I've taken JS 150A, Hebrew 101A, 101B, and I must say he is one of UCLA's finest professors. He's clear as to what he expects, no surprises. His test are very fair and he's a great lecturer. He cares that you are learning and is very interesting. I would highly recommend taking Professor Smoak if possible, you won't regret it.

This class will forever be my favorite class of all time! Professor Smoak loves teaching Near East history. His enthusiastic lessons make it all the more enjoyable. Please take this class. You will not regret it.

Smoak is very straightforward and interesting. I highly recommend his class. There are no surprises, he covers everything in class. Do the readings and go to class.

Like the review below, Professor Smoak is a really good lecturer and really knows the material very well. The ratings don't really reflect that well, but honestly, his class was pretty easy aside from a writing the essays. The essays were pretty straightforward after getting feedback and help during office hours. The tests were easy-okay.

This was my first GE I ever took and Professor Smoak is a really great lecturer. He talks fast, so I do recommend bringing a laptop and also possibly a voice recorder. His tests are really easy... as long as you've taken good notes you're golden. Also, for this class, you only really have to read the small novel-sized book. His lectures are pretty much taken from that, and the tests asks questions taken from lecture. So seriously, take good notes. And if you study them the test will be a piece of cake. The TAs are pretty good too (Eric Welles especially). I also had Professor Smoak for Jerusalem: the Holy City (a writing II) class and it was just as good. I really like learning about Mesopotamia/Egypt or anything related to the Near East. Jerusalem class gave me a better understanding of the differences between the three religions (Christianity, Islam, Jew). The essays were a bit difficult but just attend office hours to ask for help or to get some feedback before submitting the paper in. Really good class and you get a lot of value from learning this kind of material as it relates back to why we have the conflicts in our modern world today.

I thought professor Smoak was a great professor. I sat in the front and he actually chatted with us most days before starting lecture. The midterm was easy and the essays for the class weren't bad. I would definitely recommend any class with professor Smoak because he really knows what he's talking about. His lectures were very relevant and important to go to.

Like all of the evaluators below, I cannot stress how great of a lecturer Professor Smoak is. He makes it really easy to understand the material, and for me at least, to even enjoy the material. Which is a good thing, considering Professor Smoak doesn't post the lectures online, so actually going is really important. Also, don't be afraid to ask your TA's for help on the two essays. I don't think I would've gotten as much out of the class if I hadn't asked mine(Ryan Roberts--be happy if you get him, even Professor Smoak called him the best TA in the department). Anyway, I took the class on a whim based on the reviews below, and it was definitely worth taking. It ended up being my favorite class of the quarter. Take this for your GE!

Course: ANE 10W

Professor Smoak may be one of the most interesting professors at UCLA. He demonstrates great enthusiasm for the course material. He understands that some of the topics may be foreign to students, but he excels at getting the themes across to each student. You know exactly when to take notes when he raises his voice to say phrases like "that emphasizes..., the authors make the case that..., what's important is..." Then you just type out whatever he says after that since you might have to use what he says for the two papers you will write.

There are some pros and cons to take away from the fact that this is a writing class.

PRO: There is only one midterm and a final. I cannot stress enough how EASY they are. Professor Smoak says it himself. He wants students to focus more on writing papers than studying for the exams. Each exam is made up of multiple choice questions. You can study the night before if you want because many of the questions are one-liners with a three-word answer. Very basic.

CON: These exams do not make up a whole lot of your grade. Again he wants students to focus on writing. If this class was graded on exams solely, then it would be considered the easiest GE.

PRO: He has PPT slides in class that are easy to take note of. Highlights the main themes from the readings. Not everything that appears on the PPT is on the exams but everything on the exams is on the slides.

CON: He does not put PPT slides on the course website. However, he does put up Study Guides of terms and dates needed for the exams.

PRO: Most information comes from the readings.

CON: There are a lot of readings but I suggest you read them (or skim) since they are long and he takes out only one or two points from like a 40-page passage.

PRO: The papers may be worth more than half of the overall grade, but don't fret. Yes, each requires research with the second one requiring much more than the first. No, they are not impossible. Simply research and research some more then use your findings and analyze.

CON: I felt this was pretty surprising but the TAs aren't so helpful. Sure they tell you that your paper should reflect and elaborate on your thesis but there really isn't much more from the TAs than that. The fact that this is a writing class makes it seem like the TAs should offer exceptional assistance in your papers but I didn't feel that way. In addition, that Hacker book - the one about writing - barely any mention of it.

Overall, it CAN be an easy GE if you feel like writing and analyzing are simple tasks. Exams are meant to be a breeze, a piece of cake, a walk in the park or whatever you want to call it (took 5 minutes to finish the 50 m/c final). Professor Smoak's delight in teaching shows in every class and he just wants the best out of you.

Course: First Civilizations

You will work for your A in this class. I believe it is also a writing class so there are a couple essays that Smoak likes to focus on more than anything else. His midterm was multiple choice with a short essay portion and his final was a you-know-it-or-you-don't multiple choice. His lectures are very easy to follow but we've had about 5 guest lecturers who present with a questionable train of thought. Record his lectures and listen to them in your free time; it will help. His lectures are very easy to take notes for: when he wants you to know something, he's say "What's important is ..." or slow down his voice. He's a great person and professor and he will joke around (he compared the fall of Ninevah to the fall of USC in our recent football game, pictures and all). Bring a laptop; he talks a lot. It's a great GE class but not an easy A. The work is worth it in the end though.

UCLA senior/History major, fall 2012. Overall GPA 3.58

course: Middle eastern studies 50 (fmrly known as NEL 50)NOT the writing one.

With ALL honesty, i have alot of mixed feelings about this course. While professor Smoak is an excellent lecturer, this is not ALL that matters. I never missed a lecture, and i only took this course because i needed units for graduation. It is a lower division course. His tests are generally easy, but there is ALWAYS going to be 5-8 questions that are extremely tricky and arent from his lectures or readings, their just flat out of blue. This is why i got an 89-90 on midterm/final. The TA's are really smart but they wont i repeat WONT read your papers, theyll read your thesis statements (lol ok that doesnt help for shit). Like your a TA its your JOB TO READ MY PAPER THATS WHAT I PAY TUITION FOR. anyways, i ended up with a B+ which severly brought down my GPA. Why? I dont know, im a senior history major that knows how to write very effectively. I got SOLID A's in both my 97 and 191 seminar courses...so why do the two papers i wrote for Smoak get low B's (82 to be exact)? i dont know, really stupid tho. So in my opinion fuck this class, dont take it with its heavy workload.