Hecht is a great and hilarious person but not a great teacher. His lectures are long and slides are verbose. He does a lot of telling in a class that requires a lot of showing. Expects you to just know certain things without fully explaining. There's a 10-12 page essay. An essay midterm and final in class that takes the entire period.

One of the best professors I've ever had. His lectures are fantastic! He is very friendly and engaging with students and his exams reflect the theme of the class accurately. I 100% recommend him, take him if you can! I will definitely take him in again!

I took RG ST 131D and 131H with Hecht as well. He's a great professor, very engaging lecturer. The readings aren't necessarily mandatory but I can't imagine how one would receive anything higher than a B on the midterms without citing them. Usually offers significant extra credit. Super nice and funny. Knows a lot about the topics he teaches.

You just watch movies, take notes, read various excerpts, and pass the class. Pretty easy. Although content-wise, don't rely on his information being truth. Make sure to fact check him. He shows different interpretations of how religious historical events MIGHT have happened, and once claimed something to be "accurate" with zero evidence? Sketch.

I took this class to fulfill a requirement for my major and I loved this class. I took it in summer session but the speed of the course didn't affect Prof. Hecht's capacity to teach or his passion on the subject matter. Truly the most motivating and enthusiastic professor I've had while at UCSB. Highly recommended.

really good guy. very funny. doesn't take attendance, but if you don't come to class i don't know how you would pass. haha. very specific! loves to do long powerpoint slides. like paragraphs. but he is so nice. and sometimes his yarmulke falls off when he gets excited.

This class was probably the best I've taken at UCSB so far. Prof. Hecht himself doesn't lecture, as the class brings in multiple lecturers to talk about their experiences at war. It's not hard to get a good grade, although it is a little open ended regarding the midterm and journal assignment. Everyone at UCSB should take this class.

Great class! Professor Hecht is a very good professor who delivers a wealth of information on Jewish tradition and history. As long as you hit the main points he asks to cover on his midterm and final (which he basically provides the prompt for a week in advance), you'll be fine. Two outside events are mandatory to attend, but very interesting.

weekly movie viewing, and a question sheet to fill out about movie. never went to movie viewings, just watched over the weekend on my own time. some film tidbits he just goes over in lecture, which are crucial for midterm, final. you gan google information on them to know the main gyst. themes were sin and salvation, super interesting. fave class

He's very knowledgeable and very kind! You watch films and talk about them. Participate in class, do all the assignments, and you'll do well!

If you can take the class. You watch a bunch of weird (Blue Velvet) movies but his in class discussions are interesting because he uses students' responses to engage the class about the movie. Also he's really sweet and easy to talk to.

Make him happy and participate! Hes such a nice guy and enthusiastic about film and teaching. Hes a pretty easy grader. You watch movies (religious and non-religious) and dig deeper into the content. Really cool class. You could pass without buying the books.

Professor Hecht is a wonderful instructor! His class was highly original and interesting and gave a broad yet deep insight at the relationships between cinema and spirituality. This quarter's theme was "science-fiction". A remarkably cultivated man, accessible and kind. One of the best professors I had at UCSB, what a delight to converse with him!

Professor Hecht is a genuinely nice professor, and he goes out of his way to put the class at ease with jokes and funny, short, personal anecdotes when there might be a tense subject matter included in the lecture. He grades very reasonably, and the readings he assigns are plentiful but not too dense. Also, He is interested in what you have to say.

I took this class because it was part of my major. I took film and religion with him the quarter prior to and that was good. He is very understanding and does his part as a professor to make you understand the material. Granted some of his material doesn't make sense, but he does his best to give you all that you need for the tests and lectures.

The amount of reading assigned was very high. Struggled immensely to keep up with all readings, and thought it was inappropriate to assign 6 readings on dead week totaling over 150 pages. Course content was fairly interesting. Midterm was graded heavily on strange criteria like grammar, professor does allow final exam to count more if bad midterm

Worst class ever

His class on Judaism was extremely difficult. As a non-Jew I had no idea what he was talking about half the time. His midterm/ final requires extreme detail from the reading and lecture, yet he doesn't allow notes to be used. To much reading as well. I came away feeling like I learned nothing about the Jewish tradition.

Great professor, loves his work. Felt bad because I was one of the many who were afraid to speak up in class. HW is easy, tests are straight forward. My first religion class and I enjoyed it. Was nice to get a new perspective.

worse class of my life, you wont learn anything about Judaism that you don't already know and the assignments will take all the time you have for this and any other classes

you get to listen to a lot of veterans' stories, and people who have loved ones in the army. great class. midterm (MC)is easy. final (essay)is harder, because you have to incorporate reading to the speakers in class. should take this class

His class had literally nothing to do with religious studies. It was disappointing to take it expecting to learn more about my major and instead feeling like I was in a film studies course. Interesting guy and really cool, but don't expect much from his courses.

The class was largely historical and having to do with various Rabbi's interpretations of the Bible...boring. It would have been better suited around Jewish culture. He also assumes that a lot of the class is Jewish and therefore doesn't explain many of the critical aspects of the religion. Doesn't provide any feedback on essays or papers.

He is a great professor with much enthusiasm for the subject. A very friendly man and considerate of students. I hardly did the reading but attended all his lectures and did his extra credit and ended up with a B+.