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 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.

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.

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

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 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.

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!

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.

This class is really easy. He gives you a list of key terms and essays for the midterm and final, and if you know those the midterm and final will be cake. Take this class for an easy A