This class is entirely dependent on the TA you have as the professor doesn’t grade anything. The study guides are helpful but I would say the grading is pretty subjective. Not a super easy GE but the workload isn’t bad.

I would not recommend taking this class especially as a STEM major. Very unclear and difficult for people without a religious background.

2 exams, 1 paper, discussion and lecture attendance mandatory. Professor Bakhos is evidently very passionate about religion, and is the type of professor who makes an effort to remember faces/names to interact with the students. With that being said, she does not record or post her lectures, although she does post her notes which are usually just pdfs with a bunch of text on it. The syllabus says attendance is mandatory but they only really took attendance like once. Her lectures are very unorganized, and I personally found it very difficult to follow the timeline or even discern what topic she was talking about as she jumped around a lot. Youtube history videos carried me, and quizlet flashcards did too (there's A LOT of vocab). Would highly recommend doing at least the biblical readings so that you have an idea what is going on during discussion because participation is required. The exam week 10, and then 4-5 page paper due on Tuesday during Finals week was rough. If you have a background in at least one of the 3 religions, you'll be okay, but if you have no religious background like me, this class will be very difficult.

this class is manageable~ meaning if you put in enough time to study the material of the three religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, you'll be fine. know that your grade is basically a midterm, a final, and the final paper, though.

though, it gets tricky at times because Professor Bakhos is not clear at times, but if you ask her on your own time, that would be helpful. she does use slides, but most of the content is in lectures where it's NOT recorded, so you should definitely come to class! also, professor bakhos is a very interactive professor; she'll remember you after the first or second lecture.

If you do not already have a religious background (grew up either Christain, Jewish, or Muslim) you will be sooo lost and this class is not an intro course. Her lectures were extremely unorganized, jumping from point to point. I was simply unable to keep up with any of her train of thought or points she made during the lecture. None of the lecture slides are posted online so there is really no way to go back and make sure you understood everything.

She assigns a ridiculous amount of reading every week and other than that there is no homework so all that ends up in the grade book is the midterm exam, final exam, final paper, and a small % of section attendance points. The exams are very confusing the study guides are pages of pages of random vocab (some of which isn't even covered). The exams are graded really harshly. I do not recommend this class if you arent either EXTREMELY self-motivated to learn about these religions or you already have a very sufficient understanding of at least one of these religions.