Easy and interesting class, No separate final/midterm. lecture, reading, quizes each week. Super easy and 1 timeline u can fill out throughout the quarter. And 2 two-pgers that are so easy. Definently recommend for easy A if you need UD Credit.

The course name "Japanese History Through Art and Literature" makes the course sound a lot more interesting than it is. While some of the content we learned was cool, I found his (online) lectures to be unbearably boring. He had a very flat tone and he didn't really seem too interested in the subject. The class is section-heavy but not very hard.

One of the best professors I've had at UCSB. The History of the Samurai was a really interesting class and Roberts taught it very well. Lectures were fun to go to but not really crucial. I really enjoyed the readings, too. Would highly recommend for history students. Great professor and great guy.

Fantastic professor with interesting lectures. Grade is three 2-pg reading responses, map fill in, timeline fill in, and midterm and final. He gives you the questions for MT and final a week in advance, and are based off lectures and readings. Very straight forward. Very easy if you are not lazy and pay attention. A must for Japanese history lovers

Witty professor who tries his best to make the class more lively. Aside from being easily accessible outside of class, he gives you amazing study guides for both the midterm and final. (Aka the tests come directly from the study guide questions!) Easy A, and the most enjoyable a history class can get!

Perfect GE! Lectures can get a bit boring but content is interesting enough. Discussion section is mandatory, and counts for participation. The in-lecture review of the previous lecture is extremely helpful. Manageable readings, textbook is good for background but not necessary. He pulls midterm and final questions from a study guide he gives out.

The class could be bit dry at times, and relied a lot on the readings. He pulls questions for the midterm and final directly from the study guides, so just make sure to be thorough. Weekly homework assignments that took 10 minutes or less and an 1800 word paper. Overall a good GE.

He literally gives out a super thorough study guide for all the test. (all the question asked will be on the study guide but the study guide has way more questions than the actual test) so if you study well enough, it's an easy A. Essay grade really depends on the TA. He is a funny dude. If you want a GE for credit, take his class!

Really great class! The textbook readings are really interesting and help a lot with understanding the information for tests. The study guides are basically the tests, just require a lot of time and effort to complete. Professor Roberts really cares about teaching and helping his students. Lecture is very important for completing study guide.

Attendence isnt mandatory but recommend going before the midterm cause he pulls from lecture. Easy class if you can write. Very enthusiastic about the subject and knows a ton. Would take him again cause he was great even though the subject wasnt my favorite.

An awesome class overall. TAs were wonderful as well. Take this class!

Just read the textbook and you will be fine.

Professor Roberts is one of the kindest professors I've ever had. Office hours are a joy. HOWEVER, even though he gives full study guides for his tests (answers taken directly from it), the study guides took days to finish. He is very, very particular about wording and docks off points for semantics. Made samurai somewhat interesting.

I took The Samurai bc I thought it sounded cool. This class is hard if you don't know any basic Japanese history, like I didn't. I wouldn't take this course if you're looking for a random UD. There's difficult assignments. The midterm study guide had 70 prompts for short answer essays. It turned out to be a stressful course for me my last quarter.

His lectures were interesting and easy to follow. If you go to every class and do the study guide questions you can get an A. He's extremely helpful too

You can tell from his lectures how passionate he is about Japanese history, and that only made me more engaged in the material. Very funny and knowledgeable guy. Also be prepared to participate in section.

I was surprised how much I liked this class. Roberts is a really passionate lecturer. Midterm and Final are a breeze because his study guides for both are great and very detailed. Very fair grader when it comes to essays (I got a B on an essay that I should have gotten a D on). He can get a little of track in lectures, but overall hes pretty good

There are no tests or quizzes in Hist 9. There is normally a one-page, single-spaced paper due every week, and that is the majority of the workload with the exception of the final paper. Roberts is always relaxed and humorous during class, and you can see that he truly cares about what he is teaching. Don't worry if you aren't a history major.

Professor Roberts was great. He's really excited about what he's teaching and he demands attention during lectures. The guidelines for the midterm are really clear and he's always there for help. As long as you actually do the readings and pay attention to lecture, you will pass. Professor Roberts is an engaging lecturer because he's so passionate.

He is extremely passionate about Japan so its a plus that he really puts emotion in his lectures. I really would like to take one of his classes. It was his first time teaching history 8 and he did a great job. No midterm and final but HW which is 50% and also a final paper due around 5 pages on a person from Japan.

Well, I like him for the lectures and the materials, including both the primary and secondary readings, (though sometimes they could be a little bit overwhelming); there are two papers and two exams in the class, all of which were not that hard if you DO THE READINGS and GO TO THE LECTURES.

The class was relatively easy and interesting. Professor Roberts is a great lecturer, he's clearly passionate about the topic and is very good at explaining things.

Really enthusiastic lecturer, and very passionate about Japanese History. His exams are easy if you do the study sheet and stay consistent with lectures and readings. Easy to slack off in, but also easy to pass. Highly recommend.

Prof Roberts is pretty knowledgeable but not very organized. His power point slides are kinda a bit here and there and the materials were boring at times. He also spent too much time reviewing the previous lecture. Sections are extremely important because it's 30% of your grade so it depends on your TA really and you have to talk. Not a bad class.