I took Anthro 33 Spring Quarter 2001.

Character

She talks sooooooooooooo fast. She can probably digress, tell an anecdote, make 50 remarks before she stops to breath. Okay so I'm exaggerating. Prof Echeverria has a lot of energy, and wants everyone to sit as close as possible to the front. She makes the effort to memorize names and she does get it right half the time. She's not a comedian, but she's high on adrenaline, and that's enough to brighten your day (in theory).

Lecture style

Before each lecture she has handouts for everyone (most of the time). It is basically an outline of critical concepts and ideas from the readings you have done the night before. She places EXTREME emphasis on having the material read because she wants many people to participate in class (a la raising your hand), and it's pretty hard to understand what's going on without reading the book (although you can still pick up a few things via handout). She encourages participation, even if you're wrong, she doesn't care, and you shouldn't have to worry; she won't pick on you. The only time she picks on you is if you've dozed off in class and sit conveniently in her field of vision like I did.

Reading

Oh why! The course reader is thicker than my math book. *frown* And several of the readings are so verbose, particular one I forever shall remember: the horrorendously long-winded article by Jacqueline Urla. Prof Echeverria will do this to you.

Exams

She passes out review study guides before each exam, and you'll like this because the midterms and final questions come directly from the review. You're given a set of questions in which you get to decided which one to answer (not too shabby). Of course, they are the essay questions, and usually asks you to describe an anthropological concept backed up by several readings of different authors. *moans* You have one midterm and one final. The midterm covers the material from the first half of the quarter, and the final covers material from the second half, splitting readings you have to study (which is absurdly a lot anyway).

Projects

She assigns two group projects (that you can choose to do by yourself, although she doesn't condone it). They do require a lot of effort given the problem of having to find the perfect day to work on the project when everyone is free. So, be sure to keep the groups small. The assignment requirement isn't that much (a 5 page essay usually, double-spaced, single-side), but my group usually went overkill anyway.

Grade

Your grade is based on one midterm (15%), one final (25%), two projects (20% & 25%), participation (5%), and in-class writing assignments (10%).