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 You have to agree with his outdated views to pass. 10 page essay for final, 60-80 pages of reading a week + 2 books.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

Hecht is a really nice older guy, really passionate about the subject matter. Lectures were sometimes boring and could drag on, but regardless Hecht really cares about his students and wants them to be involved and learn. Out of class assignments were fun and eye-opening. Midterm & Final were 90% of the grade but open-ended and simple if you study.

He knows the material very well and gives engaging lectures with the occasional joke thrown in to keep things interesting. Very nice guy and an you'll do well if you show up and take good notes. Mandatory out of class events but you get extra credit for going to all of them, and most of them were interesting and worth it.

I like him, and his lectures! weird grading : you have to go to 3 events and write a summary and if you miss 1 event then you don't get any credit for the 2 you went to. He gives you the study guide which is the exam but its a in class essay and you can't bring notes so you have to memorize what you wrote at home and then write it again. ididwell

simply the worst professor on the planet

Professor Hecht is an amazing person! Ive taken a couple classes with him and he loves teaching the material. Class had one midterm and one final. Both are written exams that come right from lecture material. A few extra credit events. Lectures are mot poated online so take good notes. On exams just write down as much as you know and youll do well

LOVED this class!! The theme was Disney films, which made every lecture really fun and interesting. Made points about the connection between dif religions and Disney that I never would have thought of. Weekly reading responses, but they give you the page numbers that the answers are on (super easy). 2 short, straightforward papers, and no exams.

Hecht is one of the worst professors I've ever had. He is legitimately stupid, gives us false information all time. He takes weeks to give essays back. He is late for office hours. He does not allow for any dissenting opinion and only likes to hear his own words and ideas. Class is only summary. There are 2 short 5 pg essays and 1 final 10 pg essay

Professor Hecht is an amazing professor. He cares about his students and about what he teaches. He will always help you, if you ask him for it. Going to class matters, he tests you on readings and on what he talks about in class. This isn't an issue because his lectures are very interesting.

I took RGST 130 with Hecht but it was 80% taught by his TA and the subject for the quarter was Disney animation... pretty boring class and you won't actually learn much about religion if you don't do the reading. Both prof Hecht and the TA were really nice and helpful with questions.

in past years, this class was only listening to the veteran's stories with one final project at the end. Now there's a rediculous amount of required reading (2000 pages throughout the quarter) as well as three 5-page essays and a long essay format final. Interesting class, but don't take unless you have a light quarter.

I am a soc major, and I've taken every class that I can with Dr. Hecht (4 after this quarter) he's an amazing professor. I took him for judaism, history of anti-Semitism, religion and politics in the city, and impact of vietnam. all amazing classes, all of them are 2 outside events, 1 midterm and a final except judaism had an essay. TAKE HIM.

As a religious studies major I went through this class constantly wondering what it had to do with religion. Hecht loves to ramble on and on. Some lectures you just sit there with no notes to take. Be warned the midterm and final are in class essays. It's an easy class but some effort is needed