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ANTH 2810 Human Origins
Last taught: Fall 2016
22 Ratings
⏱ Hours/Week
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16 Reviews

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Fall 2016
4.0
Average

Professor Hantman is a great professor. The class is very much based on the readings, so as long as you get the readings done on time and attend the lectures, you'll do well in this course.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 3.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 2.0
Fall 2016
3.0
Average

Besides the long tangents, he goes off on, Hantman is a very good professor. Very passionate, knowledgeable, and, animated person. Course material is not difficult to understand. Possible to earn an A if you take good notes in lectures. You can still receive a good grade in the class without reading weekly readings/books. Be prepared for exam extended responses, by providing details and answering the specific question.

Instructor 3.0
Enjoyability 3.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2016
3.0
Average

Great professor, but the course is a bit stretched out; it feels like the material could be condensed into just one month. There were three books to read throughout the course, but the majority of the reading was not helpful on the tests or for the overall understanding of the class.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 2.0
Fall 2016
3.7
Average

Hantman is great guy! Very knowledgable and funny. He does get off track at times. The course is only made up of 3 grades which can be annoying but the first two are basically memorization. Pretty easy and nice course.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Spring 2015
2.7
Average

Like other have said, this is definitely science ended. The only other anthro class I've taken was 1010, but I feel like anthro classes don't typically involve a lot of brute memorization. The first 2 out of 3 exams are entirely brute memorization - like history IDs.
I really liked Hantman at the beginning; he has an adorably quirky sense of humor. But the man cannot stick to the topics that he expects us to know for the exams for his life. He is wildly tangential and spends roughly 60% of the class delving into irrelevant details, which puts most of the class to sleep. On the other hand, if you go to all the lectures, take notes, and thoroughly google the terms on the study guides he sends out (always last minute though), readings are not necessary to get in the A range on exams.
I guess I was kind of disappointed by this class because I thought we'd spend a lot of time talking about the evolution of language, art, and culture in humans, but it was very rushed, and a lot of it had to be learned through assigned videos/Google. The bulk of this class is memorizing the dead white men who founded evolutionary theory, and the details of the ~20 species in the hominid family tree. Easy A though.

Instructor 3.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 0.0
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Spring 2015
4.7
Average

This class was one of the best I have taken so far at UVa. The subject is fascinating. Hantman can get off track really easily and could probably say everything he needs to in a fraction of the class period, but his enthusiasm and passion for the subject are adorable. There are assigned readings, but you can get away with not doing them. He sends out a study guide before each exam, which are very straight forward.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 1.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Spring 2015
4.7
Average

Professor Hantman is by far my favorite professor at the University so far! He is very approachable, humorous, and easy going. As for the class, as long as you keep track of what is going on in lecture, studying for tests won't be stressful since the study guides Hantman sends you have every term and concept you need to know. A bit more science ended than your average anthropology class but recommend it for anyone!

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 2.0
Spring 2015
4.0
Average

Hantman is the man. You learn a lot about human evolution and pop culture. Reading is totally unnecessary and the exams are not very difficult. 3 exams equally weighted, first one on evolutionary theory, second and third on human evolution. Science-ended anthropology and a good class all around.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 3.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 1.0
Hours/Week 1.0
Fall 2012
5.0
Average

Loved Professor Hantman, he's a good lecturer and makes the majority of the class really interesting. You have two tests and a final that consist of short answer and short essays and they're not too hard

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 1.0
Fall 2012
4.7
Average

I LOVED THIS CLASS! Definitely science ended. Professor Hantman is great, although he does often get off topic. There are 3 exams that make up the grade. All are pretty easy if you know the material.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 4.0
Hours/Week 0.0
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