ANTH 2810

This class was one of the best I have taken so far at UVa. The subject is fascinating. Hantman can get off track really easily and could probably say everything he needs to in a fraction of the class period, but his enthusiasm and passion for the subject are adorable. There are assigned readings, but you can get away with not doing them. He sends out a study guide before each exam, which are very straight forward.

Like other have said, this is definitely science ended. The only other anthro class I've taken was 1010, but I feel like anthro classes don't typically involve a lot of brute memorization. The first 2 out of 3 exams are entirely brute memorization - like history IDs.
I really liked Hantman at the beginning; he has an adorably quirky sense of humor. But the man cannot stick to the topics that he expects us to know for the exams for his life. He is wildly tangential and spends roughly 60% of the class delving into irrelevant details, which puts most of the class to sleep. On the other hand, if you go to all the lectures, take notes, and thoroughly google the terms on the study guides he sends out (always last minute though), readings are not necessary to get in the A range on exams.
I guess I was kind of disappointed by this class because I thought we'd spend a lot of time talking about the evolution of language, art, and culture in humans, but it was very rushed, and a lot of it had to be learned through assigned videos/Google. The bulk of this class is memorizing the dead white men who founded evolutionary theory, and the details of the ~20 species in the hominid family tree. Easy A though.

Hantman is great guy! Very knowledgable and funny. He does get off track at times. The course is only made up of 3 grades which can be annoying but the first two are basically memorization. Pretty easy and nice course.

Great professor, but the course is a bit stretched out; it feels like the material could be condensed into just one month. There were three books to read throughout the course, but the majority of the reading was not helpful on the tests or for the overall understanding of the class.

Besides the long tangents, he goes off on, Hantman is a very good professor. Very passionate, knowledgeable, and, animated person. Course material is not difficult to understand. Possible to earn an A if you take good notes in lectures. You can still receive a good grade in the class without reading weekly readings/books. Be prepared for exam extended responses, by providing details and answering the specific question.

Professor Hantman is a great professor. The class is very much based on the readings, so as long as you get the readings done on time and attend the lectures, you'll do well in this course.