Western Kentucky University / S / Jeffrey Samuels

I love religion but i despise this course and man. He taught from powerpoint slides which didnt correspond with what your book said. This class was a waste of money and my time, take something else!

This class is insane, DO NOT TAKE IT! He shows a powerpoint in class every day, but there is no information on them and he expects you to write down everything he says during a lecture. He also assigns tons of outside readings, as well as readings in the book. He gives you a study guide for one of THREE tests, the class average on the first test was a 68.7, which is a D - the second exam the class average was even lower, a 60.25. The exams are fill in the blank with ridiculous vocab words, three short essays (he won't give you any clue what those are about, but he expects you to be able to write a long answer about.) finally there is a long essay, which he will give you some idea what it's about - this class is insanely hard, Samuels is a good guy, but this class is absurd for a level 100 course. I currently have a D but I am busting my ass to get a C in this class. It sucks!

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! It made me never want to take another religious studies class again!

It may not sound very fun, but it is actually a pretty interesting class! I have absolutely no interest in the subject but learned a lot. He is a good professor and is Very knowledgeable on the subject. He always answers questions and tries to make class as fun and easy as possible! The test are hard but always the same setup and he doesn't "require" you take the notes, you can print them off!

I didn't go into this course w/high hopes, but it turned out that it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. We went over 3 different religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Notes were taken everyday and the entire class long. There were a lot of readings he put on blackboard and readings in the book he wanted you to do. I did nothing but studied the notes from class and did fine. Everything you talk about in class is what's on the exams. He'll even put up a review sheet before an exam and that's pretty helpful. Exams were fill in the blank, then a short answer, then an essay. He didn't grade too hard so just have an idea of what you're talking about and you'll be fine.

This class was difficult being that most students dont have any background in the material that is covered. In the course we studied Hinduism. Budhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Each of these is equally foreign to the average student.

Dr. Samuels did a great job trying to get us to understand the foreign concepts and was open to any questions or debates. He also did a great job considering there were 150 people in there.

Attendance is not required, but if you dont go, you wont know what is going on. I missed a few times and was lost the next class period. As far as reading, I got by without reading most of the stuff, which didnt make much sense anyway. The book is somewhat useful, but you could probably get by without it if you follow his lectures.

There were 3 tests total, and each was just over the basic concepts of each religion and how they related to each other. If you understood everything, it was easy.

He offered ample extra credit and had 2 study sessions before each test.

Overall, the class was difficult, but I recommend it to anyone that needs a diversity credit or that is interested in other cultures.

Even though the tests mostly consist of somewhat lengthy identifications of terms, I thought they were easy for the most part--as long as you go to class and keep up with the notes this class should not be too hard and I personally found it very interesting. Dr. Samuels is a very dedicated teacher and offers several opportunities for extra credit--we got extra credit one day just for being there! I would also recommend that if you take this class, you go to the study sessions right before the exams. They are EXTREMELY helpful. He also gives you a study guide for every test, and if you study that, you're pretty much gaurenteed a good grade on the test. Takes a little bit of work, but it's a class that's very easy to get through and Dr. Samuels is extremely patient and will take time to perosnally explain things to you.

He is a gifted teacher, he is very passionate about what he teaches and will take extra time out to help you if you need it. He's area is in asian religions and he lets you know that, he's a buddhist I believe. All things aside he cares deeply about his students and wants all of them to succeed. If you are at all interested in asian religions take him because he gives you a straight forward and indepth look. He's one of the best professors I've ever had.

Samuels is an outstanding teacher. He is extremely patient and helpful. He is also hillarious and makes class very enjoyable. His ways of teachings are brilliant and really interesting. Very good teacher, I recommend him for any class you can take with him

This is a hard class. You have to read to pass. It seems like it would be interesting but that wears off after the first class.

I really do not recommend this professor, or the course unless you have a background in Eastern religions. You are required to have 3 different books all of which are expensive and they are so hard to read you do not understand them. Dr. Sammuels tests are very hard and he is an extremely hard grader. The extra credit requires you to go out of town to different temples.

Dr. Samuels really knows his stuff, and expects you to know it too. He gives lectures and you have to copy every word he says or you do poorly on test. Do not take him!!!