RELC 1220

DR. SPITTLER IS AN AMAZING LECTURER! She's so relatable and her lectures are entertaining. I'm never bored. The class isn't too difficult if you put in some effort. TAs are super kind and approachable: shout out to Elizabeth :). Take this class.

This is an incredibly easy class. That being said, if you are someone who is interested in the Christian religion in a personal way, or you already are a Christian, don't take this class. Professor Spittler is nice, but really only tells a one-sided story of the Bible, making it seem kind of ridiculous. She basically advocates that the Bible is racist, sexist, and wacky. She comfortably mixes canonical and non-canonical texts, so parts about Jesus killing people (not in the Bible but in The Gospel of Thomas) are mixed in with actual Biblical text. So, PLEASE if you're curious about the faith don't take this class. If you're interested in the Bible only as another ancient myth, then it's very enjoyable. Writing assignments are easy but the criteria for grading is unclear.

This was by far one of the easiest class I've ever taken. All lectures were recorded and your whole grade consisted of one small writing assignment each week. Readings aren't really that necessary to do either as long as you listen to the lectures. You should still take the assignments seriously though because the TAs won't just give you 100% for completion. But there's no tests or curveballs.

This class was probably the easiest I've taken at UVA. Your grade is based on 12 assignments; there are no papers and no exams or quizzes. Lectures help you complete the assignments, but slides are also posted online. Spittler is a good lecturer and very kind-- she's interesting to listen to, and the content is actually pretty interesting sometimes. I went to maybe half the lectures and am getting an A for sure. The grading is done by TAs, so it depends on who you get, but their grading should be very easy as well. If you need a gen ed req or an integration elective for CS, or even just a GPA booster, definitely take this class. #tCFF23

50 minute lectures, discussion section is "asynchronous" but it doesn't exist as something you have to attend, it's just a TA grading your homework.

Grade consists of 12 homework assignments throughout the whole semester, that's it. Super easy and always less than 250 words of writing. Lecture is genuinely pretty interesting, and Professor Spittler is super passion and good at speaking. Some TAs are harsher graders than others, some of my friends always got 10/10's on their assignments.

You can easily never show up to class, never read the slides, never do the readings, and still end with an A. If you're looking for a GPA boost, or to fill a gen-ed requirement, take this class without any second thought.

#tCFF23

This was one of the easier classes I've taken at UVA. Your whole grade is comprised of 12 assignments, and there were a couple of opportunities to replace/drop the lowest assignment(s). Each homework was about 250 words max, so it honestly did not take that long to complete. There were many readings for this class, but you can honestly get away with skimming them or just going over the powerpoints (it really depended on the assignment for that week). Professor Spittler is also very passionate about the content which makes the lectures a little more interesting. Plus the class itself is only 50 minutes long with no weekly discussion sections. Overall, one of the best electives to take if you're looking for an easy-A! #tCFF23

Professor Spittler is the best! She's really knowledgeable on Early Christianity and is a really good lecturer. This course generally reads one book of the New Testament per class period (and also a lot of non-cannonical writings). Spittler then discusses it in class. I'd say the class is a good mix of religion-y analysis and historical analysis -- the questions aren't "did this happen?" or "what does this mean for theology?" but more "what does this tell us about early Christians?" or "who actually wrote this piece?" Spittler often has opinions but does a good job of recognizing other viewpoints and evidence. Each week there is a 300 word writing response you have to do. These take about 30 minutes and make up your entire grade, so it's a very low workload. I'd highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn more about Christianity in an academic setting. #tCFfall2022

This class was easy, however, your grade is based off of around twelve weekly written assignments about both canonical and non-canonical texts. The assignments typically took about thirty minutes to maybe an hour. There were some recommended, and sometimes required readings, however, I did not do them, and I still received an A in the class. There are no exams, quizzes or papers. Although, I do believe that your grade is highly dependent on your TA. Some TAs grade harsher than others, and may not provide feedback on why your points were deducted. Although I am not religious, I did particularly well in the course! I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who is looking for a GPA booster and or to fulfill your general requirements #tCFfall22

Professor Spittler is so nice and great at teaching! I loved this class, and with my previous knowledge of Christianity, I didn't have to do much reading other than the texts that weren't apart of the Bible that I had never read before. You only have one writing assignment per week, and they are very easy. The only thing I didn't like was that the TAs grade your assignment, and they sometimes don't explain very well why you lost points. I had to go to office hours a couple of times to discuss. But this class is an easy A.

