RELH 2090

Nemec has been amazing!! Your grade is based off discussion attendance/participation, the midterm exam, the midterm essay, and the final exam. The exams were 5 ID questions, 1 short answer, and 1 long essay each (but there would be a pool of questions yiu could select from for each section which was nice). My TA Abhy basically guarantees you at least an A- for following the structure and directions of the essays, and don’t use chat gpt because they WILL catch you. The midterm exam was super simple because all the questions were given to us in the study guide. I thought the final exam was a little harder but maybe that was my fault for not studying as hard as I did for the midterm, and the content of the second half of the course was not as straightforward as it was in the beginning. The midterm essay does take up a lot of time but Abhy gives super helpful feedback if you ask him for help along the way! Just get started on it early and don’t procrastinate. I never did any of the readings except for the Mahabharata bc of the midterm essay, and I was able to end with an A. I believe you should still come to lecture because Prof Nemec goes over certain verses and readings and you are expected to pull from them on the short answer/essay questions on the exams, plus he has super interesting life stories and he’s an amazing guy!! Get to know him outside of class too!!

TAKE THIS CLASS! It's the best one that I have taken at UVA so far!

Professor Nemec is the best professor at UVA in my opinion! You should take RELH 2090
(Hinduism) with him! He makes the lectures so engaging by simplifying the material at hand and he always encourages students to ask questions. I have gone to almost all his office hours because it is just stress-free. He is super friendly and accommodating. He has deep conversations during office hours on all kinds of topics with his students. He made me feel welcome every time and always asked me every day how I was doing. He does not want students to stick to a rigid point of view and instead asks them to branch out. He also is more than willing to take you out to lunch just to have meaningful conversations.

There is one midterm and one final for this class. He does not try to trick you and he even provides a study guide for the exams. Almost all the questions asked on the exams are from the study guide. The midterm essay should be at least 2500 words long, although it is tricky because you have to read a book (The Mahabharata) to do it, it is completely doable because he gives us about 3 weeks to do it. He even encourages us to take different points of view while tackling the essay.

The reading might look tedious for this class, but you don't need to do all of them. I would recommend reading the Gita and the Mahabharata because they are quite interesting stories.
The only con of this class is that the discussion sections are pointless because no material is covered in them. In the discussions, the TA asks students critical thinking questions. Rarely, material that is covered in the lectures or readings is gone over in the discussion. Although, I must say that the TA is a very fair and lenient grader.

Take this class if you are interested in religion or would want to fulfil a discipline(Historical Perspectives)!!

Absolutely goated class. Came in not knowing anything about Hinduism and expected it to be boring. Came out being blown away by how cool it is. Nemec is probably the best professor I have had at UVA and I 100% plan on taking more classes with him. He's down-to-earth, funny, and accommodating.

There are weekly readings but honestly you don't have to do all of them. What I 100% recommend reading however is the Mahabharata. It's genuinely such a fun read and a really engaging story. You have to write an essay on it so its good to read it to have all your info down. But just in general even if you we didnt have to write an essay on it I would still recommend reading it just because of how fun it is.

Other than the essay, there is a Midterm and a Final. There are a few identification terms, a short essay, and a long essay. Hes not trying to trick you at all with these exams, they are very straightforward and if you pay attention in class, youll do well.

Highly recommend taking this class at some point. Great professor, great class.

#tCFfall22

The class wasn't really difficult but a lot of reading. There are only 3 grades - midterm, paper, and a final. The tests both have 5 definitions, 1 short answer, and 1 long answer, which were graded fairly easy. The paper was a different story. Worked incredibly hard on this thing and was told by my TA (James) that it would be a B+, then did all his suggested edits + more and received and 85, which somehow drastically brought down my A which was super disappointing after going to every class/discussion/doing all the readings. It really depends on your TA, but this semester we all saw our TA's grade those papers pretty harshly. He gives handouts every class for you to fill out but you have to be listening carefully. No study guides this year, so what I personally did to prepare for the exam was rewatched the lectures and refresh on everything - which seemed to work because I got a 95+ on both. You are not just learning terms in this course but learning how to think about this information in a deeper way. I surprisingly enjoyed it and I'm interested in taking more religion courses now, but I am afraid of TAs lol. #tCF2020

This course has a lot of reading so be prepared for that! If you keep up with the readings and attend the lectures then you'll be fine. I will say that there were only three grades: the midterm, final, and essay, so make sure you prepare well for those assignments.

