This was probably the most "easy" catfished class I've ever taken. The professor was very off-topic the majority of the time, yapping about Yap, trying to relate it to the topics at hand, but would end up rambling about his time there. After the first few lectures, he just so happened to mention that some of the stuff relating to what he talked about in Yap would be somewhat relevant to the midterm and was never clear as to what specifically. He also said the slides he reads from would be important to mark down, slides he'd be going through at 100 mph and not even let some of us finish due to shortness of time. Time he'd waste yapping about Yap. He didn't post his slides OR record his lectures, which made it much more difficult and made it clear that in order to retrieve any information we missed, we'd have to go to him personally and review his slides. He had one midterm, 2 papers, and one final. He'd produce us a study guide for both exams, but simply a list of topics that we'd have to review from the notes taken by ourselves. The papers were pretty unorganized in terms of what they'd ask for and were never specific. When asking TAs for examples, they were very stingy in letting us read any past papers or a simple paragraph example. I'm sure no one would've been dumb enough to simply copy off an already used paper. Overall, I feel like for a typically "easy" class, this was unnecessarily overcomplicated.

Avoid this class if you can I think there are many easier GEs to take. The midterm was unnecessarily difficult, as lectures are not recorded, and it is hard to decipher what is important information and what isn't on the slides. He will go on tangents that are very unrelated to any of the material, which makes lectures unengaging and monotonous. Discussions are mandatory, and many of my friends in different sections complain about how much work their discussions are, but I was lucky to get an easier TA. There are two five-page essay assignments due with little to no instruction, and there is no rubric, so you don't even know what points you get off. Reading assignments are unfairly long so it is near impossible to fully read each text assigned without dedicating many hours. Avoid this class if you can, I'm sure if you are interested in anthropology there are many easier anthro classes to take.

Probably wouldn't take this class again. I would only recommend if you enjoy philosophy. The lectures are pretty intense, minimal information on the slides except for definitions of words and the slides are not posted. He is a pretty monotonous, boring speaker and goes on MANY tangents so you have to stay on your toes to make sure you're getting what's relevant. Readings are mandatory but minimally relevant. Textbooks are sometimes referenced in class but articles and other readings were rarely, if ever talked about. Section participation is 20% with weekly discussion questions submitted on the readings which are then discussed in section. Throop is pretty egotistical and loves to talk about his personal experiences in his 2 year field study in micronesia, although this class is supposed to introduce us to cultures and societies around the world, i now consider myself an expert in the culture of Yap, an island in micronesia. A solid portion of his lectures is him trauma dumping his past experiences or reliving his glory days. He had two writing assignments for this class, both were intensely vague in the prompt and left everyone slightly confused. at the very least, his exams are relatively easy! they pull a lot from the few slides he creates and from the readings. lots of "what was the authors position/main message/background in their piece ..." and simple definition questions, very little application of concepts. if you take notes and fill out the study guide you should be fine.