go to the first lecture so you don't get dropped, turn in your midterm and final papers, and attend section. the lectures are a waste of your time for the rest of the quarter. if you can, show up to Brian Fagan's guest lecture tho, he's good. smith himself is a bore and sometimes borders on offensive...

he's a really energetic...sometimes crazy..but nice teacher. it's true, i didn't have to do most of the reading but i got by only b/c of the study guides and being in a study group before the tests! lectures helped a lot. find partners for the project and the study guides, he was also nice about extensions if you really needed it.

HUGE amount of assigned reading, but you can get by without doing all of it. You must go to lectures to get a good grade. I got an A, but I did all of the study guides and studied in a group for a few days before the test. It would be hard to get through the project and study guides by yourself, find partners for the class!

interesting lecturer, his material is definitely not hard, for five units this is an easier class, his slide presentation and books assign are very helpful if you enjoy reading.

OMG, the lectures had nothing to do with the assignments and the readings. All he talks about is his work and interests. Going to lecture is useless!! My TA graded the papers kind of hard andd the online exercise and group projects will drive you crazy.

I would not recommend this class unless you have to take it. lecture is a waste of time and its really boring. the class set-up is horrible: a midterm paper and a final paper are youre entire grade, but you have to do all this work online and if you dont you fail. it makes no sense--theres no incentive to do well. dont take this class.

Spent most of the lectures talking about his own research. Lectures mostly random, not related to reading or sections. Lots of outside work, but overall worth it for 5 units if you get a decent TA. I would not recommend this class if you don't care for busy work. No midterm or final, however, two 8 page papers.

This is the worst class I have taken. TAs grade inconsistently and the required web work is often broken and unusable. There are group assignments that require lots of effort outside class, so you might be screwed if you end up with a bad group like I did. I wish I had dropped this class and found another to meet the NWC requirement. Do not take.

Took this class in W04, very unorganized. Web site wasn't compatible with many PC users, so you had to use school computers. Assignments graded harshly, in spite of the vague instructions. TAs helped when they could during session, but all in all it was just a disaster. How did I manage a B???

Not a good class. He tries hard, but views seem dated and the TAs overworked. Some stuff he said in class bordered on offensive. Didn't get a lot out of this class.

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Class was not set up well. His lectures were dull and boring, and did not relate at all to the reading. Lastly, he changed the due date of the take home final three times. Its very unprofesional.

got beautiful blue eyes if you look past the beard. basically all reading, expects you to be an archaeologist, ****the web exercises. must go to discussion, papers for midterm and final. worth 5 credits

Professor Smith is a really nice person, but his lectures and his syllabus requirements are kind of all over the place. Just don't be afraid to ask him specific questions in class about what you are confused on and you'll be fine.

Horrible course. Lecture is worthless. You have a graded section and play that requires out of class work. The tests are difficult and the studying is just rote memorization. Avoid this class and professor like the dead religion he teaches!

Abysmally disorganized, and disjointed lectures make the ID-based tests an exercise in detective work. Students must piece together information for a single topic from a multitude of details mentioned in various lectures. And don't get me started on the group project. I'm insulted to be paying so much to be assigned middle-school level projects.

Interesting subject, and he does get the material across. However he spends a lot of time obsessing over how cool he is (you'll hear about how he worked on the Mummy and is best friends with The Rock just about every class). Lots of material to know for the tests, but he gives a comprehensive study guide. Memorize it and tests are easy.

He is a good professor but if you are not already interested in Ancient Egypt don't take the class or you will be board out of your mind. I was not interested so I found it really hard and boring. A lot of facts and random gods you have to learn for the exams so be ready to study.

Ancient Egyptian Religion is an awesome class and Prof. Smith is an awesome teacher! He tells you exactly what will be on the midterm/final and he's a really cool guy. Lectures are helpful and interesting but it's not terrible if you miss a few, as he tells you exactly what will be on the tests so you can look it up. Expect to do skits.

He was a very knowledgeable professor, but you cannot do well in this class unless you form a study group, 10-page project, mid-term and final are very intense (76 terms and 10 essay!) I also thought his lectures were very disorganized. It was very frustrating taking notes, trying to keep track of the chronology of what he was talking about.

this guy is a trip. he knows his stuff. i guarantee he's going to talk about how he helped with Stargate and the Mummy movies. throws a lot of info at you, which you'll see in the study guides. a lot of memorization... if i could describe the amount of memorization in terms of weight, i would say it was a ton.

Its great to see a man make a living teaching a subject he loves so much

An "A" is obtainable if you're willing to put in the time to complete the very long but very comprehensive study guides. Lectures are based on images he's collected, so they don't translate into organized and thorough notes (frustrating!) His attempts at humor are generally irrelevant, irreverent, and/or unfunny. Not recommended.

Professor Smith is a really cool guy and knows his stuff. The class is difficult. No need to show up to lecture, just study all the material from the study guides he gives out prior to midterm and final. Lots of memorization, NOT an easy A, not even an easy B. Only take this class if you really want to. If you're not interested in the topic, DONT!