has anyone taken any REL 300 level courses and how was the experience?

2/1/2010 7:18:08 PM

i hear islam is interesting

2/1/2010 7:53:45 PM

rel300 was easy, absolutely no original thought or thinking involved... was like a freshman history class...

2/1/2010 7:58:29 PM

that was one of the ones i planned on taking, which teacher is best?

2/1/2010 8:18:12 PM

Took Rel 300 w/ Stewart & did well without doing much work

He also spent more time on the Eastern religions, so not a lot of boring, monotonous Christian stuff. He was also pretty laid back, had a good sense of humor & missed multiple classes due to out of country trips throughout the semester, so lots of breaks.

[Edited on February 1, 2010 at 8:22 PM. Reason : well = a-]

2/1/2010 8:22:44 PM

REL 317 with Cunningham or any class with Cunningham is great. Just be sure to do all the assigned readings cause the tests get really tricky.

Also, most of the rel classes are strictly take notes all class, albeit some of the professors do provide interesting insight... most of the classes are more like history lessons without any present-day connections.

2/1/2010 10:12:46 PM

i took REL 320 a few yrs ago, turns out i didn't need it and it ended up hurting my GPA (got like a B- or so)

it was Religion in American History, i think the guys name was Jason Bivens ... lectures were interesting, there were a couple of book reports and i guess some tests

2/2/2010 12:05:42 AM

did anyone of the relgiion courses like REL 300 require too much writing?

2/2/2010 2:45:07 PM

Didn't have to do any writing in 317, it was just a bunch of reading. The only writing I did was maybe short essay questions on the test that was basically regurgitating info she taught.

2/7/2010 1:08:24 PM

Islam is aight, but I took it three semesters ago with a professor from UNC who gave us all A's or B's

2/7/2010 11:23:41 PM

stay away from schmidt

i had him for Religious Traditions of the World (REL 300?) and he only talked about east asian religions. lots of reading and watching pointless movies. we had to watch some anime bullshit one time. no papers, but the test questions were not straightforward and were very subjective.

2/8/2010 8:00:41 AM

^ Agree 99 percent

Always got graded poorly, never knew what he was looking for. Good news is, I thought I failed and got a C and graduated...

However

Quote :

"we had to watch some anime bullshit one time"

That movie is actually pretty awesome. I have even watched it again outside of his class. Princess Mononoke is good stuff.

2/8/2010 3:04:53 PM

i took "REL 340 - Islam" my senior year and it wasn't all that bad; granted that was 2006. there was a lot of reading but i barely did any of it and i still managed to pull out a B for the course. the paper assignments were manageable and i remember for the final she had given you a bunch of possible topics in advance and then she'd choose a select few from that bunch and that'd be your final. and i actually did get something out of the class; i found it very interesting which gave me a new insight into the Islamic faith.

2/8/2010 3:22:12 PM

^^were you in that class with me?

2/8/2010 9:45:11 PM

o snap, i want to watch anime in class.

2/8/2010 10:50:16 PM

^ it's not worth it

^^ unsure. I sat in the back, mooched in on study sessions. Took it spring 08.

2/9/2010 12:53:50 PM

i think that's the same time i took it. was it once a week at night in the bottom of withers where we sat in a big circle.

i remember schmidt went over the syllabus and told us that we'd only be covering east asian religions and somebody just got up and left. schmidt was like wtf and they said they thought we'd be covering more religions than that. the look on schmidt's face was funny to me.

2/9/2010 2:41:20 PM

^ Mine was twice a week i think. No circle either. I can definitely envision someone doing that though... too bad i needed that class to graduate.

2/9/2010 7:49:08 PM

ok I have read the suggestions and I think I will take REL 340 ISLAM for my Arts & Letters Requirement. Also the grade distribution looks good. Did aynyone who take it, is teacher's name is Bigelow? what are the types of assignments, etc.

2/11/2010 5:48:27 PM

I'm a REL major, here's my two cents:

Quote :

"Took Rel 300 w/ Stewart"

Anything that Stewart teaches is worth taking. He is really lenient in 300, but his 400s are hard as shit. 300 is always a different experience depending on who teaches it.

Quote :

"any class with Cunningham is great"

Agreed.

Quote :

"it was Religion in American History, i think the guys name was Jason Bivens "

Bivens is the best teacher in the department. 323 was my favorite class of all the RELs I've taken, it is the history of cults and religious minorities in american history (same exact structure and style as 320, just has a different focus)

Quote :

"stay away from schmidt"

Although he is a great guy and very knowledgeable, he's one of those teachers that just sucks at getting points across. He has a lack of organizational skills and is hard to follow.

Quote :

"ok I have read the suggestions and I think I will take REL 340 ISLAM for my Arts & Letters Requirement. Also the grade distribution looks good. Did aynyone who take it, is teacher's name is Bigelow? what are the types of assignments, etc."

I'm currently in my third course with her. She is another fantastic teacher, but she assigns A LOT of reading. If you don't read, you won't be able to participate much in class discussion which can dock your grade. However, the test questions rarely focus on the readings and she gives you a study guide before every exam.

Honestly, the best thing to do is take 311 (Old Testament). Regardless of who teaches it, it is a really easy class. Liu has been teaching it the past couple of years, and I hear he is cool but I've never met him. Adler is the main biblical scholar and he teaches it from time to time...his classes tend to be a bit harder but it is well worth taking anything with him as well.

2/21/2010 8:01:21 PM

i recently found out that bigelow teaches a new class - REL 230 S Asian Religions so I am going to see if I can take that next semester if not i will take islam or old testament, i heard that she has a lot of class participation grade.

2/21/2010 9:47:53 PM

the REL department didn't have 200s until last year so I don't know what any of them are like. But if you are interested in really learning something, take a 400. If its just for a grade, then 200s are the way to go.

Bivins also does a class on Religion & Politics in 20th Century American history...i think its cross-listed with PS

2/22/2010 12:07:47 AM

I have enrolled in REL 317 - Christianity for next semester so can someone please tell me how difficult this course is? and what are the course requirements for grading daniel ellis,? is it necessary to to do the readings to get an A?

4/22/2010 7:29:51 PM