Prof Silk is a good lecturer and her slides are easily comprehensible. She posts all slides before lecture, so you can print them out and follow along while she talks. She gives good examples and lots of charts/graphs to help you understand the material.
The midterm was a bit tricky. I thought it would be pretty easy because I felt like I understood the material, but the exam questions were a bit vague and it was unclear what exactly she was looking for. I know a lot of people lost points because they didn't say exactly what she wanted even though they understood the concept.
Her re-grade policy is that you have to submit a written statement about why your answer is correct and why you deserve more points.
This class is definitely intersting, and although the 2nd half can be a bit tedious, it's good stuff to know.

I hated this class! Her lectures were like listening to a primate! She would just read off her silyl slides the whole time and put you to sleep. I stopped going to lecture because it didn't help at all. 90% of the class is based on the midterm and final, which all consisted of essay questions which were very vague. Also, my TA was extremely boring and vague..didn't help.
STAY AWAY!!

The subject, human evolution, is really interesting and kind of fun because after taking it you can argue beat anyone who doesn't believe in evolution in an argument.

Prof Silk is a decent lecturer. She's understandable and keeps on topic. A few complaints about how she purposely made some things politically correct and a couple of test questions that were incomprehensible - that kind of thing really pisses me off, when it turns out you really knew the answer to a test question but it was worded so badly that you couldn't figure out what it was asking.

No reason not to take her class, but I wouldn't go out of my way for her.

When I took this class, I thought it would boring and just another one of those GEs you have to take in order to graduate. However, this class turned out to be pretty interesting. Prof. Silk lectures are clear and very well organized. She posts all the slides online, her tests are fair and rather straightforward. The homework assigned every week are short and will help you for the tests. The class is curved: 40% got B+ or higher, 28% got at least A-. In sum, it is a great GE: interesting and easy, plus the professor is very good at teaching it...

I liked professor Silk, but I very much disliked the course. The midterm average was very low and both the midterm and the final were nothing but memorization. I agree, who care about the difference between homo erectus and homo ergaster, but it's true, the professor needs to teach this material. I took it as a GE and though it was interesting at times, I sort of wish I had taken another class. To get an A in the class, do the following: make note cards of every lecture slide and memorize all of them, and read the book. Sounds easier than it is. I felt bad for Professor Silk because only half of the class went to lecture. I recommend going to lecture because you learn much more by going to lecture than just looking at the lecture notes online. If you did well in AP Biology in high school, you should have no problem in this class.

I would not recommend this class as a GE. There is a lot of memorization and if evolution turns out to not be your thing I can see how this class would suck. However, I am a Psych major so I had to take it and I LOVED Professor Silk. I am so pleased I took it with her. If you can I recommend taking the honors section the readings she chooses though sometimes long are amazing, and really served useful as little extras to add to my answers on the midterm and final. Silk's lectures can sometimes seem long and tedious because who really cares about the dentition of Paranthropus boisei but that's not her fault. This class was definitely not the easiest I've taken, the midterm was long but the questions she asks are fair, I was not surprised by any of the questions on the midterm or the final. Do the readings and go to lecture though, and do the hominin worksheet she posts online memorizing that thing is VERY helpful for the final. Overall if you study the questions in the back of the book and can remember stressed examples from lecture you should ace the class no problem.

this class sux......studying for the midterms and final sux. the final is cumulative and memorizing all the hominids and their derived traits sucks even more. WHo cares whats the differennce between sahelthropus tchadensis and orrorin tugenensis..i certainly dont.... arghhh.. good luck to whoever has to take this class

Her lectures were organized, concise and interesting. The required text was written by her, and was an easy reading. Her tests were really easy because she asked general/basic concepts which were the obvious topics in class. I studied a few hours before the tests and scored in the top 5% of class. Seriously, it was one of my favorite and easiest classes.

i think this course was pretty easy...
just study ur lecture notes for midterm..
then u'll do fine.. and also.. the finals.. don't get fooled by the sample questions she gives out. i thought the fanals is going to be from the sample questions... but none of the questions were from the sample questions!
argghh!!!

just study on ur own for the finals
lecture notes!!!!

It's not a hard class but it's boring. Lectures are a waste of time since her presentations are posted on line. Make sure you study for the tests because almost the entire grade rests on the midterm and final. I'd say, don't take it unless you have to; it's not a fun GE.