I actually really liked this class. The workload is kinda heavy because you have to do a lot of readings in order to prepare for your discussion section, but if you dedicate about 2 hours to the readings each week, you'll be fine.
This professor does NOT post his slides so you have to go to every single lecture and sped write if you want all the information. He does not repeat anything and he does not slow down.
The tests are easy if you're good at memorizing. You need to know a LOT of exact dates, but he gives you a study guide with everything on the test a week or two before the exam. If you dedicate two full days to the information, you'll be fine.
There are two midterms, a 8-10 page essay, and a final. The midterms and finals are all in the same style but the essay is a pain. I love writing, but the prompt was kind of messy and not really fun. You'll need to dedicate about 2 full days to this essay depending on your writing skills I guess.

Gooood Luck!
SELLING:
$10 - David Phillips: Introduction to Western Civilizations: Ancient Civilizations to CA. A.D. 843 - Fall 2017 Edition
$8 - PLATO: The Last Days of Socrates by Penguin Classics
$8 - SOPHOCLES: The Theban Plays by Penguin Classics
$8 - The Epic Of Gilgamesh by Penguin Classics (translated by N. K. Sandars)
$3 - EINHARD AND NOTKER THE STAMMERER: Two Lives of Charlemagne by Penguin Classics
email me if interested: L*************

SELLING COURSE READER!
History 1A Course Reader: $15 (basically new)

if your interested feel free to email me
email: *************

loose leaf western experience $45

course reader $10

misc. books $5 each

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I AM SELLING MY COURSEPACKS AND SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKS FOR THIS COURSE. EMAIL ME AT *************

I really enjoyed this class! I’m definitely coming from a place of bias because I love ancient history, but the content and the structure of this class really worked for me. I never actually met Prof. Philips because I took this class asynchronously, but you can tell this guy knows what he’s talking about. He does a great job explaining the material and making connections that you might not notice.

You’ll be asked to buy a main textbook, two course packs, and a few supplemental books. Don’t get the textbook. You don’t need it, since everything mentioned in the reading is covered in the lectures. By not doing the textbook readings you’ll save yourself from a lot of unnecessary work. I would recommend getting both coursepacks, but for the supplemental books you could definitely get away with pdfs or ebooks.

If you’re willing to put in time to prep for tests and to read, you’ll do great in this class! It’s a fun GE and the material is pretty interesting.

Selling Course Materials!

History 1A Course Reader Material - $5

The Western Experience (10th Edition)- $25

The Last Days of Socrates- $5

Sophocles-The Theban Plays-$5

Two Lives of Charlemagne-$5

The Epic of Gilgamesh-$5

Readings in Ancient History -$45

Text **********

Extremely interesting class, Professor Phillips is an incredible orator!
I am selling all required readings for this course, feel free to email, text, or call!
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HIST 113B is my favorite class I've taken at UCLA. The content is super interesting and I found him to be a super engaging lecturer. This is not an easy class by any means though, there's a lot of reading and he expects you to know the class inside and out for both the midterm and final. If you're into ancient history, totally take this class!

Professor Philips teaches what is likely the most boring class you will ever take. I mean truly mind-numbing. That being said, it is also incredibly straightforward with no confusion whatsoever about what is to be expected of you.

Lectures are actually comically bad. He speaks a list of facts (names, dates, locations, etc.) at you for the full 50 minutes. There are no pauses, no breaks, and no questions. This is all done with no slides or any other aid to his speech. He does not slow down and he does not repeat things. If you didn't hear it the first time, tough. As for how to spell things in the ancient languages, good luck, he does not write anything down. I cant convey in text how boring these lectures are.

