The nature of culture: survey of the range of cultural phenomena, including material culture, social organization, religion, and other topics.
4
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeNone
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeGraded by section attendance/participation (25%), ethnographic paper (5 pgs; 25%), in-class midterm essay (25%), and online final exam (25%). He does indeed have slides with three bullet points and spends much of the time talking, so it's not for everyone. Walsh is passionate + tries his best to make the material interesting, even if it gets dry.
Walsh cares a lot about his material and seems great but lectures were so dry. Literally a white screen with 2-3 vague bullet points that mean nothing. Midterm was graded SO HARSH and the instructions were so confusing. Final was online and open note. Section was mandatory. Also 6 page paper that we were given zero help with. Would not recommend!
People who took this class with other professors told me that it would be interesting but Walsh specifically found a way to make it so boring. An 8 slide lecture with three bullet points each can easily take the full hour 15. He seems very passionate but I just couldn't sit through the lectures. Graded on in class essay, online final, and a paper.
Did a pretty good job at explaining the material but TAs can be pretty strict graders so grade mostly depends on them. Pretty nice as well and seemed very passionate abt the subject but lectures are sometimes very tiring and somewhat boring, readings weren't too bad. Overall, he's nice and knowledgeable but the topic might just be a little boring.
You can tell Walsh loves what he lectures on but the lectures themselves are so dry. Your average white powerpoint with Arial font and 3 bullet points, where he then proceeds to yap for 20 mins per slide. Midterm was in class paper, final was online, very easy if you do the readings. I found the readings more interesting than lecture, cool class.
Loved Walsh. He's pretty funny and well versed in anth. He connects course concepts really well making them easier to understand. Readings and films are pretty interesting. Only thing is he doesn't post slides and the slides in class are very, very bare. Attendance isn't mandatory but he explains everything there.