This class was very enjoyable as the content was very interesting and understandable. Dr. Joseph is a great lecturer and really knows his stuff - he is very informative and is a very nice person. He is very helpful and always willing to answer questions. He doesn't require a textbook, which is nice, and he provides the readings for each class. There's only the midterm, the final, and the final paper that make up your grade, so it's important to do well on all these items. Overall I'd definitely take any class with this professor again!

This class was easy. The information and slides were very straightforward. The professor doesn't allow you to take pictures of the slides and will call you out if you take some, he doesn't record audio or video, doesn't post the slides or weekly schedule, and doesn't send you the slides if you are absent. There are weekly readings but he basically told one of the students that we don't have to read them and he didn't ask about them during class once. He also takes attendance in every class by passing around a sheet of paper and having everyone write their names on it. The midterm was very easy. Final was pretty hard for me, but it's because I didn't study. The final 10-page paper made me suicidal. You have to visit a religious site and compare it with another one in an observational study/report. I waited until the last day to do it so if you start at least a week earlier you'll be fine. He offered two extra credit opportunities on the paper, visiting a second religious site and formally interviewing someone from the site. I ended with an A+ because it was so easy and the information he gave was minimal and exactly what he asked on exams (except for some questions on the final). Take this class if you're going to show up or if you have another friend who goes to the class who will send you notes and write your name on the attendance sheet. Otherwise, if you aren't going to show up, don't take this class.

Religion 110 was an excellent class. Some really engaging conversations lead to camaraderie with classmates. As other reviews say, pay attention to the lecture slides. In exchange for the slides being pretty guarded (though he will show you at office hours if you missed something), the slides actually contain all the info you need to know for the midterm and final. He gives a very comprehensive study guide for each.

Prof. Joseph actually wants his students to learn, and he cares about them as people.

Take this class if you’re willing to do a little work for a great reward—the grading is really generous if you show up and pay attention (not a ton of outside work besides some interesting readings). And the conversations are always thought-provoking. It’s refreshing to have a class where grading is uncomplicated enough to actually enjoy participating. This is one of those classes.

This class gives you a pretty good overview of many religions and how they play out in LA. Professor Joseph was great -- he encouraged questions and answered them thoroughly in lecture. You have to go to lecture, as he doesn't post his slides or recordings.
The workload was fine, you really don't have to do any of the readings. Midterm content was all laid out in lecture slides. But my advice is to start the final project early!! You go to 2+ religious sites and write a 10-page comparison paper on them. It's not difficult, just time-consuming.
Take this class!!!

Loved this class! Super interesting material, engaging lecture/discussion, very intelligent peers, small learning environment.

Each week the class met twice (no discussion section) and joseph would lecture about a given topic using a slide presentation. He was always eager to answer questions and foster discussions about specific interests that students had. He protects his slides with his life and will not repost them. This is largely because the midterm and test are based 100% on the slide content.

Each week we were expected to produce 1 discussion question based on the assigned reading (this was 20% of our grade I think).

I studied the slide material a bit for the midterm and final and got 100% on both. They were structured as about 25 short answer questions.

The most challenging part of the class is probably the final paper which is 10 pages and you can create your own prompt. I was pretty anxious about this + I procrastinated it, but everything was fine.

All in all, one of the best classes I have taken at UCLA. Super interesting content, straightforward assignments, and a witty but cool professor. Totally recommend.