Lots of reading and confusing names, but this guy is so funny that it was worth it. I thought I was going to fail this class, ended up with an A. Paper wasn't bad at all, I BSed it and he loved it.

Lectures are often funny and he keeps it interesting. There is a lot of reading but it can be very rewarding. Two short papers and he tells you everything that will be on the final ahead of time.

Professor Hillis is amazing! He is a nice and humorous person who makes lectures very interesting. His lectures are well organized and help understand reading materials(4 books) a lot. Not many papers, one for midterm and one for final, 5 pages each. But make sure to read all books required and attend each lectures, as he won't post PPT online.

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.

Hillis is a fun lecturer. Some of the material can be boring but he does his best to make it enjoyable. I even felt bad for leaving early. There are only two short papers and a final. He puts 90% of the readings online. Hillis is passionate about what he teaches and is very approachable.

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.

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 never read anything and was ]screwed for the final. Keep up with the necessary readings toward the end of the quarter. I crammed in one night and got a B. Ask your TA to assign extra credit I think they will. I got an A in the class because of extra credit! Go to office hours for the papers he is so helpful and a great guy to get to know!

By far the worst professor I've had here. Spews hippie nonsense in lecture (like how cool the "smokey the bear sutra" is, or whether the means to enlightenment is found in poetry), and orders his TA minions to make you regurgitate 15 books on two concepts: meditating and reading poetry. It's people like this who make you think we should cut GE's.

So, so, so much READING. It's ridiculous. At one week, we had over 200 pages to read. This class incorporates a ton of confusing and mind-blowing concepts but the professor has a good sense of humor and he's really such a nice guy.

BY FAR THE WOOOOOOORRRRRRSSST CLASS I'VE EVEN TAKEN HERE. The professor throws an inhumane amount of readings of vaguely translated, 5th century, Chinese and Japanese. I hate Zen now as a result of this man's teaching

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.

He has an interesting sense of humor, but he's a fantastic lecturer. He's clearly passionate about the subject, & does a great job of making the class interesting & clarifying the reading. There are 4 papers, which aren't bad as long as you go to lecture. Use the study guide that he provides for the final & the exam will be straightforward.

Chill Professor. Super helpful and passionate about his field. He's always available during office hours and makes the class fun. We are very lucky to have him. Though sanskrit is not super easy, if you dedicate time, you'll succeed. We had quizzes after every chapter and had to memorize some verses. Midterm and Final are very predictable.

took tibetan buddhism, he is a quirky guy and sometimes makes lectures interesting. the readings he assigns are AWFUL, the most boring reading i have ever tried to get through. assigns too many papers for a non-writing class

this was a very easy class. you had to write 4 essays but they were graded easy and the TA went over everything you should write about. there are two books they tell you to buy but do not buy the eight theories of religion, i never opened it.but you use introducing religion for every essay. there was no midterm and the final was easy id's and essay

Professor Hillis is very enthusiastic. This class is a good one, I would recommend it.

Professor Hillis is a fun guy who tries to make the 8 am class a little less dreadful. He teaches zen very well and clearly. It is an easy class, the 2 essays are graded fairly easily and the final is not hard. There is a bit of reading, but doing it all is not completely necessary. Easy class for a GE.