This is by far the hardest GE I’ve taken. The professor does not curve the final grade at all, which honestly feels unreasonable. I put an enormous amount of effort into this class and still only ended up with a B. For context, I took two other GEs at the same time, put much less total effort into them, and still performed better than in this class.

The professor clearly loves archaeology, but the lectures are very disorganized and did not help me review the material in a structured or systematic way. The final exam being cumulative made this even more frustrating. The content is extremely boring if you are not an anthropology major, and no matter how much I studied, I feel like I forgot most of it immediately after the exam.

Some students did well, but from what I observed, they were genuinely interested in archaeology and were strong humanities students. As a STEM student taking this course as a GE, both I and other STEM students I know felt very confused and disconnected throughout the quarter.

The reading workload is excessive, and many of the readings are especially dull. Exams test very specific details that the professor briefly mentioned in lecture or minor points from the readings. Each lecture is accompanied by one or two readings, many of which are around seventeen pages long.

Overall, I would strongly recommend avoiding this class unless you are genuinely interested in archaeology and enjoy lecture-based courses in this subject. Additionally, the course introduction mentioned field trips, but there were none. We even had class in a room under a museum, yet the museum’s resources were never actually used.

His Anthro 2 lectures were engaging and helped expand my worldview on history through the internet. Felt like I had to give a review after missing the survey.

I see a lot of people complaining about how hard this class was but it truly isn't if you stay on top of readings and work as it comes in! I didn't try very hard for this class, had only ended up doing around 4 weeks max of the readings provided, and hadn't even showed up to the last 3ish weeks of lecture and still ended up getting a B in the class. Obviously each class is different for everybody, but this class truly is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Along with this, Prof. Lesure provides very detailed study guides for all of the exams taken in the class, which is very helpful.

The professor is very funny, course content is interesting, exams were moderately difficult but if you study hard they're very easy. The TA I got (Robin) was awesome, he kept students engaged.

I took this for an easy GE but it was not that easy. Lesure is really passionate about archaeology and definitely cares about his students, but the lectures tended to feel a bit disorganized and could get boring. My TA was also really boring which didn’t help. I put in way more work than I expected to for an A- in the class, but assignments are fair and often curved a bit. I’d recommend this if you’re interested in archaeology but if not you can probably find an easier GE.

Honestly, I took this class as an easy GE, but it was not easy. I'm currently studying for my final exam, which requires a lot of reading. I would not recommend this class, and if you're looking for an easy GE, you can definitely find other classes.

Professor Lesure is very passionate about the subject of anthropological archaeology. It definitely motivated me to be more engaged during lectures and to keep up with all the reading. The readings he assigned each week was a bit much though. The readings are also super important in your success for the exams. So, if you're planning on taking this class, be ready to read a ton. Overall this was a solid GE and the content was genuinely really interesting.

Overall: I would recommend taking this class as a GE! The content was interesting, the tests were manageable, and the papers were simple. Professor Lesure is a cool dude that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to throughout the quarter.

GRADE BREAKDOWN:
- Midterm: 20%
- Final: 35%
- Reading Paper 1: 10%
- Reading Paper 2: 10%
- Sections: 25%

Review:
This class goes over a basic understanding of long-term changes in human societies through the rise of cities and empires, looks at prominent archaeological findings that tell stories about human history, and some archaeology techniques and ethical challenges that come with the practice. Professor Lesure posted slides prior to lecture, which were useful for knowing the big topics covered in lecture and pictures of the artifacts/findings (really important to know and recognize some!!!). Attendance was not mandatory and recordings were posted.

There is no textbook for this course! Instead, Lesure posts weekly readings along with optional guided reading questions. Although they are not graded, I highly recommend answering the questions thoroughly as both the midterm and final will have some questions be the exact same as the reading guide.

Two of the weeks of readings had a required essay due about them. Easy prompts, three pages each, and graded fairly. They essentially just made sure that you read the texts for the week and were prepared to discuss them in section.

Sections were mandatory but laidback. My TA was very lax but reviewed the main topics of the lectures/readings for the week!

The midterm was moved to online for the circumstances of this quarter. It was 6 open response questions. Lesure provided a study guide prior to the exam that was extremely helpful and narrowed down all the topics so you knew what to expect. Tip for success: write down all you heard in lecture about the key words from the study guide and thoroughly answer the reading response questions.

The final was in-person but entirely multiple choice (TA strikes). Lesure also provided a study guide and had a final review lecture that was extremely helpful.

As long as you watch the lectures and memorize what he gives you on the study guides, you'll do great. Lesure and the content were highly enjoyable to me and I would take again.

The TA strike affected the final, which was intended to consist of short answers with an essay (it was changed to a 40 question MC). Overall, this class was fairly straightforward and not too demanding. It is worth noting that you do have to spend some time on the weekly readings. Grade consists of 25% participation in discussion, 20% midterm, 20% 2 reaction papers, and 35% for the final. The midterm was 6 short response prompts (paragraph length). One thing I did like was that for both the midterm and final, you start with 50% automatically and get slightly more margin for error to work with. Lectures are recorded. Professor Lesure was very helpful in office hours if you need help understanding certain topics (which is important for writing about them on the midterm).

This class was easy, but you need to study hard. You must do all the weekly readings before the discussion, and it will help you understand some of the concepts being discussed in class. There are two short papers on the readings and short answer questions for the in-person mid- and final. He records the class, so attendance for the lecture is not mandatory; however, heavy points are docked for unexcused absences from the discussion section. Overall would definitely take Lesure again.