Entire class is based off of a book that you definitely do not need to read. Only grade in this class is based on 2 writing assignments that consists of 2 short essays + 1 long essay each. As long as it looks like it wasn't half assed, you're guaranteed an A. Didn't go to more than 3 discussions or lectures, and got an A+. Easiest GE ever, highly recommend.

First day of class, the professor said you will get an A in the class if you submit the two assignments. The only assignments were 2 short papers based on the book were reading. Lecture attendance and discussion attendance is not mandatory so I never went. Lightest class ever. If you do go to lecture, it is heard to hear what he is saying because he doesn't have a microphone and he doesn't use slides, he just writes minimal bullet points on the board. Overall, easiest class I've ever taken, would highly recommend.

One of the easiest classes I have ever taken. There are literally only two assignments for the whole class and one of them was the midterm and the other was the final. It was a group of essays that was a total of 5 pages. Basically that means the entire semester I wrote a total of 10 pages and got an A overall. There is no participation grade for lecture or discussion and everything is based on Plato's Republic so you can literally just read the book and write the essays without attending class once. If you do attend lectures, the professor is very smart but obviously not good at communicating. However, you can't ask for a better class than this.

I would recommend you take this class if you need a low-effort GPA booster :) The class was graded very easily, as A.J. commits to giving you an A if you turn in his assignments and don't half-ass them. As long as you write your paper, show it to the TA for revision, and then submit - you will get an A.

Regarding the course content, this class centers around Plato's Republic. A.J. helps you dissect it every lecture, but since he doesn't use slides, it can feel unengaging at times - and that doesn't help, considering the inherent wordiness of Plato's prose. However, if you do *some* amount of reading in your free time + attend the TA discussion sections, you will get by fine.

Participation is not mandatory for the class, but you should still attend if his lectures work for you.

This class was really easy but kind of odd. Basically all you do is read and go through Plato's Republic (which you do not need to buy, a pdf is provided on bruinlearn) with 2 writing assignments (1 midterm and 1 final). The lectures are honestly really boring and not super helpful, and lots of people in the class stopped showing up. Prof Julius is super laid back and records the lectures, so you don't really need to go to class or discussion if you have better things to do. Attendance is not recorded. Your entire grade is based on just the 2 writing assignments, which are graded very loosely. Basically if you put in a good effort and turn it in on time, you get a 1 (aka an A) or the TA will just make you do it again. A very low-stakes class, basically pass-fail but with letter grades lol. However, despite the easiness, Plato's republic is a drag to get through as the language is super dense and doesn't make a ton of sense. Prof Julius goes through the book in lecture along with the sections you're supposed to be following along and reading, but his lectures are just him talking for an hour with no slides. He is a big rambler and never really finishes his sentences which gets annoying fast. If you zone out for 10 seconds you'll probably get lost since he is always jumping around topics. If you can write a decent paper on your thoughts on philosophy you'll be fine in the class. Overall, an easy A class, but not really that fun or interesting.

Professor Julius was nice and understanding. He was always understanding with students concerns outside and inside of class. He expressed his support with students who were involved in the events taking place on campus. I felt relieved when he told us not to worry when we were behind in lecture. His strengths include being understanding, supportive, and nice. However, I often felt lost in lecture because he did not use any presentation slides (he would just talk with the readings in front of him) or he did not have a microphone. It was difficult to follow along in what he was saying because I could not hear and he did not have a clear structure to what he was saying. I felt very lost because the readings were confusing and I relied heavily on my TA's discussion section because they had slides and did a good job breaking down the readings. I wish the professor began the beginning of the quarter with introducing himself and his goals for the class. I wish he had slides and offered information about the readings before we started reading because I did not know many terms in the readings or people mentioned. I feel that although he was nice and willing to help, his lectures were very confusing and he would often go on many tangents when he was lecturing. I feel that most of my peers felt that discussion sections with their TA's were more helpful to break down the readings. Overall, I think he was very nice and understanding of students concerns, I just feel that his teaching style is difficult to follow.

Because it's COVID, he graded all of our assignments on an A-scale, which wasn't hard at all. However, his lectures were choppy especially over zoom, which made it difficult to learn.

Probably the kindest professor I've had here. 10/10 would recommend!

Professor Julius really tried his best this quarter. I think he was having trouble with classes moving online, especially because his equipment was not working well so lectures were hard to hear. That being said, he was incredibly accommodating to the situation, giving an A- minimum for completing class assignments and making the third/final writing assignment optional (and an automatic A grade for that assignment). AJ is super nice and my TA, John, was also very understanding.

The class grade is made up of three writing assignments. For each one, you'll get three short answer prompts, and you pick two to answer in 1-2 paragraphs. Then you have about three long answer prompts, and you pick one to answer in 5-7 paragraphs. The assignments are based on the readings.

Readings were from Aristotle, Kant, Angela Davis, Frederick Douglass, Karl Marx, and a few others. I found the texts at the beginning of the class (mostly Aristotle and Kant) to be quite dry and a bit confusing as I've never taken a philosophy class before, but the readings got more interesting as the class went on.

Lectures were pretty disorganized and hard to follow, in my opinion. Discussion was optional. I ended up not going to lecture or discussion for the majority of the quarter, and listened to select parts of lectures to help me when the writing assignments came out. I didn't read any of the Kant, but still managed to get an A on both of the first writing assignments.

Overall, I think this class was pretty easy given the grading scheme, but not particularly interesting.

With AJ, it's important to keep in mind that this quarter had circumstances that were out of the ordinary. Although AJ's lectures were extremely roundabout, confusing, and not particularly fun, I think it is extremely fair to say that he absolutely cares for his students. He started off the quarter by saying that if you merely completed the 3 assignments for the quarter, the minimum grade that each student could receive is an A-. As the quarter went along, the readings grew increasingly applicable and fascinating. From learning about Aristotelian ethics to conceptions of freedom from Black authors, AJ did a great job with his selection of readings. In addition, as anti-racism protests expanded, I had emailed him demanding that his allyship become more than performative, and he was willing to listen and ask for how he can best support students. AJ might not be the best communicator of information, but his heart is absolutely in the right place. I have no regrets about taking this class. Even though I had to primarily self-study in order to digest the material, it was extremely manageable.