David Smith - University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Professor: David Smith

Department: Anthropology

College: University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ANT157
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

thank the lord almighty for the curve

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ANT157
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Quite possibly the worst prof I've ever had. The material is interesting, but the book is absolutely worthless, though pretty much mandatory in order to do well. It is not written with students in mind. He does not have power points or podcasts. Strictly lecture and really hard to keep up. Tests/quizzes are really difficult. Avoid at all costs!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

If you haven't taken STATs recently, you may (read most likely will) get lost in some lectures. Dr Smith or his TA were always helpful via office hours, email or discussion sections to clarify. The subject matter is clear and all assignments graded on curve.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Atrocious teacher. He would drone on and on for ages about these incomprehensible equations. You have to show up and take the best notes you can (no powerpoint) even though he'll be saying words you don't understand 75% of the time. This class was mandatory for me. If you don't need it, DON'T TAKE IT.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor Smith is a brilliant professor and hardcore population geneticist. The course is a fantastic blend of history and applied science/stats. Unless you have a scientific background and/or genuine curiosity, you may be hard-pressed to enjoy the academic rigor that Professor Smith demands from his students. Expect to work hard and learn a lot.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Nice guy, awful teacher. Assumes we know a lot more about the biology of specific blood diseases than we do. Took 9 weeks to talk about recognizable human variation, first 9 weeks are just memorizing people in history and blood diseases.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Seems like a nice guy, but not a good teacher at all! He basically lists a ton of names on the board or will go through math equations. I'm clueless in every lecture, and usually I do very well. He's very difficult to follow and take notes from. This class is basically "see how many insignificant names you can memorize".

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

It is hard to keep up with him while writing notes because of how unclear some of the materials may be and the fact that he lectures really fast. Definitely go to discussions because the TA will make things A LOT easier to understand. Reading are long but reader isn't that useful.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is a horrible professor. The worst was when he had to explain math equations (made them nearly impossible to understand), he would use variables and not explain what they represent. He assumed you knew a lot more than the prereq. of Ant 1 would have taught you.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Extremely boring. You will be bored stiff like wallpaper, I guarantee it. Once you get over the Southern accent, you understand that the book is meaningless and his lectures are. The class is not hard, and if you study your notes you will do just fine. Of course, there is still that deep feeling of remorse that one has not learned anything from him

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

You really should go to lect and take good notes, not all the material can be found in the book. Some extra material is covered in discussion, but i had a TA that was useless. He gives a list of terms to know for the tests. The paper is very broad so you get to choose somethign that really interests you.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is very knowledgable, and encourages questions. However, this class is VERY hard. There are no practice tests to get a feel for what the exams are like. He writes everything on the board, and goes very fast. There were a few lectures that I had no idea what was going on...and I'm an anthro major. :(

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ANT299
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very thoughtful - intellectually and emotionally. If you are interested and competent, he will go out of his way to help you.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ANT153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He seems like a nice professor, but his lectures are very fast paced and difficult to follow. He assumes you know more than you actually do (especially if you've taken no math). On the plus side, he had a good TA.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ANT157
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

There is no book, no TA, and he gets really confused about the material. But his tests are take-home and he grades easy.