I need to change my study habits, because if I consistently did active recall, an A would've been doable. There are 8 quizzes (out of 10, only 5 questions); two of which are dropped. Also, 8 participation/discussion grades (all out of 2, two are also dropped). The midterm was only 20 questions worth 30 points, and the final was worth 40 with 30 questions. The readings were quite a lot with the textbook, historical, and discussion. It's best if you read the textbook and attend his lectures and also review them, but that can be tedious, so if you have questions, attend office hours. Quizzes were every Friday, and the discussion (literary) readings were super interesting. The final exam was cumulative. I am not the best at remembering specific dates and times, so if you are like me, then do active recall or take another class! Professor Duthie and his TA's were always open to questions, so don't be afraid to ask. It is a lot of work that I wasn't expecting for a GE, but it was interesting! Soo, if you are looking for an easy A, this isn't the class for you.

DO NOT TAKE AS A GE. If you have no prior knowledge of japanese history/are not japanese do not take this as a GE course because majority of the people taking it have background knowledge that makes it a lot harder to do well relative. It is ridicoulous for a GE to have this much course work. Weekly quizes in discussion section - three of which are dropped but genuinely they are hard and on two readings per week which can be up to 20 pages each. Then, you have an essay on the readings. And the tests are soooo hard like its crazy. For reference, i went to every single lecture, read every single reading and still stuggled on the tests. They genuinely expect you to memorize over 1000 years of history along with time periods and dates stuff happened. It is not general. The time commitment i put into this class is very similar to the time i put into Econ 11 for context. If you want a chill easy GE this is not it.

I LOVE PROFESSOR DUTHIE!! he is the sweetest man ever and cares so much about his students like genuinely just want them to succeed. (he also has a cute english accent) this was the first time he did quizzes so it was constantly changing depending on student feedback. the first 3 quizzes were completely doable and the final one was super easy. (i think a lot of people complained to him about how hard the quizzes were). His office hours were on zoom so it was a tiny bit awkward but TA Min was SO NICE!! there was participation for the discussions but as long as you asked 1 question per module you're basically guaranteed full marks:) The paper was not graded harshly at all! I'm pretty sure no one got below a 90%. i learnt a lot from this class too and it was super fun to take! Prof. Duthie does go a little fast and it is a little content heavy but everything was just so enjoyable! He also records all his lectures. The final and midterms were just the papers. (1000 words)
Grade distribution break down:
2 papers - 20%
participation - 10%
small presentation - 10%
4 quizzes - 60% (15% each)
If you have the opportunity to take this class PLEASE DO! (and take it with TA Min:)