For exams, you are asked to produce the definitions of a few terms that he has covered in lecture as well as a short essay. A list of about 50 terms as well as 4 essay promps will be posted prior to the exam. The exams are a selection of a few of the terms and 2 of the essay prompts (you choose 1 to write). Because of this, all the exams are very easy if you can remember stuff well. Though, the terms are only covered in lecture and perhaps only covered with a few sentences. This means that, in order to have notes for all terms, you have to nearly transcribe the entire lecture. There is no good way to research terms outside of lecture, because he quizzes you on the dates and events that he talks about in lecture, which may be different than dates and events in other sources.

If you are ok with completely mindless copying of what he says during lectures, then the class is incredibly easy. The entire grade is 4 exams, discussion participation, and a final paper. The exams are as described above and are very easy if you can memorize things. There is assigned reading for discussion (and a lot of it), but you really don't have to do it. Just look up summaries online and you're fine, its sometimes covered in lecture as well. The final paper is like 9 pages, we were given 4 prompts and could choose 1. Its mostly based on the readings and some of the prompts had material that was just not covered in class at all.

The class is a very easy A if you are good at memorizing stuff, but is so damn boring that I would almost rather get a worse grade with a different prof.

Professor Philips teaches what is likely the most boring class you will ever take. I mean truly mind-numbing. That being said, it is also incredibly straightforward with no confusion whatsoever about what is to be expected of you.

Lectures are actually comically bad. He speaks a list of facts (names, dates, locations, etc.) at you for the full 50 minutes. There are no pauses, no breaks, and no questions. This is all done with no slides or any other aid to his speech. He does not slow down and he does not repeat things. If you didn't hear it the first time, tough. As for how to spell things in the ancient languages, good luck, he does not write anything down. I cant convey in text how boring these lectures are.

For exams, you are asked to produce the definitions of a few terms that he has covered in lecture as well as a short essay. A list of about 50 terms as well as 4 essay promps will be posted prior to the exam. The exams are a selection of a few of the terms and 2 of the essay prompts (you choose 1 to write). Because of this, all the exams are very easy if you can remember stuff well. Though, the terms are only covered in lecture and perhaps only covered with a few sentences. This means that, in order to have notes for all terms, you have to nearly transcribe the entire lecture. There is no good way to research terms outside of lecture, because he quizzes you on the dates and events that he talks about in lecture, which may be different than dates and events in other sources.

If you are ok with completely mindless copying of what he says during lectures, then the class is incredibly easy. The entire grade is 4 exams, discussion participation, and a final paper. The exams are as described above and are very easy if you can memorize things. There is assigned reading for discussion (and a lot of it), but you really don't have to do it. Just look up summaries online and you're fine, its sometimes covered in lecture as well. The final paper is like 9 pages, we were given 4 prompts and could choose 1. Its mostly based on the readings and some of the prompts had material that was just not covered in class at all.

The class is a very easy A if you are good at memorizing stuff, but is so damn boring that I would almost rather get a worse grade with a different prof.

i took this class my first quarter at UCLA to fulfill a GE and here are my main comments
- half of this class is about memorizing names and dates!!
- go to EVERY. SINGLE. LECTURE and type LITERALLY everything the professor says. everything you need to know is from his lectures and the smaller books (the main textbook is useless). he doesn’t record lectures and he doesn’t write anything on the board (the powerpoints are basically useless). TYPE WHAT YOU HEAR AND COMMAND F LATER!!
- The workload for this class is not bad until the midterms when you have to memorize names, dates, and accomplishments of 40-50 people and then prepare 4 essays from the short books you read.
- grading is 60% exams (20% for each of 30 exams), 20% term paper, and 20% participation.
- EXAMS: he will give you 40-50 people and you have to “identify them” (essentially their accomplishments, dates, location, etc). The he will give 4 essays and you have to outline them. then for the actual exam, he will give you 8 of the 40-50 people you memorized and you will choose 5 of them to write about (talk about a lot of extra work for no reason). then he will give 2 of the 4 essays and you pick 1 to write.
- professor is nice. he gives you an INSANE amount of info in a short period of time.
- i got an A so no complaints. Not an easy GE but not an awful GE either