Easiest A+ I've ever earned. Attended lecture in week 1 then never went again, so honestly can't say much about Papadopoulos. Just talk to your TA to make sure you understand what they're asking you to write in the essays. Utilize TA office hours.

This class is so lit. Your grade is 10% section participation and 30% each for three papers you write throughout the quarter. The lectures are not necessary to complete the papers so as long as you have a general understanding of the material for discussion in section, you do not have to attend. I would still go though! Professor Papadopoulos is super passionate about what he teaches and I love watching, even if I am not retaining all of it. The papers are entirely based on specific readings that you just have to dissect and then create a thesis out of. Have your TA check the thesis and make sure to answer all of the questions that the professor wants you to in your paper and you should get a high grade. I enjoyed this class and honestly wished I learned more since I generally phoned it in. Such a good GE!

Easiest GE. I showed up for lectures the first 2 weeks and never again. The only thing that affects your grade is your attendance/participation in sections and 3 papers (no midterm/final). The papers took some effort but if you're a solid writer and talk to your TA about their expectations, you'll do just fine. The professor himself is a very sweet man and is genuinely passionate about the subject.

The whole class is based on three essays that your TA grades. I never went to a lecture after the first week (not even exaggerating) because they were pretty boring and not related to the context of your essays. Since he gives you separate content for the essays anyway, focus on that and don't waste time with in-class material. All you have to do for an A is go to discussion once a week and meet with your TA to go over a rough draft of your paper. Super easy GE for someone taking heavy classes, plus there is no final.

This was my first class I took at UCLA, and I’m not the best writer, I’m mostly a STEM person (math major), I took this for a GE. As u can see the grade is just three papers so it really depends on your TA. On one of my papers I got a 25/30 which basically ruined my chances of getting a solid A and I needed a 28.5 on the next one to push me up to an A-. I recommend going to the Ta office hours since that all have different preferences and really want specific things you may not expect. I went to lecture only on the very first day of the quarter and never again, so workload was pretty light. Discussion was mandatory and boring but sometimes interesting if it’s your thing. If you’re a solid writer you’re probably fine but I’m just not the best and papers took a while since it was like over 50 pages of reading and documentaries for each. I found it mind numbingly boring

I honestly enjoyed this class. The grade ONLY composed of 3 essays throughout the quarter (90%, each essay worth 30% of your grade), with 10% coming from your participation in discussions. The grading of ur essays really depends on your TA, but im pretty sure the averages on all the essays this quarter were above 90%, so i would say they grade it pretty fairly. Discussions were rlly boring (at least with my TA) and felt kind of useless ngl, but they are required. I did not attend more than 5 lectures all quarter, and still managed to get an A+. The writing assignments are not related to what is taught in class, and as long as you are able to write an argumentative based on some academic papers/documentaries, you should be fine. I recommend going to office hours to work on your thesis with the prof/TA because theyre kinda picky with how your essay should be structured. Also, lectures are offered on zoom and inperson, but they are not recorded.

I took this class in Fall 2025. In a matter of the volume of workload, yes this would be an easy GE considering it’s only three essays. But qualitatively, if you aren’t already a strong writer, this is not exactly an easy GE. You need to be good at interpreting and dissecting long sources (12-30 pages) and creating excellent arguments from that. The sources are often written in an academic style so if you don’t have experience in archaeology research you might struggle understanding the material. I was definitely one of the students who weren’t already good at writing so I had to struggle a lot with writing good essays. As one review had already written about this course said, your grade is definitely dependent on who your TA was and how harsh their grading was. Some of my friends had more lenient TAs while I had a hard one who had very specific guidelines. In my experience, my TA didn’t do a very good job of explicitly explaining what their specific guidelines (was very vague about it) were regarding thesis, evidence, etc, and I didn’t know until my first paper grade came back. Since your grade is based on three essays, if you do really bad on one of them, it’ll tank your grade. If I were to take this class again, I would definitely go to office hours early before the first paper is due to really understand what is expected of my TA. Regarding the lectures themselves, they are not directly needed to complete the essays. Although they might be good if you need background context or historical knowledge that might aid you, they are largely not relevant. Luckily, the professor is very knowledgeable and experienced in his field, and he is a very nice person. He generously gave many people extensions to the essays and was very understanding of student concerns. Discussion sections are mandatory and generally just reinforce some of the material learned in lecture. If you participate 3-4 times answering questions I’m sure you’ll get full points for the participation grade. Overall the class is very manageable and I did manage to get an A in the class (it was very close). I feel like I did learn a lot about pre-classical Greek history and archaeology in general, and the class did make me a better writer at the end. If you’re a good writer or up for the challenge if you’re not, I recommend taking the class.

This is an easy GE, but if I were to review it like a class, I have a few notes. The professor is a super kind and knowledgeable guy, but the structure of the class is pretty flawed. I think this was one of the first quarters trying out the three papers system. The lectures aren’t related to the papers, except for on one day and on that day there won’t be any necessary information provided. I went to lectures at the start but became increasingly unmotivated because of the lack of through-line between them and their missing relationship with the papers. The papers themselves have confusing prompts that the TA’s had to awkwardly rework, and they admitted it too. My friends who weren’t as strong in writing struggled. I see so much potential in this professor and his good TA’s (shoutout Aidan) — just needs a restructure. Overall, easy GE and nice professor, I would recommend if you need a class to check a box and are a solid writer, but not if you want an engaging experience.

Despite only going to two lectures this class was quite boring. Although Professor Papadopoulos seems to be passionate about this material he literally just reads off the slides. I seriously fell asleep in class. Plus the lecture is also on zoom and attendance is not taken, only in discussion. There is only three assignments and participation in discussion is also graded. 30/30/30/10. That being said, you have to do really well on the essays to secure an A. Two of the essays were about sites that the professor worked on so it seemed a little conceited to me but either way the essay topics aren't the most thrilling. Maybe Professor Papadopoulos likes to have students glaze his work? Decent GE if you are good at writing.

Highly recommend this class if you need it for a GE. Your grade is dependent on three 5-page essays. I stopped attending lecture after the first week because it had nothing to do with the essay topics. However, section attendance is mandatory and 10% of your grade. I never did the readings for this class except for the ones you need to cite on the essays so I didn’t have to spend too much time on this course. This GE is an easy A as long as you put in some effort on the essays.