A1 Professor

Take this class with Nemec! It is one of the easiest classes I've taken and you learn a nice amount too. I used to do the readings in the beginning, but slowly stopped doing them because he talked about what he felt was important in class. I had Meghan as my TA and she was good because she would fill in any gaps that Professor Nemec missed in lecture. Nemec also has review sessions before the final and midterm which are very useful. Go to them! He answers any and every question and even hints at questions he will put on the test. There is one paper in this class you have to write but my TA helped me formulate my idea so it wasn't too hard to write. Pretty much everyone who puts in basic effort gets an A. Another great thing is that Nemec is truly passionate about India and Hinduism and has nice stories from when he was there. He is pretty funny and you can tell he's very chill and not there to trick you. Oh and if you can't get into the class, get a course action because he is open to signing those. Take this class!

Stupid class to be blunt. Going to class is useless because professor gets off topic so much and talks about whatever he wants to talk about. I never did the readings and went to class maybe about 5 times in total during the semester, but did fine on midterm and the essay. He gives you a study guide for both final and the midterm and all you have to do is fill it out and memorize everything on it the day before the exam. My TA was absolutely useless, but I heard Sam was great so try to get him if you can. Take this class if you want a class that requires almost no work. You probably won't learn anything though and might benefit from taking another class that's somewhat useful.

At the beginning of the semester I did the readings and then realized it was a waste of time because Nemec, who is a cool dude btw, really talks about whatever he wants in class but in the discussions you might benefit from doing some reading. The TA's are chill and mostly just go over what was in the readings. There is a midterm, an essay, and a final. Nemec gives study guides for the midterm and the final so even if you never go to class and don't do any readings you can pretty much google everything to fill it out. The midterm essay was pretty straight forward but you might have to read some of the books to get direct quotes. Basically the only crucial work is right before the midterm, writing the essay, and the final. If you want an easy class that you can learn some things about Hinduism with other people take this! aka take this with friends it's pretty fun

This class is definitely not difficult as compared to other religious studies courses and is a good intro class to take, but Professor Nemec doesn't use powerpoints or slides so he basically talks at you forever every day. He often trails off too so it's difficult to pay attention to, but the midterm and finals are pretty easy.

This is a great course for someone who is interested in religion, but does not want too difficult of a class. Nemec is a fun professor and this class is not too difficult if you study for the tests.

Namec is an awesome professor. The lectures are lively and Namec is very funny. I don't do any of the homework and don't own any of the books but still have a 100. Would definitely recommend!!!

Extremely easy class. I never did the readings and got a 100. I'm not joking. As long as you go to lecture and discussion you will be golden. There were two exams and one paper. My TA basically outline the paper for you in section. Nemec is one of the best professors at UVA.

Nemec is awesome. Great lecturer and mainly just talks about whatever the heck he wants to. The syllabus says two essays but he only makes you write one of them and it has to be 3-5 pages so pretty easy. Also, there's a lot of reading assigned but you really only need to read the Mahabharata and Flood's book, the rest of the reading he covers well enough for the two midterms. His midterms are easy too if you create a study guide from the template he gives you online! I definitely recommend and am a huge fan of Hinduism now.

Nemec is an awesome professor! He is extremely nice and understanding but he goes off topic a LOT. The class got boring halfway through the semester. This class does not take a lot of work. I went to lectures and didn't do any of the readings and I still got an A in the class. Definitely take this if you want an easy A and to fulfill a requirement.

This class was really interesting at first, but throughout the semester I got rather bored with it. The readings were good, but I always struggled to finish them and I feel like they weren't discussed enough in lecture. He does get off topic quite a lot in lecture, sometimes talking about something that has nothing to do with anything. I did learn a lot in the class though, and overall enjoyed it. I would recommend it for first years.

Nemec is fun for some, but not for me. He is scatterbrained, not good at time management, and gets off topic easily.

I would easily say only 30 minutes of the 50 minute lecture was used on instruction on any given day.

In class midterm and final, both very manageable. He gives you a review sheet and the exam will only use that material.

