RELG 2300

Overall, I loved the course. For context, the class spends each week reading different theologians and thinkers addressing a moral and ethical dilemma from their religion's lens (Christian, Jewish, or Muslim). The first half of the class focused on personal dilemmas like lying, sex, and marriage, while the second half focused on larger societal problems like war, the death penalty, and evil. The class consists of a midterm (15%), a final (25%), two reading presentations (10%, 20%), pop-reading quizzes (10%), and in-class participation (20%). Each class was led by three students who did a presentation on the readings for the day, and then the class broke up and discussed the readings in small groups. Professor Mathewes would add to presentations and bring the class back together to talk about the implications of the readings in our day-to-day lives. Professor Mathewes is incredibly knowledgeable, and I loved every second of the class because it forced me to think about my relationship with the world around me and my own morals. That being said, most of us had to put a decent amount of work into the class. You have to do the readings, have to attend class, have to study for the exam. If you aren't willing to put some time into this class, you will find yourself in a bad spot. The reading quizzes were true or false, and I still found myself failing some despite actually doing the readings. (This shouldn't scare you away, though. I skimmed 1/3 of the readings, failed at least two reading quizzes, and still earned an A) To succeed in this class, you HAVE to talk about the readings to make sure you understand them. Professor Mathewes is incredibly accessible and able to meet with you in case you are confused or need extra support. He also offered tons of extra credit opportunities after the first midterm due to the lower scores.

Bottom line: this class will make you a better person. Don't take if you are expecting to show up and just earn an A though.

Mathewes really cares about his students and tries hard to make his class fun, meaningful and relevant. His lectures are sometimes hard to follow, and the class has a lot of readings for a 2000 level class. However, if you put in some effort and really think about the subject matter discussed in class - it is extremely interesting and rewarding. I believe that everyone needs to take a class like this during his/her time here.
Rebecca Levi is a quality TA. Really knows her stuff, cares about students, very available and helpful, no bullshit. Discussion has always been a blast.

Lectures rarely stay on topic and the exams test you on random knowledge including the ability to assign random quotes to unheard theologians.

Mathewes is a terrible professor. His lectures are rarely on topic and his attempts at humor and random outbursts of anger detract from the subject matter. He foolishly offered up an extra credit paper that would earn students an A+ if they completed it. When students were inevitably interested he altered the assignment multiple times without clear guidelines until finally most students were forced to take the final and were rewarded for 10-15 hours of preparation and writing with a 6% boost on the final instead of an A for the semester. Tests judge the ability of students to identify the random quotes of theologians whose work have made no significant contribution to their field or society. These theologians are largely unheard of and only a few sources are well known theologians such as Aquinas.
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS

Great TA - good readings and bad readings - hard to keep track of each author's viewpoint but that's the point of the class

Good class - very interesting and Professor Mathewes' lectures were pretty engaging. Covers a lot of material during lecture though, sometimes hard to keep up, but TAs are very helpful.

Good Professor. Have to do all the reading because there can be pop quizes in class any day. Grading all up to TAs, which can make it tricky. Also demand that essays be in specific format, which I didn't like.

Great class, very interesting readings (albeit alot of them). Professor Mathewes actually cares about his students -- a rarity in the university world. Multiple old practice exams are provided for midterms and finals.

This is an amazing class. Professor Mathewes is an engaging, entertaining, and knowledgeable professor, and the readings are genuinely interesting and enjoyable. You learn to become a better thinker and to gain new perspective on issues that we encounter everyday. This is an incredibly worthwhile class.

Way too much reading, if they cut it down the class would be much more enjoyable and worthwile