CLASSIC 20
Discovering Romans
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Knowledge of Latin not required. Study of Roman life and culture from time of city's legendary foundations to end of classical antiquity. Readings focus on selections from works of ancient authors in translation. Lectures illustrated with images of art, architecture, and material culture. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I took this winter '22, so half of the quarter was online. The readings were a lot, but if you kept up with them, you were okay. The grading was split between short papers, quizzes (take-home, short answer, and a passage analysis), participation, and a final exam. Not my favorite classics course at UCLA; if you're looking for a GE, I'd recommend going with Classics 10 instead, but if you're a classics major, I would recommend you take it with Borst over any other professor.
Winter 2022 - I took this winter '22, so half of the quarter was online. The readings were a lot, but if you kept up with them, you were okay. The grading was split between short papers, quizzes (take-home, short answer, and a passage analysis), participation, and a final exam. Not my favorite classics course at UCLA; if you're looking for a GE, I'd recommend going with Classics 10 instead, but if you're a classics major, I would recommend you take it with Borst over any other professor.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - I would absolutely take this class again. Easy A+, easy GE. Due to my busy spring quarter, I was unfortunately not able to go to lecture and do my other classes well. I stopped attending lecture around week 3, barely watched the lectures online, and still got an A+. I wish I could've gone to lectures, they are funny and very interesting (coming from someone who hates history and Rome and everything like that with a passion). The professor is extremely kind, knowledgeable, and passionate about this material. It is essentially impossible to not get an A in this class if you try. Every lecture is recorded and put online. 5 quizzes each worth 5%, comment and essay 1 worth 20%, comment and essay 2 worth 20%, paper worth 20%, engagement worth 15%. Each quiz is online, opens Friday and closes Monday, has unlimited attempts, and tells you which questions you got wrong. Each essay is relatively simple and easy to do, you just have to sit down and do them. I highly recommend going back to past lectures, remembering what the prof. says, and using it. Engagement refers to discussion, which is incredibly use to participate in if you haven't read the readings. Note: there is a grace period for all WRITTEN assignment (comment and essay 1/2 and paper), meaning you can submit up to three days late with no penalty. Anything after that is 2% deduction for every day late. There is no word limit on these written assignments so I highly recommend going above and beyond to make sure you have enough analysis but double check with your specific TA. I had Jamir as my TA and he was incredibly helpful. There is no in person exam, quiz, or essay.
Spring 2025 - I would absolutely take this class again. Easy A+, easy GE. Due to my busy spring quarter, I was unfortunately not able to go to lecture and do my other classes well. I stopped attending lecture around week 3, barely watched the lectures online, and still got an A+. I wish I could've gone to lectures, they are funny and very interesting (coming from someone who hates history and Rome and everything like that with a passion). The professor is extremely kind, knowledgeable, and passionate about this material. It is essentially impossible to not get an A in this class if you try. Every lecture is recorded and put online. 5 quizzes each worth 5%, comment and essay 1 worth 20%, comment and essay 2 worth 20%, paper worth 20%, engagement worth 15%. Each quiz is online, opens Friday and closes Monday, has unlimited attempts, and tells you which questions you got wrong. Each essay is relatively simple and easy to do, you just have to sit down and do them. I highly recommend going back to past lectures, remembering what the prof. says, and using it. Engagement refers to discussion, which is incredibly use to participate in if you haven't read the readings. Note: there is a grace period for all WRITTEN assignment (comment and essay 1/2 and paper), meaning you can submit up to three days late with no penalty. Anything after that is 2% deduction for every day late. There is no word limit on these written assignments so I highly recommend going above and beyond to make sure you have enough analysis but double check with your specific TA. I had Jamir as my TA and he was incredibly helpful. There is no in person exam, quiz, or essay.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Dyck is awesome! I totally enjoyed attending his lecture for his Discovering the Romans class--of course, my interest in the material was pretty high. His lecture style is great--always as though he's telling some kind of story. Beware--note taking is beyond crucial in this course, even though it's just a GE. He gives you lots of terms and many reading assignments, but come time the Midterm and the Final, he gives a study guide telling you specifically which terms to study for, as well as the outline of the exam. Of course, your grade is really up to the TA, so I'd recommend going to Office hours for the paper to see what your TA is specifically looking for. But once you do that, and do the reading, you should do pretty good. Overall, a great GE class.
Professor Dyck is awesome! I totally enjoyed attending his lecture for his Discovering the Romans class--of course, my interest in the material was pretty high. His lecture style is great--always as though he's telling some kind of story. Beware--note taking is beyond crucial in this course, even though it's just a GE. He gives you lots of terms and many reading assignments, but come time the Midterm and the Final, he gives a study guide telling you specifically which terms to study for, as well as the outline of the exam. Of course, your grade is really up to the TA, so I'd recommend going to Office hours for the paper to see what your TA is specifically looking for. But once you do that, and do the reading, you should do pretty good. Overall, a great GE class.
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