There is literally just an in class midterm and a take home paper final. That is all. So, workload is obviously manageable but there is a LOT of content to be covered in this class. The lectures aren't technically mandatory (he doesn't take attendance) but he does not post the lecture slides on BruinLearn, in an attempt to encourage students to come to class. Green is so knowledgeable on the subject that it may sometimes become overwhelming-- a lot of his lectures are often so packed with information that I would definitely recommend doing the weekly readings so that you know what's going on. There isn't a lot of background information provided, he kind of throws you into all of the content because he is so familiar with it, so you are going to need to be proactive and learn on your own if you want to do well. That being said, very straight forward midterm and final. If you put in the time and work, you will get an A.

I could really go on and on about how amazing this class was. The workload was perfect, the lectures were unbelievably, astoundingly good (seriously Prof. Green has some talent to give lectures that good during COVID), and the grading was more than fair. For online, it was all asynchronous, and while I ordinarily don't like the format, it fit this class really well because the workload was forgiving. You were graded on one 8-page midterm (50%) and one 8-page final (50%). It may sound daunting, but if you speak with him during his office hours, it'll help a ton. Spend a good amount of time outlining it to really nail the organization/thesis and the rest will flow naturally, because the course materials complement the prompt so well. The sources came entirely from the weekly readings which never ever exceeded more than 75 pages per week. There was never a boring reading and this has actually inspired me to take more classes on Iran offered in the history department. Insofar as the material, it explored the expansion of the Persian language and culture from 900AD to 2000AD and I thought it was a really interesting intersection of linguistics and imperial dominance/conquest. If I could take this class every quarter I would.

Grading: Midterm is in class essay. Final is take home paper. You get the questions for both on the first day of class. Keep in mind, the final paper is 10 pages (double space). The midterm isn't difficult per se, but if you are like me and have terrible memory make sure you make a timeline/outline essay that you can memorize and then dump on exam day. Got an A in the class, and Prof. Green is great! I was very surprised to see a British professor speaking and reading Farsi and Arabic like it was nothing! Lectures can be kind of long, but if you like architecture, history, and art you will enjoy them. Make sure you do the readings and annotate a few things as it will help for your final paper.