Loved this class! Prof. Spittler is super nice and the class is very easy. You'll read through much of the canonical New Testament (but not all), lots of non-canonical texts, and get some background on early Christianity during those times. There are weekly written assignments that are pretty easy and that's it – no exams, quizzes or papers. Kerwin Holmes is a nice and helpful TA, although he'd often take off small amounts of points on the assignments and not say why, which I found annoying. But the grades were still good, so it's chill. Prof. Spittler obviously knows a lot about this material and is enthusiastic about it. I kind of wish I had trouble with the material so I could justify going to office hours! Definitely recommend this if you're at all interested in Christian history or the Bible or are just looking for an easy class.

As someone who is Christian, I thought this class was going to be very interesting because it would explain the backgrounds of non-canonical and canonical texts and allow analysis through a literary lens, which is a unique perspective. While this is essentially what we did in class, it seemed like there wasn't a lot of applicability or conclusion from reading and analyzing texs. For example, we would read apocryphal and canonical texts, and Prof. Spittler essentially lectures on her & scholarly interpretations of what the writings mean, or what styles might indicate. However, there isn't a next step- we learn what they mean, but we don't really learn how these texts practically contribute to greater Christian belief either in early Christianity or contemporary Christianity; it feels like we just learn snippets of what early Christians might have believed. For me, it felt incomplete because I wanted to know the "why", but if you're content with just learning the "what" behind these texts, then this class is for you. That being said, the class is structured in a very student-friendly way: you attend lectures, read (or can sometimes skim) the readings before lectures (usually 3-25 pages, 2x per week but oftentimes not that much at all), and then there are weekly assignments due Friday at midnight that include outside activities to prompt deeper thinking & comprehension of the material covered in lectures. There are no exams, and no final exam. Prof. Spittler is nice and down-to-earth.

This class was taken online during Covid, and it was entirely asynchronous. Video lectures were posted twice a week, and a weekly assignment (all of them pretty easy to complete and very short) was due each Friday. I would've preferred this class in person as Spittler is very knowledgeable about the topic and an engaging lecturer, but it did feel a bit boring at times because it was asynchronous.

She is an absolute must when she teaches it. Simple, Detailed, Intriguing. Weekly assignments and a grade booster. #tCFspring21

I took this class during COVID so it was online asynchronous. This was a very straightforward and easy class but I learned a lot and had fun with it. The format was weekly lectures, readings, and a weekly assignment (no exams!). I really enjoyed Dr. Spittler's lectures. She did a great job highlighting broad themes but also giving fun specifics. She is very understanding and even with 300 students, she seemed to really care that we were doing well and enjoying the class. I would recommend this class to anyone looking for a more laid-back class with an overview of canonical and noncanonical New Testament texts! #tCFspring21

Such a cool class to take for intro or non-religious studies majors. Although I took this class asynchronously, I really enjoyed Professor Spitler's lecture style. She made several adaptations to allow her students to succeed during the pandemic, and clearly enjoys hearing from and interacting with her students during office hours. The weekly assignments were largely creative, low maintenance, and enjoyable. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a fun, interesting and easy class!

This course is excellent. I could not recommend Professor Spittler and TA Jon enough. She just wants you to learn! I took this class in a COVID semester so we had a weekly writing assignment. These were super manageable. It's looking like I'll finish the class with an A. I would 100% recommend as a gen ed.

