Greg is one of those professors that you will remember long after you have graduated. He is hilarious and an overall jolly dude. He is aware that many take his class as a GE. With that being said, he doesn't make the tests too difficult as he realizes the material can get pretty complex.
Took this class p/np for the GE and attended most lectures/sections. Class was pretty interesting and Greg is a hoot in lecture. The most annoying thing is the mandatory section hw every week. The exams are very fair and he gives you terms to know beforehand. Paper wasn't too hard to write despite not reading and starting two days before due date
Hillis is hilarious. The course is easy: he knows most students taking it are just taking it for GE credit. He offered a 5% grade bump if you wrote a short summary on a meditation seminar. His courses and the basic Buddhist ideals have helped me get a better grip on my anxiety and depression. Buddhism has taught me more about life than my major
He's super nice and his lectures were easy to follow. He posted the slides online, but he added information so it'd be best to attend lecture. There's reading, but it isn't difficult. One midterm and one final, with a 5page paper. He's a really nice professor and wants everyone to do well.
The best professor I ever met in my life. He is both humorous and easy-going. You don't have to worry about your grade if you listen to his lecture. And you should do so for his lectures are the best! You should go to his office hour, too since he seems to like people having discussions with him about anything. Very nice man.
Best religious studies professor! Such a genuine guy and is always available for help. The class is so fair that it makes you really respect him. It's quite a bit of memorization, but he gives you a study guide on the words you'll need to know for the midterm and final. TAs were really helpful when it came to the final essay.
Gregory is hands down the best professor at UCSB
He's so enthusiastic and lively and really wants his students to engage in the material. The TAs were super helpful and nice. The tests were pretty simple. There's weekly homework assignments and an essay due at the end of the quarter, but as I said, TAs were helpful and gave good feedback. Such a nice guy. And a pretty easy class.
Hillis is extremely knowledgeable about a lot of things, especially religion. He managed to cover centuries of religions in a quarter! Books were not necessary, surprisingly. I learned that after Week 6. Just regularly attend lecture and THOROUGHLY complete the study guide before the midterm and final. Go TA's office hours for 8-10 Page paper.
He keeps lectures funny and lively, gives concise and helpful notes (doesnt post online so dont skip class), and gives very easy and predictable exams. Only tedious things are the TA's weekly assignments and essays, but other than that, you will not need to crack open the book for the exams. if you need a GE and you see him teaching, TAKE IT!!
I loved this class and really enjoyed professor Hillis' lectures. He is very enthusiastic and is really well-informed and helpful. The material interesting (if you're into East Asian religions), but expect to read a lot and attend every lecture as he does post his lectures online. There is material from the texts and from lectures on exams.
The professor is passionate about the topic and the test is not very hard. However, the TA grades really tough and he will not tell you about the expectations. The class becomes hard because of the TA. In addition, the TA is not familiar with the materials. He grades the exam and paper based on his own impression. Choose your TA carefully.
Best teacher I've ever had. So enthusiastic and a really funny guy. Go to lectures cuz they're great.
Prof. Hillis really knows his Buddhism. His lectures were interesting but started to drag towards the end of the quarter. 3 midterms, 1 paper, no final. He would give us a review sheet before each of the midterms which was extremely helpful. There were no curveballs on the exams. Lots of reading that isn't necessary if you attend lecture.
Lecture is sometimes interesting, a lot of lists to memorize. He gives study guides with all the concepts you need for the midterm which is extremely helpful. If you memorize everything on the slides you'll do well on the midterm. There's 3 midterms, an essay, and section participation in the grade.
There are way too many readings per week and when I took the class it was only twice a week so the lecture was painfully long, plus he turns all the light off in the lecture room. I can see why people like him, he is incredibly passionate about Buddhism. Personally I found him obnoxious and I hated going to lecture. My TA, however, was great.
Great guy! I loved going to lecture because he is very good at making zen Buddhism interesting and making modern day analogies and jokes.
Hillis is a great lecturer and I have heard he is amazing in Zen Buddhism. This class is awful though. It is about the writings of theorists. The essays are absolutely terrible in that all you do is analyze old texts that you probably disagree with. DO NOT TAKE AS A GE! Top 5 boring classes at UCSB
Hillis makes a valiant effort to make the class exciting, but it's just such dry material it's impossible. Four essays (5 pages each), no midterm, ridiculously easy final. If you're into the essay thing, go for it, but if not, AVOID THIS CLASS.
Easy tests, but make sure you know everything from his study guides.
One of the best lecturers I've had at UCSB, makes confusing topics very understandable. Lecture slides are very useful but not posted. 4 essays, no midterm, multiple choice final. Overall, I thought Hillis was an amazing professor and made this class really interesting! i never hated sitting in lecture.
I really liked him and the class was really interesting. Lecture and section were both helpful. Final was multiple choice and not very hard. But there were 4 papers, which is a lot more than most GE's will require. Overall I did think it was a pretty easy and enjoyable class.
I hate this class. You would expect it to be fun since it is Zen Buddhism but lecture is tortuous and the TA totally ruined the class for me. Hard grader and the final was so long and obnoxious. Never again will I take a religion class.
Such a nice professor. He is always in his office during office hours. He is very quirky & likes to make jokes. Class is mandatory (slides are not online) but class is interesting. He assigns 4 essays, weekly write ups & there is a multiple choice final. I got a B & didn't read. I thought this class was very thought provoking but controversial.
