Hillis was a very funny and kind professor. Content of the class was beyond what I expected for lower div. Lecture-heavy, expected to memorize hundreds of foreign terms, extremely specific exam questions, & unorganized slides, only passed because of extra credit. SO many assignments & readings. Nice guy, but would NEVER take this class again.

Totally amazing and hilarious in class. Posts all lecture videos on gauchocast with slides, attendance in not mandatory. Pretty clear grading criteria for the class, its divided into four 25% sections for attendance, midterm, final, and a final paper; plus he also provides plenty of extra credit opportunities towards the end. TA's are very helpful.

Very silly and kind professor, taken as a GE and was among the easiest I've ever taken. Grades are based on your TA and I had Jay who was both very helpful & kind. Grade Scale: 25% split for Section, Paper, Midterm, & Final - with 12% of potential extra credit. Tip is write your paper about topics covered in Final so you can study while writing.

He was honestly one of the best professors I've ever had. Super passionate about the material, even sang to us in class once, and very easy to understand him. Gives study sheets for his non-cumulative midterm and exam. Definitely recommend taking him, he was great.

Greg Hillis is a great professor! He's funny and sometimes sings in class and stuff like that to make lecture better. However, the class itself is horrible and very boring, and if this is for a GE please take something else I could barely sit through the class.

Greg really does the most out here to make the lectures engaging, and I love him for that. Study the study guide and lectures, not reading. Not great for DSP students, not great for nonbinary/trans students. Wouldn't take again for those reasons, but otherwise how good of a GE this is will depend on your TA, and whether you can show up to lecture.

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.

Easy tests, but make sure you know everything from his study guides.

Hilarious! The class is sometimes a bit dry but he makes everything interesting! You will laugh in every class. The midterm and final are extremely easy if you do the study guide he gives! its a must but you get an easy a if you do it. Overall its a pretty good class just because of his humor.

Not too hard, and gives good lectures. He assigned 3 papers, but they were graded pretty easily. He is very involved in his lectures and I recommend attending, but it is safe to skip because he puts his slides online.

This is not a writing class, however we're given THREE 5-6 page papers to write about the most broad topics. I think that alone is cause for concern. Only one exam, the final. I think everyone should learn about what is going on in Tibet and the way their government etc works its very interesting and you get to learn about it from Hillis.

Hillis is a funny, off-beat guy. He does his best to keep his lectures interesting and "visual" but can get off topic quite easily. He didn't provide much background on the course, but rather dove right into the material. Papers are broad and unspecific, and my TA was kind of lackluster. Overall a good class, with a fun atmosphere.

Professor Hillis makes the class so much more interesting by teaching the lessons by demonstration (trust me on this, his way of teaching is hilarious!). And by going everyday, I didn't feel as stressed out studying for the midterm and final. He helped us come up with topics for the papers too so they were a lot more fun to write. GREAT professor!

prof. hillis is sort of a ridiculous guy in a funny way. his class is very very easy. a great class to take for GE. the tests were easy and grades fairly. final paper is a bit long but the you pretty much can choose ur own topic which is nice.

Very funny and charismatic. Can get a little bit confusing if you have no prior knowledge. Can also be annoying if you are there purely to learn. Buddhism is hard to grasp. Definitely can tell that he also gets bored with what he is teaching at times too. Tests are easy. Paper was a bit difficult. weekly assignments are tedious. Readings are boring

Really funny professor, a LOT of reading but exams weren't too hard. Can pass with a B or higher with minimal studying if you keep up with lectures.

Professor Hills is the best! He is so nice and is so passionate about religious studies. The reading is very dense and pretty boring, but lecture and section help break it down.