Professor Bonesho taught us a way of viewing Judaism with nuance. I think that’s the one thing that I’m proud to have taken from her and undeniably, it was something I was hoping for from the class. I wanted a new way to view religion, and Bonesho delivered.

She prepared incredibly organized and engaging lectures - every single lecture. I do wish the lecture slides held less information and were more engaging sometimes. Once she asked us to send in words through our phones. The words created a word cloud that updated in real-time on the slide. I felt that method’s way of creating vulnerability yet retaining anonymity caught and held everyone’s attention.

Bonesho also knew my name, but I’d never been to her office hours or introduced myself to her personally. She probably glanced at it when I handed her one of my papers, but she really had a way of creating an environment where we felt seen, mostly because I think she let the whole class debate almost every lecture, implying all of our nuanced opinions carried some value.

I’m really glad I took this class before graduating. I don’t remember what I got so I just put “P”/pass in my review. I did turn in some papers late though and remember her late policy being lenient with grade deductions. Also, for the reading...it's pretty long and in depth, but the book's easy to carry. I didn't read it in full, but by skimming between classes and listening closely to her lectures, I did really well on the exams. Tests aren't nit-picky on historical details, just know the main characters in Judaism over time, what they stood for, and how to show the validity and flaws of each person's perspective.

This class is pretty easy. The midterm was a lot of memorization but easy to do well on. The final was open note and take home. Professor Bonesho is super nice and helpful.

Overall this class was fairly easy. 25% of your grade is small, easy assignments and participation basically. There are two papers. I felt that the grading was pretty lenient. The lectures were generally pretty engaging, but lost my attention sometimes. There can be a considerable amount of dense reading, but my friend never read and ended up with a B in the class. I started off strong, but ended up skimming most of the readings. If you are willing to put in the time and meet with your TA about your papers prior to submitting, it will definitely reflect in your grade. Also this class covers a ton of stuff and is pretty historical. I thought it was going to be more modern cultural study-ish, but it's pretty much a survey of Judaism over time (which I probably should've expected).

Honestly I'm surprised this class wasn't a writing II credit. There was soooo much writing involved. The midterm was pretty challenging in addition to there being papers/"projects" due nearly every other week. Professor Bonesho is really sweet and I had Julianna as a TA who was awesome but definitely would not recommend taking this if you're looking for an easy and/or light GE.

This is a great class that I would recommend to anyone. You don't need any prior information about Judaism to succeed and Professor Bonesho is extremely helpful. The class consisted of two papers, one in-class midterm, and a take home final. In addition, she gave 6 quizzes (drops the lowest one) to test if you have done the reading (they are fairly easy). The readings were usually around 20 pages a week and were pretty interesting to me. Overall this was a fulfilling class in which it wasn't too difficult to manage, yet it was also a great learning experience.