Professor Igoe was really nice and approachable. He tries to really help students when it comes to writing papers and gives study guides for tests. This is a good intro class, but it gets boring at times. I've heard other professors are better, but I don't think you can go wrong by taking his class. Also, keeping up with the reading is not required, but you do need it for the exams.

Don't pay attention to reviews from previous semesters because Professor Igoe has obviously changed the course. Instead of being take home or open note, the tests are now in class, no note. Overall, there are three tests and three essays. The essays were pretty straightforward and easy as long as you're willing to put effort into them. The first was one page single-spaced, the other two were two pages single-spaced. The tests were decent and we were given a study guide for each. The first helped a ton, the second not so much, and the third was in between the previous two. Tests asked for some pretty specific material that if you didn't study well for, you probably wouldn't do well. The lectures were pretty dull and but Professor Igoe definitely knew the material through and through and brought in previous experience from the field of Anthropology. There wasn't a final, which was nice. If you're looking to fulfill the Non-Western perspective requirement with this class, expect to put in a good amount of effort and be somewhere in the B to B+ range. The class was not curved.

This class is definitely one I'd recommend. You don't have to do the readings at all to do well in the class and the only time I had work was prepping for the essays or exams. Sometimes the lectures were a bit boring and long, but if you even remotely pay attention, then you don't have to do too much to study for the exam. Professor Igoe taught this class just like you picture a college lecture. The topics were definitely different than I was expecting, but if you're looking for an easy way to fulfill a Social Science or NonWestern Perspective then I would definitely recommend taking this with Igoe.

Lectures are extremely dry/boring. I'd be looking around and see almost everyone texting, online shopping, etc. on their laptops. Content isn't hard and is usually pretty straight forward/common sense. Igoe is super passionate about what he's teaching--great guy who's willing to work with you to succeed. Essays aren't hard, just take a good amount of time...Exam studying can get a little tedious since it's so much info to have to know. Readings aren't completely mandatory before lectures but are good to get a background on what's being talked about. What's nice about the course is he specifies everything you need to know in the study guide for the exam, so getting a good grade isn't impossible as long as you know everything on the study guide--it's all clear cut, he doesn't try to trick you with any exam questions which are nice. I think I liked Igoe a little more than the class itself.

The most boring class you can ever take. I don't know if it's the material or the professor, but I would rather take a hard class than this because I just can't study for this extremely boring class.

Honestly an amazing professor! He really loves what he is teaching and just wants to spread that passion. I was a little sad that there were no take home exams, but his exams were still doable if you put in some effort to study. I managed an A- for the semester and it wasn't too much work. Do take diligent notes and read all the readings he gets because on his exams he asks you to talk about the readings in the essay section. But to really do well on the exam go to his office hours; Igoe will basically give you answers to his exam questions and will really help with the essay section (which is the section I struggled with the most). The discussion section of this course was also really easy (i had Ming as my TA- a sweetheart) you have to do one powerpoint presentation with a partner but it was nothing big.

This class, even though the exams are no longer take home, is still a relatively easy class. There is no required homework and minimal weekly reading. The exams are multiple choice, matching, fill in the blank, and short essay. Some people say there is arbitrary grading on the exam, but with good studying you should be able to pull off at least an A-. I wouldn't say this course is a gimme A. The test has parts that come from the textbook and is also pretty lectured based. He reviews a lot for exams and often gives many answers including the short essay. The lectures do not cover anything from the textbook. I found that that the class wasn't very structured and didn't have much flow, but as long as you learn what is being taught it's not a huge problem. The content is pretty interesting and helped me see things in another perspective. However, Igoe can be quite dry, but reflective of the exams. The discussions with TA's won't really help you, although they are nice. But, overall this class will not take up much time at all in your schedule in terms of reading and homework. Studying for the exams is the only thing you really have to dedicate time to. Also another important note, in Fall 2016, it was only offered as an 8am, which is primarily the reason I did not do as well as I wanted to. So just be sure can wake up and pay attention in lecture!

This class was alright - nothing stellar. The course grade was mostly based off of exams. Some previous reviews said they were take-home, open-note, but Prof. Igoe changed this policy so that all exams are closed-note and in-class. People also said they were pretty easy, since they are mostly matching/MC/TF, but I didn't find this to be the case. I thought they were pretty tricky, even though I ended up with a B on each one. The readings are pretty quick, but I know most students didn't do them since everything is explained in discussion, and the tests are essentially just from the lectures. In my opinion, Igoe isn't the best at explaining things, despite what other reviews said, but you can usually get some valuable information from going to office hours before exams. Overall, I thought this class was pretty boring but a low-work class, especially if you're looking for an easy way to fulfill the non-western perspective requirement.

This course was fantastic! Professor Igoe really knows his stuff. He clearly cares about the material, and he's great at explaining it to students. He's very fair and approachable - even though it was a big lecture class, I never felt afraid speaking up. He encouraged students to participate in class and to come to office hours as well. I would recommend taking anything you can with Professor Igoe. He'll push you to learn, and support you to do your best.

Grade is three tests, each 25%, plus the discussion section grade for the final 25%. I felt the tests were very fair. I saw another reviewer said the tests asked about things that weren't covered in class, but that was not my experience at all. If you went to class, did the readings, and studied for tests, then everything on the tests were straightforward. If you struggled on the tests, you just didn't do the work. This is not an easy A class, but if you show up and put in a little effort, you will do well and learn a lot.

There only assignments were readings, which were pretty light and complemented lectures. Discussion section was a waste of time, but mandatory. Avoid Saad Quasem at all costs - he only made the material more confusing, he said off-topic and actually incorrect things, and he bullied students. He really was a damper on what was otherwise an excellent course.

Don't be fooled by what previous years tell you about this course. The tests are not take-home. This is not an easy GPA booster class. Igoe obviously cares a lot about anthropology and current events, but his exams often include random questions that weren't emphasized in lecture, discussion, or even his office hours. Speaking of discussion, it's pointless but attendance is mandatory. Neither of the TAs were good. One was anti-American and racist towards white people while the other was so quiet no one past the first row could hear anything. It was definitely not worth waking up at 8 AM twice a week.