EAST 1010

Grades are based off of discussion section participation/attendance, weekly quizzes, and a couple tests. Weekly quizzes and tests are all multiple choice, and all test questions come from past quizzes so if you basically memorize all the answers then you'll easily get 100s on them. Weekly quizzes open every Friday so you have the whole weekend to do them. They are 10 multiples choice questions from the 2 lectures you had during the week, and can be a bit confusing. I recommend going to the lectures (you don't really need to do the reading beforehand unless you want to) and literally typing out everything he says even if it makes no sense at the time, because the wording/terms he uses to make the quizzes are exactly the same as the ones he uses in class. Therefore, even if you don't understand the concept, you should write down how Prof Chen describes it, and then you are allowed to refer back to your notes while you take the quizzes (which are all online so you can take them from wherever). You can take a quiz once, then see all the correct answers to then take it a second time, and your scores are averaged. So if you get 5/10 on the first try then 10/10 the second (bc you then saw all the correct answers), your average will be a 7.5/10, and you usually wont even get as low as a 5/10 your first try.

Overall, the content is difficult, but it's easy to get an A. Prof Chen is really sweet and very passionate about everything he teaches.

This course explores the origin and beliefs surrounding a couple major schools of thought including Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, etc. It also dives into the influence that these schools of thought have on the development of culture and society in the countries of China, Japan, and Korea. Overall, I fairly enjoyed this course and found it to be very interesting. I took it during the Fall of 2021 and during that time Professor Chen had the class structured around four major tests. We also had a discussion section which was very helpful in breaking down the more complex concepts we had discussed in lectures. I have heard that Professor Chen has incorporated weekly reading quzzies as part of the new curriculum and expect to have a good amount of readings every week. I was able to get an A in the course without reading that much, but that's because I took very detailed notes during the lectures (basically every class was a test of my typing speed). To end off, I will say that Professor Chen really knows his stuff and loves sharing his knowledge with everyone. He is also an incredibly understanding person, and so don't feel nervous approaching him.

I took this course so I could minor in Chinese, and though I wouldn't call it an easy A it was definitely my easiest and most interesting class this semester. We covered concepts and philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, etc. in different East Asian countries. He doesn't take attendance in class and discussion was pretty much optional, but I always went to discussion and didn't really go to lectures, and still ended with an A. The readings are pretty much a requirement if you want to do well because that's what makes up the tests, but most of them are easy to understand and if you go to discussions it's hard to do poorly on the tests. If I got behind on readings, I would usually just put more time into studying right before the tests and always did well. Professor Chen is also super accommodating and truly listens to students feedback, so if you need help understanding a concept he always offers to help and even has extra credit opportunities if you need.

your gonna have to actually study alot of the tests (like 2-3 hrs for me), the 3-4 test's make up your entire grade. we did not take the 3rd one cause of the basketball championship which was nice, but its alot of work to prep for tests. generous extra credit policy (up to 3%). for the tests he gives a list of like 10 passages/texts on the study guide (each text is like 3 pages long) and he ends up choosing 4 of them (write the name/authour and 4 things bout the text).....but he only uses one paragraph from each text...so you better memorize what each one is or your screwed because it is hard to identify them sometimes, i ended with an A+....but its NOT an easy A, more like an "sort of attainable A". if you mess up one test then your pretty much screwed, i knew alot of guys that did bad on the the second test and it was impossible for them to get an A.

I have very mixed feelings about this course. Prof. Chen is one of the nicest professors at UVa, he clearly knows what he is talking about and he is extremely helpful. With that being said, the grade distribution for this course is a little misleading in the sense that it is really not an "easy A". I ended up doing well in the course, but I had to work much harder than I expected to. Many of the people who take the course are taking it for their major and/or have prior knowledge of many of the ideas discussed. The readings are often very dry and extremely abstract, and you must know them really well to do well on the tests. Don't take this course if you are expecting to be able to get an A without putting in much effort.

