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.

Simon's a great teacher, most of his classes are all 33%/33%/33% midterm, final, and a final paper. He didn't record lectures so participation in every lecture is a must. The exam questions are open response—just memorize and study the review bullet points like it's an exam and you can BS the rest. The final 10-page paper requires you to visit 2 religious sites and compare them.

Simon's very accommodating and I recommend you to take advantage of his OH if you have the time.

Overall, his lectures were pretty engaging as someone who took it as a blow-off GE class.

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.

I took this class to satisfy the diversity course requirement. I highly recommend taking this class because the professor is very passionate about what he teaches. I always looked forward to his lectures because they felt like a time to relax. The way he teaches the material helps you really learn the material without feeling stressed. His exams do require you to memorize almost all of his lecture slides.