This class was interesting, but the hour plus lectures did get a bit boring sometimes. It was in person, without the recordings or slides posted, so you had to get the notes from someone if you did not go to class. The issue with this is he adds on a lot of important stuff that are not included in the slides, and if someone did not take notes on what he talked about you kind of missed the material. He gives a study guide for the midterm and final, and if you know the study guide by heart you will do extremely well. The midterm and final were 20+ short answer questions matching the study guide exactly. I did not study enough for the midterm and did not do well, but ended up getting an A anyway (I think he curved the class a lot). Professor Joseph was really nice and provided all course readings, so there was not a need to purchase anything except blue books for the midterm and final. The final paper was kind of tough but as long as you wrote more than 10 pages and put in effort you got a good grade.

Professor Joseph was an absolute wonderful professor! This class was my last GE that I had to take and I'm glad that I chose this class because the content was interesting. The class is composed of the midterm, final and final paper. For the midterm and final, he gives you a study guide where you basically just have to memorize the terms/concepts and you just word dump on the exams. He doesn't post his slides but if I ever missed anything from class there were plenty of Quizlets online that helped whatever I was missing. Tbh I did pretty poor on the midterm (C+) because I barely studied but he offered extra credit on the paper and I studied like 2 days before the final which helped my boost my grade tremendously. For the paper, I recommend starting as early as possible, as it requires you to visit two religious sites and observe the religious rituals. Keep in mind, I think visiting the sites were the most time consuming portion of the paper, but as a procrastinator I managed to get the rest of the paper done after pulling an all nighter. We never got our grades back for the papers but it is graded very leniently! For the extra credit, you are asked to interview a religious representative member of the community and provide a transcript of the interview questions and answers. I only ended up interviewing one person but it did help save my grade so I highly recommend if you need it. Highly recommend this class!

This is the 2nd course I have taken with professor Joseph, and he is an absolute gem. He is for sure an old-school professor who values attendance and respect in the classroom. He has a dry and witty sense of humor and he is so knowledgeable and passionate about the subject he teaches. Even if religious studies aren't your thing personally, I guarantee you that his class will be thought-provoking. The class breakdown is as follows--one midterm which is short terms/concepts based on class lectures, a 10-page research paper, and a final exam. I'm not going to downplay the exams, they're not difficult they're just dense concepts to memorize. The 10 page paper was a drag for sure, but I suggest just to start early (he does not grade these harshly just put in effort, offer a meaningful analysis and you're fine). The final exam tested students on about 40 concepts, again not hard just dense information and memorization overload. Be sure to write class notes thoroughly, he does not post class lectures to canvas, and he is super against phone usage in class (he perceives it as a sign of disrespect and I've seen him snap at students for it). He is such a cool professor and I've taken 3 classes with him and have gotten an A in each one. Put the work in, don't crame for the tests, and you'll be golden,

Graded on attendance, participation, midterm (in-class), final, and 8-10 page paper. While he is very helpful during office hours, he does not post slides and even bullet points from slides were not integral to the tests. Overall, he expects the students to be able to digest and synthesize his lectures, which could be considered fast-paced. Even though this is a common teaching style, I found this to be really inaccessible and his tests while not trick questions, were not easy either. Honestly, I found his approach towards US religion history lacking in critical political context (I remember that he made a big deal out of the supposed incompatibility between the US govt. banning indigenous religious practices and the "founding ideals" of the freedom of religion and free speech--as if this blew his mind, even though a critical examination of this history will tell you that the same govt. banning indigenous religion and massacring indigenous people would not care about any supposed "ideals" it held). Also, he had a tendency to normalize Israel.

Professor Joseph is fantastic. He answers more questions in class than anyone I have ever met. The readings for this class were long but nothing out of the ordinary for an upper-division history course. Prof. Joseph can be a little socially awkward and is very sensitive to phone use during class but is incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. I recommend any class he teaches!

Honestly if you arent that interested in this topic I wouldn't take it. Can be very confusing without some prior knowledge of the Bible. It is a history class after all though, so you cant think about the class biblically. The lectures can be interesting but also quite annoying since it felt like 80% of the class was him answering students' questions that were not relevant to the midterm/ final. I would suggest doing a class study guide with everyone that's what helped me pass. ATTEND EVERY CLASS get any points you can just in case you don't do well on an exam it helps.

Honestly, coming as a freshman, I was just looking for a 4th class to take. I saw that this fulfilled a requirement and I was interested in religion. However, I joined like 2 weeks late, and I was really behind on the material. Because of this, I did kind of poor on the midterm. However, the way he teaches really prepares you for the exam and I'm pretty sure they grade really leniently on the final. Although others say to start early on the 10-page paper, I did start kind of late (like writing 5 pages til 5am the night before it's due) and I'm pretty sure he graded nicely on that as well. Just show that you're engaged with the communities you're visiting and try to implement what he teaches in class. The tests were somewhat straightforward (sometimes a question or two wasn't covered on the study guide) but he's a great professor and wants you to do well.

I have absolutely no religious background, but really enjoyed Professor Joseph's lectures. Huge paper due at the end of the course. Discussions online. A lot of IDs to memorize. Midterm and final are tough, but I think he's a fair grader.

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!