I will preface my review by saying this: I attended every lecture, stayed current on the readings, and received an A in this class, BUT do not be fooled by the grade distribution and all of the reviews that claim this class is an "easy A/A-," because it is not really that easy. Professor Chen is one of the nicest and most considerate professors I have ever had. He is a good lecturer and does a great job explaining the material. The workload is light as well (readings twice a week, 4 exams each 25% of the grade). To do well on the exams, however, you need to FULLY understand the material. I would spend an entire day (literally an entire day) before each exam, re-reading, reviewing, and attempting to decipher what each passage meant. The material covered in this class is NOT EASY, and the readings can sometimes make absolutely no sense whatsoever (Google "Explanation of the Supreme Polarity Diagram" by Zhou Dunyi and you will understand what I mean). While professor Chen does a good job of explaining these difficult readings and the concepts they contain in lecture, I found it extremely difficult to stay engaged enough to understand all the complexities at 8 am in the morning. It was a struggle for me to stay awake and focused each morning (and I am a morning person), let alone to understand everything professor Chen was lecturing about. I took this class with no prior knowledge on East Asia or any East Asian languages and that only makes this class harder, because you need to learn the meanings of several Chinese, Korean and Japanese terms, as well as remember the names of several authors. In short, while the lack of work and grade distribution may make this class look like an easy A, this class was relatively painful to get through. Not hard, but painful. Not an easy A, but one you do need to work for.

TL;DR: Do NOT take this class if you are looking for a plain and simple easy A/A-, UNLESS you have some prior knowledge of East Asia AND are able to be FULLY alert and engaged in an 8am lecture two days a week.

As a current student in this class who's taking it for a requirement, I have to say that it's very rewarding as long as you stay consistent on your work. There are two readings assigned each week, and each one of them shouldn't take more than an hour or two to complete if you don't get distracted. Prof. Chen does a great job of explaining the concepts and I generally do the readings after he's gone over them in class because it helps me narrow down what to focus on. As I said, it's a fairly easy class so long you keep up with the work, but if you start skipping (yes, it's an 8 AM) or neglecting your readings, you will struggle on the exams. I scored a 100 and a 98 on the first two by putting in around 3-4 hours for this class each week outside of lecture, but a friend of mine who admitted to skipping nearly all the classes and assigned readings got 70s. It's an easy A/A+, but like any other college class, you have to earn it.

Professor Chen is super approachable and kind! He sometimes started class with pictures of his cats or hedgehogs and it was the cutest thing lol but as someone who isn't majoring in anything related to this field (took it for requirement), I found the material really boring and had a hard time trying to be interested. He goes over the readings in class, and all four exams are based on the readings he assigns. He gives you a "study guide" aka list of possible texts that may be on the exam--found this super helpful and narrowed down what to study. If you go to lecture and listen to his interpretation of the texts, you will likely be fine! You can also get up to 3% extra credit.

Took the class to fulfill a requirement, and overall it was okay. Not my favorite class as someone interested in science, but Professor Chen is really nice and cool. You have 4 exams that are comprised of four examples of identifying and analyzing a text, so really not that hard if you study before and make sure you know the material. There are also a lot of opportunities for extra credit by going to the East Asia Center lectures, which makes this an easier A. There is a textbook you need to have access to the texts for the exams, but you don't have to read the texts before coming to class, as Prof. Chen will go over them. I would go to every class just to hear/write down his analysis of each text, but that's not necessary depending on the person. I'd recommend this class as an easy way to fulfill a requirement/if you're interested in East Asian cultures/literature.

I really enjoyed taking this class with Professor Chen. The material was a bit dry, but having him as a professor definitely affected my opinion of the class. He's a really nice guy that always has a positive attitude every class session. There are only 4 tests all semester and they're all based on quotes from the reading. As long as you can identify a document or person associated with a certain concept, you're golden. Also, he gives the class lots of opportunity for extra credit. I'd definitely recommend this class if you're looking for something a little less stressful.