One 6-page paper with 5-7 very specific prompts to choose from. There was a second paper that was required, but which he later made optional.

If you know anything about Hinduism, you probably won't learn much more, but this is an okay class if you don't know the first thing about India. Would recommend for First Years, but NOT for Religious Studies majors.

John Nemec is so engaged in the subject, which makes him an enjoyable teacher to lisen to.

Great class! Nemec is super excited about the material and the readings are really interesting.

I thought I was going to get a B in the class, but ended up with an A without doing most of the readings. Papers are easy, as Adam didn't really grade them. Mid-term and final were a joke!
As far as the content goes, the class is VERY interesting. Professor Nemec is very knowledgeable, funny and entertaining at the same time. TAKE THIS CLASS!!!!

Great class. Nemek is really laid back. Just read the text (which are really interesting) and you yourself an A. Just study the study guides and your golden for the exam. And the exams are really easy. The essays can be tougher because you have to look inside the readings for evidence, but talk to Nemek and your TA's and they will help you lots. peace

Overall a pretty easy class that fulfills two annoying requirements in the college (Non-Western and Humanities). Professor Nemec is a pretty entertaining lecturer and does his best to bring down the primary source material to a level that most everyone can comprehend. This semester the 2nd Final Paper was made optional due to the TA's petitioning, which made life a lot easier. Two midterms, no Final, and generally pretty easy if you review the study guide he distributes and know all the terms. I'd recommend it for sure to anyone looking for an easy way to kill off some requirements, and for a pretty thought-provoking class about a highly misunderstood religion

This class was fun to take. However, actually learning about the material was difficult. Professor Nemec tends to ramble and often goes off topic for an extensive period of time. I also felt that we were inadequately prepared to take the exams. My TA (Adam) graded relatively harshly, even though I studied extensively for the exam.

I love this class and reccomend it to anyone, even if this isnt your major!!

Interesting lectures and subject matter. Although he can go off on tangents, they're normally pretty interesting. The majority of the material is pretty philosophically interesting and thought-provocative. The midterm exam and final exam were not that bad, but the midterm paper is graded pretty harshly. I wouldn't skip the readings, but don't worry too much if it flies over your head, the professor goes over the major points in lecture. Pretty accessible if you have questions.

i agree- this professor is a bit over hyped- sitting through the lectures, you can just feel his superiority and arrogance bouncing through. he did not turn in the grades until the day after new year- He DRASTICALLY changed the syllabus halfway through the semester- instead of 2 papers and one midterm and final, there was only one paper and 2 exams. So, the final counted 50% OF THE ENTIRE SEMESTER GRADE- and we did not get to see the exam and neither an opportunity to ask questions. The paper grading was arbitrary with the TA sometimes not being to explain why he took off points. But looking at the scope of material covered, this was a worthwhile couse, and I definitely learned a lot- so my advise- is before you take this- clarify the syllabus beforehand-.

Terrible professor. Arrogant and goes on emotional rants in class. He is an interesting lecturer, but extremely frustrating. Did not turn in course grades until at least after christmas. Never ended class on time. Haphazard grading policy- entirely depends on whether you get graded by the professor or TA.

Wonderful, wonderful class thanks to Professor Nemec. I would highly recommend it not only because you learn a lot about the religion, but a lot about life in general

Great lectures!

Great class to take! By far my most favorite! Nemec is easy-going and laid back and cares about his students...he's a great lecturer because he's lively and energetic in explaining the material. 100% recommended!

excellent class. i learned a lot without having to much work...go to lecture and you'll be fine. three assignments the whole semester: straight forward in class midterm, five page midterm paper, final similar to midterm in structure.

Nemec is the man. This guy is by far the most caring, concerned professor I have met at UVA. I spent about an hour in his office the first week, just shooting the sh*t. He is so laid back and not afraid to get to know his students' interests. The workload is not bad at all, depending on how much of it you do. If you have an interest in learning about the material, the reading is actually fun. Nemec is a big believer in primary sources, so you read very little boring commentary. All in all, it works out to about 2-4 hours of reading. I recommend this course to any- and everyone.

Nemec is the coolest catholic hinduism teacher i know.

Nemec is very excited about hinduism, and that rubs off on the students. He can be quite funny at times and makes the class really interesting.