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
1 of 3
AD
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.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - The professor is super understanding and clear with what she's looking for. For the essays, just say something along the lines of what she says in class and you'll be good. There are 5 quizzes, but they have unlimited attempts and time. There are 2 short "essays" and 1 final paper. Discussion for this class is also mandatory, but it lowkey wasn't that bad. I forgot I was taking this class most of the time and still got an A. Def take this class of you need the GE and want an easy A.
Spring 2025 - The professor is super understanding and clear with what she's looking for. For the essays, just say something along the lines of what she says in class and you'll be good. There are 5 quizzes, but they have unlimited attempts and time. There are 2 short "essays" and 1 final paper. Discussion for this class is also mandatory, but it lowkey wasn't that bad. I forgot I was taking this class most of the time and still got an A. Def take this class of you need the GE and want an easy A.
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.
1 of 3
