This class has 3 components: midterm, final paper, and a final exam. The midterm and final exam are based on memorization only. The midterm and final exam are short answer questions. If you memorize everything he asks of you in the study guide, you'll be more than fine. I used to cram 2 days before the tests and got A's in both of them. I didn't find the need to attend every lecture; however, he does not hand out his ppt slides. The answers to the study guide are from his lectures; I found most of them on Quizlet and from fellow students. The final paper can be exhausting because it is really long. It's a 10 page (excluding the title page and bibliography) comparative essay. You basically compare two religious traditions. He didn't share his comments on the essays, but from my understanding if you stick to the prompt and START EARLY you're good. Overall, it is a good GE if you're good at memorizing and start your paper early in the quarter.

Easy class. Professor is really nice. There was a 10 page final report but he shortened it to 8 pages in the end. I'm not too religious but some parts of the class were interesting. Readings were okay too. Despite the final report being quite exhausting, I found it was a really nice experience. Basically, you can visit two different religious places, you don't have to but it is better if you do because it gives you more things to write about on your report. He lists down multiple locations and you have to compare and contrast the two religions. You can also write down your experience when you visited the locations. For the midterm and the final he gives you a study guide powerpoint which is quite a lot. All you have to do though is memorize the whole powerpoint because the exams are exactly the same as the powerpoint he provides. Technically you don't have to pay attention in lecture because you can just memorize the study guide, but paying attention in lecture and doing the readings will be better if you don't want to cram the whole material in a couple nights.

I had a great experience in this class and the review written on June 18th is grossly exaggerated with hints of truth. Although I would appreciate the slides being available and the lectures being recorded, this class was just not set up like that. There are readings assigned but, you are not tested on them. Prof. Joseph only asks questions that pertain to the material he has presented. I too was not happy with my midterm grade (added two weeks into class) but It would have been highly inappropriate to vent to the whole class about it. Some group members did not have the emotional intelligence to censor themselves and share their grievances in a productive and professional manner. I thought the final paper and final exam were VERY generously graded. The grade and notes for the final paper were not reported in Canvas but they are on MyUCLA/Classes/Exam and homework grades. Overall, Professor Joseph is a very engaging and welcoming professor who is an expert in the field and I would absolutely recommend his class to others. In other words, go ahead and sign up for his class.

Great Professor really interesting class.

This is by far my favorite class I've taken at UCLA. I took it my first quarter of my freshmen year as an undeclared major, and came out wanting to be a study of religion major. The information is very interesting and gives you a great perspective on the history of Los Angeles as well as a good overview of the general study of religions. There was one midterm, a final and a final research paper. The tests were incredibly straightforward with basically the same questions as those on the study guide. The paper was given to you at the beginning of the quarter so you have plenty of time to finish it, and professor smith is very helpful during office hours and is always very interested in your work. I would 100 % recommend this class and will surely be taking a class with this professor in the future.

In response to the last two reviews on here, I have to agree with the one made on June 21. The person who has said they have earned straight As for the past 3 years clearly has not gained any study skills whatsoever because this class is pretty straightforward in what it requires you to study and know for exams. Professor Joseph uses lecture slides and they are not too dense because that is how powerpoints are. Do not just write the lecture slides and ignore what he is going to say. Instead, I suggest addressing each bullet point as he does and incorporating his commentary into your notes as well so that it makes sense when you go back and read those notes. He elaborates and gives more context. I did not find it too difficult to keep up with. If you still find it difficult, on the first day or two he allows some time to exchange numbers with classmates so that students can ask each other for help in case they miss class. He provides the study guide approximately a week before the exam with a list of topics. Unlike what the other review says, they really are not that broad. There is often a lecture slide with the same title that pertains to what you are required to know. If you feel unclear about a topic, you can simply email him, go to office hours, or look at other similar slides from your notes and deduce what might be related. I found in office hours, he gave me the full answer of what I was required to know. Sometimes dates and names are important but it depends on the topic. Many are straightforward. There are 30-35 free response questions that require 1-3 complete sentences. The final essay is 10 pages, but do not wait until the last minute to do it. It is straightforward and I actually enjoyed the essay topic that I got to choose. Grading was done by a TA but he goes over it and adjusts the grading. The majority of the class got a B or higher, and many complained about getting a B. It is UCLA, classes are not easy here in general and will require you to put in the effort, but that's how everyone got in in the first place. As a transfer student myself, I found this class great and I wish I could take another class with Professor Joseph.
During our midterm, the fire alarm went off for approximately a minute and did not require us to evacuate because it was caused by the construction in the building. It went off again for like 10 seconds right after the first one had finished, but honestly, that was not much of a disturbance during the exam. On the day of the final, our exam began at 8 am and yeah the fire alarm was going off constantly between 7-7:50, but not throughout the exam. People used the fire alarms for the midterm to complain that it had completely thrown them off and many people jumped on that to state that the professor should give us extra credit. The professor stated that this would be unfair to others who did work for their grade, and even later when he did offer extra credit for being able to answer a question from the reading, only 1 student in the whole class could do it (also reading isn't required but it is interesting). He is very generous with answering questions.

where do i begin? i have an extremely hard time believing the last 2 reviews are legitimate. his class this quarter was a nightmare. as a straight A student for the past 3 years, i was in danger of a fail in his class. the midterm and final are 30-35 free response questions and rather than pulling from relevant information, they ask you for things like dates and names. upon people complaining about their C’s and D’s in groupme, he went off on a tangent in class about how that was “bullying him” and “threatening his reputation”, and played the victim.

the “study guides” he gives are simply a list of topics that are so broad that you have no idea what to know about any of them. his “lectures” are slides that he doesn’t post online nor let you take photos of, and only consist of a few words per bullet point…leaving your “notes” to be senseless. so essentially, you spend all of class quickly writing down all of his bullet points, and they don’t even do you any good.

during the midterm and final, fire alarms were going off the whole time and what did he do? he plugged his ears during the midterm, and listened to headphones during the final…and clearly on a volume loud enough that he was not respondent to students trying to ask him questions. not only all that, but the room was so hot during the final that i could hardly focus through my perspiration.

you don’t even know who the grader is so there is no TA to talk to about any of it. additionally, he had us write a 10 page paper that he never even ended up grading.

save your time and sanity by avoiding this class at all costs.

I will admit I took this course because of the reviews here. Honestly, I'm surprised I passed this course with a B. I went to every lecture and took notes. I did not do any of the assigned readings. I passed my final and midterm with a B and never received my grade for my final paper, but I enjoyed writing the essay! The professor was hilarious, I didn't think I would be intrigued, but I was; he made learning about different religions fascinating. I DO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED going to class and taking notes. Everything in the study guide will be on your notes! I studied three days nonstop before my midterm and final and memorized my notes to the tea.

It's a fascinating subject! The class is not difficult at all. The only assignments are a midterm, 10-page final paper, and a final. The tests are straight memorization of your notes according to the provided study guide, and the paper requires at least one in-person site visit to a religious ritual. The lectures are interesting, and since the professor does not record lectures nor upload slides, make sure to write everything down. The professor is a cool person too.

This was such a great class with a great professor!

FYI for those taking this class next, don't go on your phones or leave early, he will call you out, lol.