I have mixed feelings about this class. Overall, I probably would not recommend this class. Prof. Warren is super cool, but the lectures were pretty dry and you spend most of it scribbling down everything so that you can adequately prepare for the test. This class was pretty easy, BUT the exam structure is the worst. Basically, you get a list of terms, quotes and possible essay questions two weeks before each test. Then, you have to create and memorize responses for each of the IDs, quotes and essays. The two week period leading up to every exam is super stressful, especially because you aren't allowed to take digital notes in lecture- so finding anything in your notes is much harder. Overall, this class was easy if you were not preparing for an exam, but with 3 total exams (including the final) 6 weeks of the course are not very enjoyable. That said, if you actually put in the work, getting an A is completely possible, it's just a really tedious process. If you do decide to take this class, make sure your TA is Lauren Wheeler. She is a super helpful TA- she always made sure we understood the content and was the only TA who provided review sessions for every test.

I had never taken a religion class before but found this one to be interesting since it was way more history based then religious philosophy or thinking. I did fall asleep in some lectures and there are no posted notes, but the exam questions are given to you ahead of time and my TA (Ame Wren) helped to make sure everyone was prepared. I never did the readings, but maybe skimmed over some of them before discussion section and still felt overall prepared. Prof Warren is great and really cares about her subject and the students(she brought us starbucks since we had a 9am exam) and Ame was also wonderful. This is a good, easy class that I recommend.

This was my first RELG class at UVA and I really enjoyed the content! I took it to fulfill my Historical Perspectives requirement and I would 10/10 recommend doing the same! Professor Warren was very passionate and invested in the class and I really got a deeper understanding of all the religions discussed (Christianity, Judaism, Islam). The readings were pretty long and they were dense, but if I'm going to be honest, I never read and I ended the class with an A-. The only downfall of this class is that during lecture there are no slides (and if there are they only have pictures) and all of the info is spoken so it is pretty difficult to make sure you catch everything if you are handwriting your notes. With that being said, if you type your notes it may be easier to catch all the details. You are given the study guide before the exam with everything that you will see (identification terms, quotes, and essay questions). The study guide will have ~8 identification terms, 5 quotes, and 2 essay questions, but the exam will only have 3-4 ID terms, 2 quotes, and 1 essay question. The final has a few more IDs and quotes but you still only have to answer 1 essay question (you are still provided with all the preparation beforehand). You'll have to be able to identify: dates, authors, definitions, and significance of the words or quotes, but having the exact info you need is extremely helpful so you aren't blindsided by the exam. The grades consist of 10% for the first exam, 25% for the second exam, 40% for the final exam and 25% for participation in section. I highly recommend this class for students of any year at UVA.

This class was important to me for understanding the origins and history of the Abrahamic religions, which most people should probably be aware of. The content was pretty interesting, and I certainly feel like I now have a good understanding of Western religions and my own faith. Professor Warren was a good lecturer, and she was goofy in an entertaining way sometimes. It is a history class in essence, so the two tests and final were short answer and essay questions, which involve lots of memorization. Overall, it was a good class with important material, and I would recommend it. Lauren Wheeler was also a great TA—she was very on top of things. #tCFfall2021

This class was fairly fun and easy. The lectures and readings are quite helpful and contain a lot of the test information. The review sheets handed out by the professor are also amazing and getting an A is pretty easy as long as you do the lectures, readings, and fill out the review sheets beforehand. The TA meetings are also straightforward and mostly just talk about the readings.

this is more of a history class than a religion class and is hella difficult unless you’re already well-educated in terms of christianity and judaism (there’s barely any islam in this course). test questions are given out before the exam but it’s not that helpful unless you can explain your answers well and in the way that the professors and TA want. discussion was hard too because it was all the super christian kids spitting facts that they already knew while all the people who weren’t that religious sat there clueless.

Here's the truth: the readings aren't necessary until you get the study guide. Hell, attending class probably isn't even fully necessary most of the time. Warren gives out a study guide before every exam, so you can just google what you need to know and, while you'll miss a few specifics she'd want to see for an A, can probably scrape out a B.

That said, I did all the readings and went to every class, so I'll review from that perspective. If you do that, you'll do really well. She gives a study guide, so if you've done the readings, you'll have plenty of time to dig through your notes and figure out the perfect answers before the tests. Warren is very interested in the subject matter and is enthusiastic and lively. One time, she sang us a song she wrote, and it was actually very nice. Discussion is useless, but what are you gonna do about that? It's 10% of your grade, so go. But you'll be bored.

Though I wasn't particularly interested in the subject, Professor Warren is really passionate about this subject and makes it somewhat enjoyable. Do not waste your money buying the course packet or any books. Warren posts almost all the readings from the course packet on Collab and you can just check out the books in the library. Even then, you don't really need to do the readings to do well in this class. I stopped taking notes on the readings by the third week and got along in discussion by skimming the readings. Make sure you take detailed lecture notes as they'll be helpful for exams. She gives you a study guide for each exam that is the exact same as the actual exam. This class was pretty easy and had very little workload.

Professor Warren is very knowledgeable about the course material and as long as you take notes during lecture you should be able to do little to no work outside of class. She tells you to buy around 5 books at the beginning of the semester which is unnecessary. My TA (Raihan) always discussed the readings for discussion very generally, so doing reading outside of class was pretty much optional. To do well on exams, all you need to do is go to lecture and take detailed notes, which can seem tedious at times since you are forced to try to write down word for word Warren's lectures, since she only puts a Powerpoint up to show pictures of the people/texts she's discussing. If you are looking for a class that is super low maintenance, this is the class for you, as long as you do well on exams because those are your only grades besides participation in discussion. I met with my TA once outside of discussion to ask a question about exam grading and saw my grades improve significantly after, so if you have Raihan as your TA I would recommend seeing him once outside of class to show him that you care about your grade.

The readings are for discussion; the lecture itself does not require the readings but they're usually closely related. Professor Warren is a solid lecturer and her exams are based entirely on study guides. Though the tests are almost entirely based on memorization and are completely free-response, they're quite easy provided you study far enough in advance. Solid choice overall for gen ed provided you put the work in.