He has a very interesting lecture style, it sounds like he's preaching or something. This course is very interesting though and he'll give great lectures on them, but you do have to listen through them and take good notes. He'll give warnings to when the pop quizzes are going to be. Also, you will have to keep up with the readings.

Professor Walker was one of my favorite UCSB professors. His teaching methods are a bit unconventional but so long as you go to lecture and section, it will all connect and is super fascinating. He chooses amazing things to lecture about and really cares about the students and their feedback.

I really enjoyed this class, and although his teaching methods may seem a bit unconventional, if you go to lectures, it's easy to follow along. He's clearly very passionate about what he teaches, and his lectures were super interesting. Sections allowed us to dive deeper into concepts from class and were super helpful. Would highly recommend.

Really great class. Even if you're not super interested in the subject, David Walker's lectures were just amazing. Fairly difficult and requires a lot of reading and quite a bit of writing.

One of my fav classes I have taken. Prof Walker does a great job of brining humor into lectures and they are actually really interesting. He doesn't post slides or gave much info on them, instead he uses a script for lectures so if you don't go you will prob fail. 2 pop quizzes in lecture, and midterm and final are open note.

Genuinely one of the most eye-opening and engaging courses I have ever taken. Lectures are designed so you are forced to pay attention as most notes are taken from what he says rather than a set of slides. Sections are extremely helpful in breaking down material, and there are lots of broader concepts that can be applied beyond the course.

Get ready to be confused but in a good way! I'm a STEM major and had a hard time following this class at first but as I got used to it, the class was very interesting. Professor Walker does care and listen to his students. Both he and my TA were very chill, though you really gotta do your work to earn a good grade. Totally recommend!

Amazing professor. Great lectures. Class is much more interesting than you would expect. He can be difficult to understand at times but I think his lecture style was really captivating and engaging.

Prof Walker was a really great professor! I took RGST 7 over the summer and loved it. There can be a lot of reading, but it's interesting and definitely manageable. Prof was also very accessible outside class. Midterm and final were open note, they're super easy if you pay attention in lecture and do the readings. Take this class!

During lectures, he talks like he is giving a ted talk and it can be hard to follow/take notes especially since the content can be confusing. As a bio major, I was def not used to this style of teaching. BUT trust me it comes together at the end. Make sure to watch the lectures & go to sections. It's a VERY INTERESTING class.

Professor Walker was one of my favorite professors. His lectures can be a bit lengthy, but for the most part this course was reliant on discussion. If you did the reading (or some of it) its more enjoyable. He is an easy grader and really cares about you connecting with the material. Great guy overall.

This class and Prof Walker's lectures were the highlights of my quarter. This was taught during COVID-19, when most profs gave up, but Walker and Blankholm obviously worked hard to make this a really challenging & dynamic online class that was always applicable to current events too. Completely changed my understanding of religion and pop culture.

Preferred Blankholm's lectures for content but Walker's lectures were nice for complicated connections/interesting examples. I agree that his lectures are structured like stories, I sped them up bc he tends to talk slow but paused a bunch bc I found it more useful to just take notes down verbatim. Readings were pretty long, so def prep for that.

My experience is completely different than the last two raters here. I really like Walker's lectures, which are structured like stories. Sure, he doesn't spoon feed things to you and you have to stop and think. But isn't that the point? Walker's lectures complement Blankholm's perfectly. Fine if you like B's style better, but W is dynamic and good.

The lecture videos are really long and unclear. He rambles a lot and you need to pause very frequently to think about what he's trying to say. Tons of readings but the tests are all about lectures. Unclear explanations of complicated terminologies with NO lecture slides posted. The video is not organized at all. Do not take this class.

This is literally the worst class I've ever taken and I chose it to be my fun class this quarter. Walker has a really ineffective lecturing style, I'm so glad I can speed up the lectures. He rambles a lot and doesn't really have a clear message in his lectures and his voice and syntax are infuriating he's like a 15 yr old trying to sound smart.

One of the best professors at UCSB. Lectures were fast paced and his rhetorical skills were addictive, rich material and worth going to class. Each week had one topic with different case studies to analyze. Two short essays, short answer midterm and final, few easy pop quizzes. Course reader but not necessary to read if you went to lecture.

He is a great professor, makes lectures interesting and will make you think about religion in a new way. Lectures can be confusing and it can be hard to know what to take notes on but section really helps with that. Tests aren't too bad, more about understanding concepts and having ideas than memorizing facts but be prepared to be on a time crunch.

The professor was amazing. Definitely, an analytical class that requires a deeper understanding of heavy topics but overall incredibly rewarding at the end when you take away everything Walker teaches. He is really funny and makes you think about how religion plays into bigger topics. TAKE HIM

He isn't a bad professor. I just really hated his style of teaching. He sounds very preachy (he's not tho) and his lectures are confusing, on purpose, until the end. You will NOT pass if you don't go to lecture and actually listen, material can't be studied in a textbook the way he explains it. It's an easy class if you just attend. Just not for me

Graded on 2 papers, midterm, and final. Midterm and final are written exams but also open book, and the final could be taken outside of the exam room and on your laptop. Introduces heavy ideas quickly but a very easy class as long as you pay attention to lecture and have your own ideas about the material. I'll miss this man and his lectures!

Amazing teacher.

Complete genius. He talks like he's out of a Shakespearian play - very articulate and well spoken. Knows his stuff like the back of his hand. Open book everything but you need the material from lecture to do well on tests. So attendance basically mandatory. Pop quizzes. Really great to talk to and funny during lecture. Huge fan now.

He speaks really fast and is against laptops so you must be a good note-taker. Doesn't upload lectures online, and goes through slides quickly. You won't get bored in this class. Midterms/Final is open book but be prepared to be on a serious time crunch because he expects a lot of material to be covered in a short amount of time.