as long as you participate 1-2 times a class, you're good. You have 4 short papers (3 pages I think), and I recommend taking the feedback your TA into consideration because that's the only way you'll do well on them. Final was pretty hard and you have to memorize a lot of terms, but if you went to class often and did the readings, you should be fine. It's def one of the best classes I have taken at UVA!

Not sure why his name is listed here as Bradford. His name is Gregory. This was an awesome class. Hays is an amazing lecturer. The class is listed as a 75 minute lecture but he only lectures for 50 because you have a weekly discussion and the class is only 3 credits.
The class teaches alot about ancient Roman history, philosophy, government, economics, religion, and culture. It covers alot of material I'll admit but it's all fascinating. There's a mid-term, weekly journal entries (for completion), a paper, a participation in discussion grade, and a final. Also I had a really cute TA.
All in all I would recommend this class to anyone with some semblance of an interest.

This was an awesome class! Professor Hays is a great lecturer; he really made the material interesting. The reading isn't too bad, some weeks you will have 200 pages, but most weeks you will have less than 50. The paper wasn't too bad, and the weekly journal entries were super easy and basically a completion grade. I had Megan as my TA and I wouldn't recommend her, but she wasn't too bad. Overall I would highly recommend this class, especially because it fills a ton of requirements in the College!

I loved this class!!! You can tell Prof. Hays knows what he's talking about, and although one would expect the topic "Roman Civilization" to be very dry, he does a great job of keeping it interesting and relatable by linking ancient Roman society to contemporary society.

Grade distribution:
20% Midterm exam
25% 5-7 pp. paper (due April 8; topics and guidelines will be distributed later in the semester)
25% Final exam (cumulative, but emphasizing post-midterm material)
5% Section participation
20% Journal assignments (2 points each)
5% Quiz on use of sources (in section Feb. 7)

For the midterm & final exams, I got away with studying two days before -- and by studying, I mean cramming ALL of the reading + actually reviewing my lecture notes. It was definitely intense having to do half a semester's worth of reading within just a few days, but I liked it better that way because it was fresh in my mind for the test, which was helpful especially when having to identify random passages from the readings. The paper was suuuuper easy -- just go to your TA's office hours and get an idea of what THEY are looking for; they are the ones grading your paper after all. But yeah I wrote the paper within like 4 hours super hungover on the Sunday after Foxfield. Journal assignments are also really simple... just make a comment or two about what you (were supposed to have) read that week, and you'll get full credit.

Hope this helped!

Hays is a good professor and keeps the course material pretty interesting. He has a good sense of humor that can fly over the heads of some. Make sure to come to lecture, as it is very hard to make up for missing lectures unless you know someone in the class that can take notes for you. The work consists of a midterm 20%, paper 25%, final 25%, and discussion section that is worth around 25% with 20% being showing up to discussion and turning in weekly journals and the other 5% being participation. There is also 5% for a sources quiz which is easy so basically 30% of the grade is free points but the exams can be hard. Hays does not give a study guide and you cover a lot of material for this class so exam averages were generally around a 78-80.

Hays is a great professor! He's really funny and he makes the class interesting. There is a lot to read, but you can get away with cramming before the midterm and final. You also have to write an essay, but it's really not bad and they grade fairly. Chris Caterine is a great TA so you should definitely try to be in his class for discussion. You have to write a one page journal every week for discussion, but as long as you turn one in you get full credit so it's really easy. I would recommend taking this class I really liked it!!

The class depends entirely on who your T.A. is. Hays in an interesting lecturing with a good sense of humor so lectures really aren’t that bad. I got stuck with an AWFUL T.A. though. AT ALL COSTS avoid Erich Merkel. He is pretentious, ridiculous, and egotistical. His grading was insanely meticulous on the midterm and final, and he gave me a horrible grade on my paper with only one comment in the margins. He did not care about me or my position in the class, and even though I participated every single time in section, he still gave me an 80% in participation. Great lecturer, awful T.A. -- luck of the draw I guess.

VERY interesting and fun!

This class is very tedious. Unless you are REALLY interested in classic literature and Rome, do not take it. I took it to get college requirements out of the way and it was a mistake- pretty hard, VERY boring. You have brief writing assignments every week for discussion, a midterm, and a final. The final is terrible.

Awesome class. Wasn't interested in the subject but was still able to get an A with the awesome study guides that are given out. Paper was hard for me though.

If you're not into Roman history, this class is quite boring. If you don't sit in the first few rows you'll fall asleep, especially if it's an early class. I enjoyed the class but only because I was familiar with the topics and was interested in knowing more. My friends had some trouble staying awake though. I enjoyed the discussions and highly recommend Garvey.

As a classics major, it wasn't a tough class, though I know a few people who had issues with the concepts.