Take this class if you are looking to fulfill a gen-ed requirement. I can count on one hand how many of the readings I actually did and still was able to do well on all of the assignments. This class doesn't have any exams, just seven writing assignments, and of those seven you only need to do six since one is dropped. Spittler is a great professor and really listens to her students. As long as you show up for lecture (which is how you earn participation points) and attend your discussion, you should be more than fine.

This class is great if you want to pad your GPA without putting in any effort. In all fairness to Professor Spittler, she is incredibly knowledgeable about the New Testament and really nice/approachable, but her lectures were really, really dull (some people found them really interesting, but I thought they couldn't last longer). 10 percent of your grade is section participation, so just talk in class and develop a good connection with your TA and this should be 100; 20 percent of your grade is attendance, which is done on Socrative so you could totally be in your bed and still be counted as present (this should be 100, as well); and 70 percent of your grade is your average score on 5/6 writing assignments. For the writing assignments, she assigns 6 and drops the lowest score, so you really only have to do 5 (this semester she assigned 5, so I only did 4). The writing assignments themselves are super easy (approximately 250 words) and, depending on your TA, not even an issue in getting an A+. I have heard stories of really harsh TAs, but my TA (Andrew Taylor) graded really fairly and met with me outside of section to discuss my paper before I actually submitted it. I read probably 1 hour TOTAL, went to 5 lectures MAX, and wrote probably 1000 words for this class and ended up with an A (could've gotten an A+ if I had written the fifth paper b/c my first paper grade was a B). Again, TAKE THIS CLASS if you want an easy GPA boost.

A very easy class, but a little frustrating. Your whole grade is based off of a few writing assignments, which often have very little to do with the readings/class topics and have more to do with your discussion section. No incentive at all to go to class/read book. My TA was a little harsh grading, but not too bad. Class was often boring and had to pinch myself to stay awake some mornings. However, Ms Spittler is very approachable and extremely nice.

This class is awesome for so many reasons. Professor Spittler is really funny during lectures and is really good at connecting the material (which is thousands of years old) to college students and modern themes.
It brought a whole new perspective to the Bible/New Testament to me. It was so interesting.
Grading is entirely based on your TA (generally grade fairly/easily). HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

No tests, 4 250 word responses, 4 750 word responses. Attendance is not taken in lecture, readings aren't necessary except in reference to writing prompts. My easiest class, but annoying. Not tough from a christian prospective, mostly about casting doubt of scripture, authenticity, and authorship.

I would definitely recommend this course if you're looking for a relaxed class that guarantees you at least a B. The lectures are really unnecessary in my opinion. Most of the time you don't have to pay attention to what Spittler says in class because you aren't going to use what she says in your paper. There are no tests in this class, only three 750 word essays and a few 250 word responses. SHE DOES however randomly tell you to take out a piece of paper and write a simple response to a question during class which you turn in to your TAs as participation (proof you went to class). You can skip class really but I attended every class and just zoned out unless she told us to do a quick response. Very boring lecture but material is kind of interesting if you are interested in the bible. Try to get a chill TA, go to lectures so you don't miss her pop responses and you will do fine.

The professor is great! She knows what she's talking about. She definitely tries her best to make the class participate. As great as the class is, the grade is purely reflected of what your T.A. thinks of your assignment. I had a T.A. who did not want to read exactly what Spittler assigned. Even though I approached Spittler about this she did not help with the situation. I would compare what I wrote on my assignment with someone else in class to verify if our grades were valid and I would see that my T.A. would give me a lower grade for not getting the "right" answer (Spittler does not ask for the "right" answer, she asks for our own opinion) when my friend did not get marked off for writing her own opinion. Overall, the class grade depends on the T.A. you have.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this class, but it was definitely one of my favorite classes I took this semester. Professor Spittler is super chill and really tries to keep the class engaged, which is helped by the fact that she clearly knows and cares about what she's saying. Most days we would discuss the book that was assigned the night before and give it more context historically. The only work was a total of 9 short essays (5 250 words and 4 750 words) that you could usually do without even going to class and the final was optional, but most people didn't take it. All in all a really easy class with a great professor, and I would definitely recommend it.