Professor
Bethany Simpson
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2017 - This was the hardest history class I've ever taken as a Senior history major. Not sure if it's because I previously didn't know anything about Ancient Egyptian history, but I took it to learn more about what seemed like an fun subject. The step-by-step weekly requirements on teaching us how to write a research paper was entirely unnecessary and a waste of everyone's time. The midterm and final were unnecessarily difficult, I had never heard of that many people getting D's on a history midterm before. The extra credit assignment was also ridiculous: "write a 5+ page paper and maybe we'll add up to 5 points on your midterm grade." Lectures were hard to follow, I never really knew what themes she was trying to convey, if we were going in chronological order, etc. My expectations were definitely not met, and I have worked hard for grades before so this wasn't just me being lazy trying to get an easy A.
Fall 2017 - This was the hardest history class I've ever taken as a Senior history major. Not sure if it's because I previously didn't know anything about Ancient Egyptian history, but I took it to learn more about what seemed like an fun subject. The step-by-step weekly requirements on teaching us how to write a research paper was entirely unnecessary and a waste of everyone's time. The midterm and final were unnecessarily difficult, I had never heard of that many people getting D's on a history midterm before. The extra credit assignment was also ridiculous: "write a 5+ page paper and maybe we'll add up to 5 points on your midterm grade." Lectures were hard to follow, I never really knew what themes she was trying to convey, if we were going in chronological order, etc. My expectations were definitely not met, and I have worked hard for grades before so this wasn't just me being lazy trying to get an easy A.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2018 - History M103B with Amr was such a great class! Amr provided excellent feedback, was extremely accessible via email and for office hours, and genuinely cared about my growth as a student. Thanks to Amr, I walked away from the class feeling enthusiastic about/invested in the material. Overall, it was a fun, engaging class, and I learned a lot!
Winter 2018 - History M103B with Amr was such a great class! Amr provided excellent feedback, was extremely accessible via email and for office hours, and genuinely cared about my growth as a student. Thanks to Amr, I walked away from the class feeling enthusiastic about/invested in the material. Overall, it was a fun, engaging class, and I learned a lot!
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Spring 2018 - In theory, this class should have been very informative and fun at the same time. Realistically, the class was informative, but Simpson expects her students to memorize every small detail for her midterm. The midterm was unnecessarily detail-oriented and hard, but the average was in the high 80's, so I guess it was just me rather than the class as a whole. Grade is based on a raw scale, so there is no curve (whether it may be good or bad for students). There are 2 essays in this class (one is 2000 words and the other is 3000 words). In my honest opinion, I probably could have gotten my point across in 1500 words for both essays, but found myself just adding simple fluff to meet the word limit. Finally, I want to add that this is a Philo GE. There is a reason why I have been putting off this GE for as long as I could. I really detest Philosophy, and I wanted to take this class to learn about the history of Ancient Egyptian Religion rather than exert my own opinions on an academic assignment. It was personally hard for me to really apply myself in a class in which I simply wanted to learn the history and nothing else. I've never received a B+ in a GE before, but honestly I'll take it for this class. I didn't read any of the required readings and wrote the essays in the night prior. Professor Simpson is what I would describe as a hit or miss professor. Some people love her; some people hate her personality and grading methods. Personally, I didn't like her. Her attitude was a bit brash and she was a bit snarky at times. She was an effective lecturer though, which is hard to find at UCLA these days. Final Note: Relign M132 and AN N EA M130 are the same class, so this review is for both of those courses.
Spring 2018 - In theory, this class should have been very informative and fun at the same time. Realistically, the class was informative, but Simpson expects her students to memorize every small detail for her midterm. The midterm was unnecessarily detail-oriented and hard, but the average was in the high 80's, so I guess it was just me rather than the class as a whole. Grade is based on a raw scale, so there is no curve (whether it may be good or bad for students). There are 2 essays in this class (one is 2000 words and the other is 3000 words). In my honest opinion, I probably could have gotten my point across in 1500 words for both essays, but found myself just adding simple fluff to meet the word limit. Finally, I want to add that this is a Philo GE. There is a reason why I have been putting off this GE for as long as I could. I really detest Philosophy, and I wanted to take this class to learn about the history of Ancient Egyptian Religion rather than exert my own opinions on an academic assignment. It was personally hard for me to really apply myself in a class in which I simply wanted to learn the history and nothing else. I've never received a B+ in a GE before, but honestly I'll take it for this class. I didn't read any of the required readings and wrote the essays in the night prior. Professor Simpson is what I would describe as a hit or miss professor. Some people love her; some people hate her personality and grading methods. Personally, I didn't like her. Her attitude was a bit brash and she was a bit snarky at times. She was an effective lecturer though, which is hard to find at UCLA these days. Final Note: Relign M132 and AN N EA M130 are the same class, so this review is for both of those courses.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2018 - In theory, this class should have been very informative and fun at the same time. Realistically, the class was informative, but Simpson expects her students to memorize every small detail for her midterm. The midterm was unnecessarily detail-oriented and hard, but the average was in the high 80's, so I guess it was just me rather than the class as a whole. Grade is based on a raw scale, so there is no curve (whether it may be good or bad for students). There are 2 essays in this class (one is 2000 words and the other is 3000 words). In my honest opinion, I probably could have gotten my point across in 1500 words for both essays, but found myself just adding simple fluff to meet the word limit. Finally, I want to add that this is a Philo GE. There is a reason why I have been putting off this GE for as long as I could. I really detest Philosophy, and I wanted to take this class to learn about the history of Ancient Egyptian Religion rather than exert my own opinions on an academic assignment. It was personally hard for me to really apply myself in a class in which I simply wanted to learn the history and nothing else. I've never received a B+ in a GE before, but honestly I'll take it for this class. I didn't read any of the required readings and wrote the essays in the night prior. Professor Simpson is what I would describe as a hit or miss professor. Some people love her; some people hate her personality and grading methods. Personally, I didn't like her. Her attitude was a bit brash and she was a bit snarky at times. She was an effective lecturer though, which is hard to find at UCLA these days. Final Note: Relign M132 and AN N EA M130 are the same class, so this review is for both of those courses.
Spring 2018 - In theory, this class should have been very informative and fun at the same time. Realistically, the class was informative, but Simpson expects her students to memorize every small detail for her midterm. The midterm was unnecessarily detail-oriented and hard, but the average was in the high 80's, so I guess it was just me rather than the class as a whole. Grade is based on a raw scale, so there is no curve (whether it may be good or bad for students). There are 2 essays in this class (one is 2000 words and the other is 3000 words). In my honest opinion, I probably could have gotten my point across in 1500 words for both essays, but found myself just adding simple fluff to meet the word limit. Finally, I want to add that this is a Philo GE. There is a reason why I have been putting off this GE for as long as I could. I really detest Philosophy, and I wanted to take this class to learn about the history of Ancient Egyptian Religion rather than exert my own opinions on an academic assignment. It was personally hard for me to really apply myself in a class in which I simply wanted to learn the history and nothing else. I've never received a B+ in a GE before, but honestly I'll take it for this class. I didn't read any of the required readings and wrote the essays in the night prior. Professor Simpson is what I would describe as a hit or miss professor. Some people love her; some people hate her personality and grading methods. Personally, I didn't like her. Her attitude was a bit brash and she was a bit snarky at times. She was an effective lecturer though, which is hard to find at UCLA these days. Final Note: Relign M132 and AN N EA M130 are the same class, so this review is for both of those courses.
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