Kershaw is an extremely knowledgable lecturer, but due to COVID his lectures were asynchronous so I never actually got to see/interact with him. The overall course grade was based on very few assignments (2 essays worth 30% each, discussion grade worth 40%), usually there is also a final exam included which he scrapped because of COVID.
I probably wouldn't recommend taking this course simply to satisfy the general historical requirement. It's probably a good idea to have taken a college history course before taking this one.

Kershaw is definitely a knowledgeable and exciting lecturer, however the class is much harder than it initially seems. He talks very fast in lecture, and if you don't keep up with the material you will only get more and more lost every week. The readings for discussion every week are rather lengthy and dense, and sometimes just downright uninteresting unless you have a fancy for this era in history. However, Drew Sorber made discussions my favorite part of the class because he got everyone actively participating and interacting with the primary sources as to help us understand the contents. Sorber was very friendly, approachable, and mostly available whenever one may have needed him -- definitely the best TA I've had. Overall, the class was good and Kershaw will not fail to make you chuckle or entertain in each lecture, so at least there's that if nothing that day interests you.

I took this for my pre-1700 European History requirement. Mistake. Don't take this class if you don't have a background in ancient Europe. Prof. Kershaw is really passionate about the subject, but his lectures are incredibly scattered, hard to follow, and quite dry. The readings focus heavily on primary texts translated from ancient languages. There are two papers, a midterm, and a final. Discussions are quite boring, but John Terry tries to make it interesting.

This class is definitely worth taking. The time period is really interesting and the lectures are well done. There were a couple of weeks were the lectures kind of dragged but it picked back up towards the end.

Lectures are scattered and Kershaw jumps from one thing to the next. There is no cohesion in this course. I understand that is the nature of the material, but that doesn't make the class more enjoyable. Kershaw is really enthusiastic, but rambles a lot. If you're looking for a pre-1700 history class to take, pick a different one. Midterm and final have 30-50 terms for review and only maybe 5 are on the test. 2 papers.

Kershaw is great and does what he can with a devastatingly frustrating period in history. The course amounts to guessing what happened between 400-1066 in England because no one actually knows and even the primary sources are called into question. I only took this class because it was a pre-1700 Euro requirement for the major. The professor and TA Terry made it bearable enough.

Kershaw is a smart dude, a snappy dresser, and a fast speaker. Writing notes was difficult as he often jumped from one subject to another. That being said, the subject is awesome. Heavily focused on religion, but there is enough Viking and Beowulf thrown in to keep the barbarian-students interested. Two essays, two midterms, final. You can choose your essays from several choices, which was good, but they require outside research. Anyways, this is a dope class. take it.

Professor Kershaw is really funny and engaging, and the reading (especially the primary sources) are actually very interesting. Take this class if you are at all interested in things like Beowulf or the Vikings or the making of England.

This is a great class and Kershaw is a very enthusiastic and engaging lecturer. There's a fair amount of dense reading, but if you get a good TA (John Terry), you'll be able to understand it all.

This class was fantastic, Kershaw is an amazing lecturer and makes the material very interesting and easy to understand. He is by far the best teacher I have had at UVa. Highly recommend. Not easy, but not necessarily hard, and extremely rewarding