The book for this course is his own, so the lectures are pretty much just the main points from each chapter. Consequently, you really only have to go to lecture or read the book so long as you really do one of them. Missing lectures in the beginning is no big deal, but in the second half of the course it can get you behind. The second half is all about the human lineage and recognizing fossils and such, so it gets a little boring, but it's also a lot more memorization then the first part.

Overall, this class is cake as long as you read the book and/or go to lecture. Discussions were useless, but were required as 10% of your grade. Final's half, midterm's the rest. Both tests are all short answer questions, nothing really surprising. Overall a very fair professor and very easy class. Great GE. Take Anthro 7 with Boyd if you can.

Professor Boyd is one of the most amazing professor that I have ever had. He is incredibly intelligent and brilliant in the cultural evolution subject. This course urges you to see culture as a selection like natural and sexual selection. He argues cultural selection plays a huge role in human evolution and he pushes you to think beyond the basic understanding about mankind's evolution. Don't be fooled though, he still knows the current gossip on celebrities.

As for his classes, there were 1 midterm and 1 final with a mixture of M/C questions and short answers. He changed it up a bit from last time he taught 186P. His tests are rigorous but he gives a very generous curve (final avg is A-/B+).

Sadly, he is leaving UCLA to lead a newly formed department at ASU. I really wish he would teach one more undergraduate course before I graduate in Spring.