Professor Barrett crams too much information into one lecture and is not really clear on the material that wil be on the test. He does know his stuff, and can explain it very well, theres just A LOT of information. The TAs help a lot but a great deal of outside work (basically reading) is required. He is a good teacher, but it IS a difficult class.

this class was seriously one of the harder classes, but that's probably because i didnt open the book till the day before the midterm and then again the day before the test. i got an A but that's cause i rock. no seriously though it was REALLY hard and i drove myself nuts studying ALL the material the night before. I have to be honest and say I went to lecture about 4 times all quarter, and I never read the lecture slides (which you can print out for free in the humanities computer labs.. ehh too much walking.)... the midterm and final were ALL essay, and i think i've acquired carpal tunnel syndrome, thanks a lot Barrett! but he's a cool guy to talk to outside of class

The material for this class was very interesting, I actually enjoyed reading the book. HOWEVER Prof. Barretr totally killed it. His lectures were so dull, all he did was repeat EXACTLY what we read the night before, only he didn't mention a lot of it and made it about 5 times more boring. I never once was able to stay awake for an entire lecture, and after a while I just stopped going. It was pointless. All I had to do was read the book and go to section and I still got a B+. The class had 400 people, and when I went to lecture the last day, there was probably only about 70 people there. Take Anthro 7, but not with Barrett.

I was looking forward to this course. Flipping through the textbook before the class began, I was eager to learn all the material. However, the lectures proved little more than summarizing the previous lecture and copying-and-pasting images, charts, and passages from the textbook onto the powerpoint slide. By reading most of the textbook, staying half-awake in discussions, and never attending lectures, I pulled off a B+. If I had finished reading the second half of the textbook, I would have easily obtained an A. The class grade is 10% discussion, 40% midterm, and 50% final. The midterm and final is free response and takes forever. The answers on his answer key for the first midterm were very specific - he always insisted that we need not write more than a few sentences to answer each question, but most students wrote as much as possible, hoping to get a few points for the specific answer he was looking for.

I was very disappointed with this class. Professor Joan Silk co-wrote the textbook, and I believe that in taking her class you would gain valuable insight on the concepts presented in the book, unlike in Prof. Barrett's class.

don't ask me how, but i got a fail on the midterm and came up on a B in the class! i agree, barrett can definitely use improvement on the way he presents the material. i don't think i stayed awake even for one lecture, which is sad because evolution actually makes an interesting topic when you think about it. but overall, he's a nice guy and very approachable. just go to discussions and study the concepts and you'll be fine.

I was actually enthusiastic about Anthro 7, but then my enthusiasm diminished shortly after I started attending lectures. Barrett was great at paraphrasing the book, but that's about all he did. Chapter by chapter, everything was repeated, and it was pretty sad because halfway through the class, people would always get up and leave. The rest slumped down in their chairs and dozed off. I feel kind of bad, but Barrett really needs to work on his presentation skills. He lacks the speech skills needed to keep students focused. If you decide to take the class, take it with SILK if possible--she co-wrote the text, so that may be a definite advantage. Barrett may be a great guy, but his presentation strategies desperately need improvement.

Prof. Barrett is a great guy...he has great slides, yeah the problem is that he class seems never ending...it is really hard to try to stay awake in that class considering that you really don't need to take notes because the slides say it all. Read the book, and you will understand the concepts. I recommend this class. The tests are hard but they are not easy either...make sure you understand the concepts and you will do fine. Prepare yourself for a LONG final. That is something that I will never forget!

Dr. Barrett is a good lecturer. He has good slides and fair tests. I'd recommend taking his class.

Obviously I went on Prof review and was very excited to get such an supposedly outstanding teacher. However, I forgot to remember that what an anthro major sees as a great teacher is for me someone who is boring and not effective at all. The lectures were pure regurgitation of the book; he would just read off the words from the slides!!! That was unforgivable. I and many others didn't go to class b/c what was the freaking point?!?! Studying for tests and actually learning something from class, would have been waaaaaaay easier if Barrett would just focus on the themes and concepts of the book instead of concentrating on what he was going to say in his next sentence. Since the final and midterm is about manipulating the concepts, Barrett should have focused more on that instead of going through his rote motions. It's obvious the guy is knowledgeable but he was so dead on stage and so static with the subject that I couldn't get into it. Being an English major, I need metaphors and flash, maybe even some wit to keep me interested. The subject itself was cool but Barrett was not. Warning: don't take him unless it's for your major. Also, anthro/psych majors have no sense of humor at all...yeah and also for T.A.s. John talks too fast, blonde dude talks too slow and Lisa talks too loud. However, they were all great and knowlegable-- just different communicating styles.