HIST 114A
History of Rome to Death of Caesar
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Designed for juniors/seniors. Emphasis on development of imperialism and on constitutional and social struggles of late republic. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - This man is wonderful. I take his class in the afternoon which is usually my nap time so i am almost always tired but his lectures are so interesting and so engaging. His lectures are like story time. He is a brilliant and wonderfully nice man however this is NOT AN EASY CLASS. There are hundreds of latin terms and names you need to know. It is hard to follow along in the class because ,like i mentioned before, it's story time and he does not always teach it chronologically and you get lost in the mass amounts of material. So many of my classmates are struggling right now, as am I. I do not know what I will end up with in the end, small chance of an A, probably a B but that is because i am working my ass off. Reading is a must, there are 4-5 books and i suggest u read all of it. I have learned so much but i am here to warn those that think taking a history class is an easier option- WRONG.
Fall 2016 - This man is wonderful. I take his class in the afternoon which is usually my nap time so i am almost always tired but his lectures are so interesting and so engaging. His lectures are like story time. He is a brilliant and wonderfully nice man however this is NOT AN EASY CLASS. There are hundreds of latin terms and names you need to know. It is hard to follow along in the class because ,like i mentioned before, it's story time and he does not always teach it chronologically and you get lost in the mass amounts of material. So many of my classmates are struggling right now, as am I. I do not know what I will end up with in the end, small chance of an A, probably a B but that is because i am working my ass off. Reading is a must, there are 4-5 books and i suggest u read all of it. I have learned so much but i am here to warn those that think taking a history class is an easier option- WRONG.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - History 114A with Larsen wasn't a terrible class but I definitely wouldn't retake it as an upper div elective, since there are many easier alternatives (check ANY film class). Getting an A in the class isn't impossible but it is tediously difficult and requires a lot of hours. I got a B with decent effort, not reading any of the assigned readings but skimming passages and analyzing wikipedia pages on the relevant topics. Larsen himself is an engaging and witty lecturer, but the mere difficulty of the grading and the density of the coursework should only be undertaken by the genuinely passionate history majors or Roman fanatics. If you are in the shoes that I was in, just looking for an easy upper div, I highly recommend you to look elsewhere.
Fall 2015 - History 114A with Larsen wasn't a terrible class but I definitely wouldn't retake it as an upper div elective, since there are many easier alternatives (check ANY film class). Getting an A in the class isn't impossible but it is tediously difficult and requires a lot of hours. I got a B with decent effort, not reading any of the assigned readings but skimming passages and analyzing wikipedia pages on the relevant topics. Larsen himself is an engaging and witty lecturer, but the mere difficulty of the grading and the density of the coursework should only be undertaken by the genuinely passionate history majors or Roman fanatics. If you are in the shoes that I was in, just looking for an easy upper div, I highly recommend you to look elsewhere.
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Most Helpful Review
I can't imagine why people are saying this class is difficult or that Prof. Phillips assigns too much work. In my opinion, he is an excellent professor. He speaks very clearly and makes the subject material very easy to follow. The grading system in this class is outlined much more clearly than in other history classes and most of the material is available in the books. With a little bit of work, it is very easy to get an A in this class, as he basically spells out EXACTLY what he is going to ask on the midterm and the final. The only tricky part in the class is memorizing the various dates, but that is hardly an impossible task.
I can't imagine why people are saying this class is difficult or that Prof. Phillips assigns too much work. In my opinion, he is an excellent professor. He speaks very clearly and makes the subject material very easy to follow. The grading system in this class is outlined much more clearly than in other history classes and most of the material is available in the books. With a little bit of work, it is very easy to get an A in this class, as he basically spells out EXACTLY what he is going to ask on the midterm and the final. The only tricky part in the class is memorizing the various dates, but that is hardly an impossible task.
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