Easy to get an A. Tests are easy and he gives extra credit. I think he's moving though so no more of his as a teacher :( But shoutout to the TA Tommy Tran, he's pretty quirky/funny and makes sure you know what you need to know for the tests.

I always wanted to learn about Japanese history so I took this class and I really learned a lot! Professor Carter is super friendly and nice and his lectures are clear and organized.
To be honest, during the first few weeks I was quite bored because I only skimmed through the readings and did not really know what was going on. Right before the midterm I reread the book, actually understood the material and was quite fascinated by it.
After I took the midterm, I realized you actually only need your class notes to ace the test (He is an extremely fair guy, no surprises). But I was still glad I read the book because I learned so much about each period and their cultures. However, for the second part of the class (after midterm), I would recommend just focusing on his lecture notes, because the book provides a lot of unnecessary info and names that you don't need to worry about (and are not as interesting).
As for the discussion sections, they are mandatory because you need to do the write-abouts. Basically you do the assign readings and answer a question that the TA poses. As long as you show the TA you actually did the reading you get a point. I would recommend writing down the title, author, date, and a short description of the weekly assigned reading as you read them, to save you some time when it comes to midterms and finals (text identification). Some of the readings are actually super interesting, a few were quite boring.
On midterm and final there is also image identification. He gives you three, you pick two to identify (if I remember correctly). It's actually quite easy to predict which ones he would test on, so I wouldn't worry too much on this part.
Overall it was a really great class I hope I can take Prof. Carter's class again!

Professor Carter is a really nice and knowledgeable professor. After taking this class I'm planning to take Buddhism with him next quarter. Participation is important to the class because there're pop quizzes(short write-about) in lecture and weekly write-about in each discussion. T.A Raiyah is really awesome as well.

Professor Carter is a wonderful professor for this course and always has well-organized lecture slides. If you take this class you cannot expect to not do any reading and get an A. It is basically a history course so the textbook becomes your best friend. Carter's exams were not extremely difficult but there is no curve in the class so you just have to do your best. Participation is important in discussion and made up at least 20% of your grade. There were also weekly "write abouts" where students would have to answer a question about the weekly readings in a kind of brain storm way. Overall, not a hard course but don't slack off on reading