Worst prof in RS. Don't believe good reviews. Not structured like a intro class and hard to follow unless you have prior education in Judaism. He is hyper focused on his own personal ideology. If you don't repeat his views prepare for a bad grade. Got an A bc I got early this isn't an 'open dialogue' type of class. Plus he's a boring lecturer too!

One of the worst college courses I've taken. Barely graded on anything; papers carried all of the weight. Had to write two 10-page essays within 2 weeks of each other. Lectures were monotonous and moved online after one class in person. Professor Hecht was kind enough but dismissed other forms of -ism (racism, etc) and came off as tone-deaf.

Professor Hecht's grading system is awful. I thought I was doing well in the class until my final grade came out and I got a C. I never got below a B on any assignment, so I am not sure what made him think giving me a C was ok. Went to the department head and they did nothing. Easy class but beware of the grading system.

Hecht is an incredible professor. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter, and his personal anecdotes are funny and fascinating. Hecht is a gem and one of the best professors at UCSB.

Professor Hecht gives a ton of extra credit. His lectures are very basic. He just shows pictures and videos of Jerusalem and briefly talks about them. He assigned two brief homework assignments worth 2.5% each, a roughly 3-page midterm worth 35% of the grade & a 10-page paper for the final, worth 60%. I skipped class all quarter and easily passed.

Definitely takes detailed notes of his lectures, will come in handy with writing essays. He is adorable and very Jewish, very knowledgeable with Judaism. TA comes in handy with any questions you might have. Richard seems very easy to talk to. I got by without reading an assigned book but had to do a lot of reviews. Take this course if you need to!

Very kind person, class is definitely important. But end of the class devolves into general feeling that rightfully labeling the harm of Israel against Palestinians is violently anti-Semitic. You have to agree with his outdated views to pass. 10 page essay for final, 60-80 pages of reading a week + 2 books. Too much for a non-lit class.

Hes a super nice guy and Im sure he's a great person but our final essay has to be 10-12 pages long and every week we had to write a 3 page essay. I don't recommend for someone who doesn't like writing essays

Very caring and passionate. He was understanding to students and enthusiastic about his class. Though the subject was not one I was particularly interested in, he was amazing to learn from and I consider him one of my favorite professors.

I had some difficulty with this class. Graded by midterm, final & two assignments. I would do good on the assignments but the midterm and final are both essays which were harshly graded and had no clear expectations on what to write. He is nice and approachable but the grading is weird. Not a free A class, work will be required to pass

Attending Hecht's class is mandatory as writing a good essay requires using his opinions which he considers facts due to his large amount of experience. While a very knowledgable person, I felt my essay's were graded down because my analysis didn't parrot his own. He's a nice guy just stuck in the past and loves to name drop the people hes met.

Not hard to get an A, but you do have to try. He has a separate time to watch the films, but I usually just watched them on my own time. Has two film responses that are super easy, and the midterm and final are a breeze as long as you watched the films and compared them to the readings and lecture. You do need your lecture notes for the exams