I took this class as a pre-med physiology major, and loved every bit of it! As far as writing 2 requirements go, this course is the way to do it. You only have to write two papers- one literary analysis, and one research paper. For each paper you do a draft and a revision. There's also an in class midterm and in class final, which are easy! The readings are light (20-30 pages twice a week), but discussion is VERY mandatory. It's an easy A for a writing 2 class if you GO TO LECTURE (he will literally tell you what's on the exams, and sometimes give extra credit for being in lecture), and meet with your TA about the papers. This class is especially easy if you already have a religious background, the people who struggled came into it with no knowledge. There are weekly reading responses which are one page double spaced, and super easy points. Overall, a great class.

I have mixed feelings about this class. For one, I enjoyed the fact that I was able to learn about Jerusalem's history - especially its connection to the Bible and the way it is intertwined with the Christian faith. The class helped me see Jerusalem from the perspective of sacred space, an idea I had not considered before. Yet, this notion of sacred space was somewhat difficult to write about in the essays for this class. As a result, I found myself struggling to write the papers. My TA was good/helpful, but also a pretty challenging grader. Thus, I would only recommend this class if you're interested in learning about Jerusalem from a unique perspective and are willing to put in a lot of time to write the papers.

PLEASE save yourself and don't take this class. The TAs grade the essays so harshly, and lectures are painfully boring. There are two major essays, a midterm, a final, one/two weekly write-ups that are one/two pages based on the readings/bible verses. I understand writing 2 classes have a heavier course load, but this was just ridiculous. It helps if you are currently religious because half the class is basically Sunday school and you are memorizing bible verses, but if you atheist/agnostic etc. then I wouldn't recommend this course.

The professor was passionate. There were guest lecturers throughout the quarter (hit-or-miss). The midterm and final were doable, but study a few days before because there was a lot of material to cover.

It's an interesting topic to learn of. It is friendly towards people who are not familiar with Christianity and Judaism. It is a little less friendly for the most of us who are not familiar with the geography in the Middle East. While geography isn't tested on, Smoaks refers to land around Jerusalem during lecture in a way that implies we should know about the geography. His lectures are not boring and it's somewhat important to attend them. Your TA kinda decides if you're going to enjoy this class or not. I had a terrible TA, he graded our papers hard and was condescending in section. I strongly felt that if I had a different TA I would have stressed less about this class. There's 2 papers and weekly reading responses with the second paper about your research on a building in Jerusalem.

I have no idea why he has such a low score. Smoak is one of the best professors at UCLA. He's engaging, relatable, funny and just all around great. I'm taking another class with him next quarter even though I was just taking the first one as an elective. He's that good. He gave us very comprehensive study guides for both the midterm and final (worth 30% each) and there's an 8-12 page research paper due at the end of the quarter which he assigns on the syllabus. I haven't received my grade yet but if I don't receive an A its my own fault. TAKE THIS CLASS, YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

I absolutely loved taking this class with Prof. Smoak. He was funny during lecture and the lectures were engaging. This is probably the best class I've taken at UCLA so far. It does help a little if you have some prior knowledge to Christianity or Judaism, which could probably be a problem for some people. Since it is a writing class your TA probably plays a big factor in whether or not you like/do well in the class. I had a great TA. The workload isn't heavy: a one page reading response every week, 2 papers, 1 midterm and 1 final. The midterm and final were pretty easy (the final was easier) and not worth much of the grade but mostly meant to help you get information about your paper. Paper #2 is a research paper and required a lot of effort, but it was still interesting.

This is probably my favorite class that I’ve taken at UCLA. The professor is very knowledgeable and is able to explain the topics thoroughly. Being that he lived in Jerusalem for a number of years, I would say that he is certainly an expert on the material. He gives you thorough study guides for the tests, and does not expect you to know anything that he did not mention in class. There are two writing assignments, but they are not bad at all. Being that I’m not a writer, I was very concerned going into a writing to class that it would be too much of a workload and that the essays would be too hard. This was certainly not the case. The professor was more than willing to help any students with questions, and was very helpful when discussing the essay in office hours. I would 100% recommend this class, as well as any other class taught by this professor.

Easy class in general. The tests are okay, you just have to memorize a whole bunch of things like who did this, what is this artifact, when did this happen, etc,. Other than that, the tests are straightforward and easy. Smoak as a lecturer is okay, I thought his material was interesting but I could also see how some people thought it was a snooze fest. He assigns a lot of readings but honestly I didn't read a single one, all you have to do is pay attention in class and you should get an easy A.

This class was pretty easy for me and reading about history is not my thing. We had to do I think two papers, a group project, and weekly short writing assignments. All of them are pretty easy and the readings are not hard to follow. The TAs are really nice and flexible (attending office hours is encouraged). The tests were also easy. It was mostly memorization I believe. The professor tells you what is going to be on the final and gives “review terms/questions” for you to make your own study guide. The group project is the most challenging task of the whole course since you come up with a writing system with 3 other people.