It's just an interesting and easy GE. Professor Kirkland is a really interesting, engaging lecturer, and the readings were also fun to read. The tests were easy. Almost all of it was simple memorization, like key terms, object and passage identification, and, on the final, a simple map and long answer question.
My TA was actually Professor Kirkland, which might have been why I had such a good experience in this class. Getting to interact with him more closely in discussion was super cool and gave me a deeper understanding of topics we discussed in class. Also, he's a chill grader. I'm still riding that high from when he called me a good writer, and it's been months.
Grades are based on participation, two short and easy papers that give you a lot of freedom, a midterm, and a final.
If you're even a little interested in classics, take this class!

History isn't really my forte but this class is definitely well suited for those who don't like history but are okay with rote memorization. Aside from mandatory attendance in the discussion, coming to the lectures isn't that necessary as the exams consist of memorizing certain pictures and vocab words but all of them will be provided and you'll know exactly what to study. There are no surprises on the exams and everything about the course is very straightforward plus the prof is pretty cool and is very inviting and helpful during office hours. If you're willing to cram memorize before every exam and write two short papers, this class isn't that much work and is definitely easier than most.

Professor Kirkland is easily the best lecture professor I've ever had. Each of his lectures are through and well thought. Every sentence matters, he is incredibly engaging, and the lectures are quite inspiring. He also answers questions after class and is alway there during office hours for deeper dives into course materials. I highly recommend taking a course with him!

Kirkland is a very engaging lecturer and made the course material as interesting as it could be. However, as a GE this course has a rather heavy workload with around 80 pages of textbook reading for lecture and 60 pages of primary texts for discussion each week. Art history is an important component of this class (pottery, sculpture…), and there is an artifact identification portion of the exams. I would recommend this class only if you have a strong interest in Greek civilizations dating back to the Bronze Age (this isn't just on Athens and democracy) rather than a slight interest in greek mythology or are looking for an easy GE.

Lectures are engaging and the professor is very knowledge about the subject material. Occasionally parts of a lecture will be dry but it varies depending on your own interests. There is a good amount of reading assigned for the class from both textbooks and primary sources, however only the primary sources are really needed to do well. Tests are extremely straightforward and there are no curveballs. Professor Kirkland is a cool dude and learns the name of almost everyone who shows up to lecture consistently. Would recommend the class if you have any interest in the subject material at all, or want to actually learn something. However, if you solely want an easy GE, there are better options.

I loved taking this class with Professor Kirkland! He is a great lecturer and made things interesting. I can tell he really cares about his students. We had an option field trip to the Getty Villa too which was really fun! This class does require a little bit of work though, and discussion participation matters too. The exams do require some studying but as long as you put in a good couple hours you should pass easily.

Professor Kirkland is very passionate for the subject of the Greeks. You can tell that he is very interested in his lectures, and uses a lot of hand motions and changes in tone to make the presentation more lively. However, his lectures often utilize a lot of primary source texts, which can often be confusing for some. Throughout the class, there is a moderate amount of reading required (although textbook reading is required, I did not really read it). Primary source readings are a must for each week's discussion, and they can sometimes be long and boring. Nevertheless, the workload is light (2 essays, a midterm, and a final) and the exams are pretty much memorization of Greek terms and images and recognizing passages. Overall, the grading in this class is pretty easy and the professor is a great person. Not sure if I would take the class again though because I am not very passionate for the subject.

Professor Kirkland is a very passionate and engaging lecturer, and those were definitely my favorite part of the class. He puts a lot of work into the slides, and tells you everything you need to know for the exams (which were memorizing terms, images, and reading excerpts, plus an essay on the final with the prompts given in advance). There is a quite a bit of reading, but there was a lot of thought in the pacing so the workload was lighter when there was more for other classes. I talked to him quite a bit after class and in office hours, and I always came away knowing more about the Greeks and more curious to 'discover' them. Discussions are just talking about the reading, but will actually have to do the primary readings. This was my favorite class this quarter and I learned about so many different topics. If you might be interested in history, classics, philosophy, art, poetry, human condition, etc. I highly recommend it!

This was my favorite class this quarter. I really enjoyed learning about ancient Greece, and I believe that the things I learned in this class will stick with me even after its end. The professor is so cool, he's incredibly knowledgeable and fun to talk to. The lectures often contain really interesting stuff, and Professor Kirkland is clearly enthusiastic about the subject. The things you learn about include works like The Iliad, but also things like Herodotus' Histories.
The class is not super hard, although it really depends on how much work you're willing to put in and how interested you are in the class. I came in with some interest in the topic, but if you have no interest whatsoever this class might be a pain in the butt for you.
Grading consists of one short essay, one long essay, a midterm, and a final. The two essays were fun to write for me, because we get to choose the prompt, but unfortunately what TA you get will really influence your grade for these. My TA was a fair grader but I know other people whose TAs were more strict.
The midterm is memorizing vocabulary, identifying passages and analyzing them, and identifying images and analyzing them. Vocabulary is not that difficult, you have to give the definition, an example, and a time period (sounds hard, but a quizlet and some friends to study with will help you on this one). Vocab words are provided, but images are not, so it's a little harder. Again, look for quizlets online and study with friends. Passages are pretty easy to identify if you do the readings, and even if you don't do them, if you know the very basics and maybe read sparknotes apparently it's doable. The questions are never tricky, there are no surprises on any of the tests.
For the final, it's the same but additionally there's a timed essay. Prompts are given ahead of time, and there's so much time provided for the final that it's really not an issue.
Do you need to attend lectures? Not really, I attended them but it's really just to learn some extra stuff. They're recorded, but also not really on the test. If there's a topic you're interested in, you should attend so that you have ideas for the essay, but other than that you can get away with skipping.
Textbooks: The main textbook is only necessary for vocabulary, and you can find it online. However, there are a couple of books that I do recommend you buy. Essential Homer is a really, really good translation in my opinion and much easier to understand than any free ver. of Iliad or Odyssey that you can find online. I think I also bought the Greek Plays book as well as Essential Herodotus. The rest are provided or you can find online. I recommend doing the readings just so that you're not as stressed during the tests

This review is long and kinda rambly but in any case I really do recommend that you take the class if you're interested in ancient Greece. Yes, there's probably not gonna be as much Greek mythology as you'd like but there's a lot beyond mythology and I feel like I learned so much in this class. Professor Kirkland is really cool and I wish I figured that before it was already close to the end of the quarter. If he offers the Getty Villa trip next time, I suggest you go (even if it's close to final! I think it's worth it!)

Great professor! Extremely enthusiastic and engaging and just an all around great guy!

The course is quite easy because the tests often just need you to have memorised content. The content you need to memorise isn’t a whole lot and taking a week to study in advance for the test is enough to ace it. The final is ‘cumulative’ but leans heavily towards content after the midterm to the point that you can only review that content and still score 100 simply because all the tests give a pool of questions from which you choose which ones to answer. The two essays (500 words max and 1000 words respectively) are more difficult because it is up to your TA and from my experience their criteria is more ambiguous and thus it is less likely you can get an easy A on the essays.

The workload is definitely on the lighter side. Each week you need to do a reading (do them because passages will need to be identified on the tests) which only takes around 1hr - 1hr 15min. The textbook has readings too but it’s not actually on the tests. Apart from that preparing 1 week in advance for each test is more than enough and 2 essays spread throughout the quarter is also not a lot of work.

The workload