[RELI 0120]
Eastern Religion

Rate This Class

Professor: Waldron

Value of Course / Overall Score

Not Much (12.5%
Average (37.5%)
Valuable (50%)

Material

Friendly (18.7%)
Average (37.5%)
Competitive (43.7%)

Class Atmosphere

Boring (43.7%)
Average (56.2%)
Fascinating (0%)

Prep Time Needed

1-2hr (6.7%)
3-5hr (80%)
6-8hr (13.3%)
9-11hr (0%)
12+ hr (0%)

Grade Weighting

Harder (26.7%)
Average (0%)
Easier (73.3%)

Adequate Assistance

Yes (93.3%)
No (6.7%)

Would Recommend Class

Yes (53.3%)
No (46.7%)

Evaluation Comments for Waldron

  1. No Comment
  2. No Comment
  3. This is a great class. Waldron is one of the most respected buddhist scholars in the country and a great teacher as well. Morrison is also very good and their teaching styles compliment each other very well. However your enjoyment of this class is completely dependant on what you put into it. You CAN get by doing none of the reading and bullshitting your way through the 3 papers and 2 exams and will probably still score in the B+/A- range but the material itself is fascinating and well worth the effort. Unfortunately too many of the students seemed to be taking it because of the easy grading, but if you have any interest in eastern philosohpy at all I can't reccomend this class highly enough. Probably one of the best courses I have taken at Middlebury.
  4. Lectures got really boring. Discussion sections weren't much better. Waldron is pretty awkward in small groups. He's decent in lecture though. It seemed as if he doesn't really enjoy teaching this class that much, but I can see him potentially being an awesome professor. He and Morrison cover so much in this class that it's hard to remember anything unless you're really into it all semester. After the first half I found myself only doing the readings here and there. You can honestly get by without them. Also, this class is actually called Intro to Asian Religious CLASSICS. Not just Asian Religions. This is something I didn't realize until I was already committed to the class. Therefore the professors are mainly concerned with primary texts, which are pretty dry. Also, having 90 kids makes for a horrible environment. Not a great representation of the Middlebury experience. Last time I take a class as big as this.
  5. Grades were lower then people thought they deserved, and I mean everyone I know in this class got a full letter grade less then they thought worthy. Grading is done by both Waldron and Morrison, so be warned, because grading is rough for this course. The readings and work is doable, but unless you know exactly what they are looking for grading can be overly harsh.
  6. A good overview of the main Asian religions. Both Waldron and Morrison are good, but very different. Morrison's discussion sections are very worthwhile and she's always willing to clear up anything that may have been confusing.
  7. Professor Waldron and Morrison provide a great comprehensive look on an enormous subject.
  8. Waldron often used very confusing metaphors that got off track. His lectures were dry and the grading was not as easy as expected.
  9. Waldron is spacey and vague, and though Morrison tries to make up for it by explaining things well in discussion, it's difficult to sit through the lectures for this class. There's too much detail in some sections of the class (mostly in the later Buddhism section, where things become incredibly confusing) and not enough in others (early Chinese religions, for example). It was always a struggle to decide to come to the class, though it was often a productive doodling sesh. It's clear that both professors know a lot about the religions and their historical context, but Waldron in particular has a difficult transmitting that knowledge in a clear way. Also, the sheer number of students in the class makes it difficult to concentrate; this class would be much better as a discussion-based, smaller class.
  10. Definitely take it. It is intellectually challenging, but very little if any busywork nonsense and the workload in general is more than reasonable. The subject matter is simply fascinating. This is philosophy meets religion meets sociology meets history meets linguistics. You can't go wrong with this course!!! The subject matter stimulates both the creative and analytical parts of your mind. Also, Waldron has a way of bringing the material to life that few other professors, save the late Mark Southern, had. This is a great course which will make you think but it is not too hard to get an A. Basically, this course is great for two reasons: the subject matter is simply fascinating (it's incredible how much more interesting and *intellectual* eastern religions are than the "big three" western religions), and also from one of this schools absolute greatest professors. One word of advice, though, if you choose to take this course: make sure you get into a discussion section with WALDRON!!!! Morrison, though a nice and helpful professor, WAY oversimplifies the material, which for me usually isn't a problem, but the subject matter here is so interesting that it is sad to see it ever butchered. That said, though, both professors are good, but Waldron is by far superior.
  11. Waldron was the worst professor I had in all my time at Middlebury. He was extremely boring and he made concepts seem more confusing than they actually were. He never answered a question directly, and that frustrated a lot of people in my discussion section.
  12. I went into the class because I was interested in Asian religions and I left still interested in them, just without having retained much of what was taught. The course is huge, both in class size and in texts and material covered. There was a huge amount of reading which I just gave up on half way through the semester. The classes were fairly vague because they covered so much. There were also 90 people in the class, one of the biggest at Midd. If you want a religion class or you are interested in East Asian religions, take a more focused course, this one will just go in one ear and out the other. Morrison was hard-edged, concise, and informative. Waldron is more...everything...is....brahman...man... Adjust accordingly for your learning style
  13. I'm not very interested in religion so this class was kind of a drag for me, but I did still learn a lot about a subject foreign to me. It was nice having a team of two professors (Waldron and Morrison) because they both had very different methods of teaching. Waldron was confusing, but Morrison clarified things well. It was a huge class so not very interactive which makes it hard to stay focused the whole time, but if you're interested in an overview of Asian religions, this is a good one for you.
  14. Waldron and Morrison are a great team. Excellent class.
  15. the class was very interesting... waldron was confusing at times, but his sidekick (professor morrison) did a great job of clearing everything up... the material was very interesting... and cosmic... we are all brahman, and brahman is all, man...
  16. This class (maybe this department) is without use. Luckily for religious practitioners and professors, there are people who care deeply about creating and disseminating goods and services of value.

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