You do not need to go to lecture, but go to discussion though. Both midterms and the final were online, open note and 80% of the answers could be easily looked up. As long as you do the homework you don't even really need to do any of the reading either.

Dr. Camal was very passionate and the lectures were interesting, especially once the week or so of basics had passed. Lecture attendance isn't mandatory, but discussion attendance is. Lots of busywork assignments, but most are interesting. Tests are online and you take them twice, reading the textbook is SUPER helpful and required!!

Easiest class I took this semester. Lecture is pointless if you read the textbook, which is required to do the weekly homework. Almost everyone in my discussion stopped showing up after the second lecture, and still did very well in the class.

Prof. Camal was a little uptight but I found his lectures to be somewhat interesting. Attendance of lectures is not mandatory but attendance of discussions is. A lot of busy work. Tests are online and can be taken twice. The reason everyone takes this class is for a free A not the subject matter so Camal gets the job done.

Although most of the class content is interesting, professor Camal somehow made it boring. I attended half of the lectures, even though they aren't mandatory. Discussions are mandatory, but I looked forward to them, although some of my friends would disagree. As you'll be directly participating in the discussion, having a good TA matters more.

Jerome is a bit condescending and is a very stereotypical 100 level professor. The class is a free A and I stopped going to lecture shortly after the start of the semester. There is a good amount of busy work but none of it is difficult

The lectures were pretty boring so I don't blame the 3/4 of the class that stopped going after the first few weeks. I went to every one and I don't really think they helped me in the long run. The projects and reading responses were definitely just busy work. My discussion sucked because my TA talked the entire time and I gained nothing.

The class itself is an easy A but quite a few assignments(mostly busy work). Lectures are not mandatory or needed for the online open note exam. Prof Camal certainly does not make anyone want to go to lecture. He calls out the few people who actually show up for being on their phones and talking to each other in front of the whole class.

The topics are interesting but class had too much work for a 3 credit course. There's 3 big projects that are fine but there are long reading assignments other than the textbook. Online exams -- answers can be found on quizlet. I would have recommended it if it was only the exams but overall the assignments add up for a heavy workload.

The lectures are sometimes interesting and sometimes boring. Participation is not mandatory for lectures and the tests are pretty easy.

Anthro 104 is a class with an ego; Camal is a big part of that. He takes this class incredibly seriously despite the fact that there is little repercussion to simply not going. Compared to professors of similar 100 level Anthro classes, he does not compete. I felt uninterested and unmotivated throughout the course. Lecture cleared out after 2 weeks

I thought that Camal's lectures were pretty boring and disengaging, and they were rarely that important to attend/pay attention to because exams were all online and open note. Lectures were not mandatory, discussions were and you were expected to participate. I didn't like this class, but I'm not an anthro major; it also had a lot of assignments.

Prof Camal is very knowledgable on the topic of anthropology, and has a lot of experience. He is a little strange and does weird stuff, but he makes lectures enjoyable. He incorporates videos and music in his lectures. Overall I think he is a good guy and anthro 104 was an easy class for ethnic studies.

His lectures are word-for-word scripted and makes his lectures boring. The only reason I didn't get an A was because I didn't do most of the online quizzes, but I got high grades for the exams, which all had 3 available attempts and you were allowed to look up answers. I didn't even properly do any of the projects, but still got A/B's for them

Anthro 104 in notoriously one of the easiest classes on campus, I stopped attending lecture before thanksgiving break, as well as reading the book as I could not handle his white savior campaign. Easiest A on campus, besides for maybe clap for credit.

Prof Camal's lectures are long and scripted. I've only gone to 3 lectures in the beginning of the year and passed with a high A. All the exams are online and half the questions are online. The projects are super easy, just long. Discussion are attendance mandatory. Only take this class if you're looking for an easy A.

Prof Camal is an extremely average professor. He's a nice guy and the class is an easy A, but he sucks at lecturing and reads off a script. I found that lectures arent super beneficial as long as you read to textbook.

Great guy and lecturer. The class is easy enough because a lot of the online exam answers are on a quizlet. He says he doesn't care how you get the answers as long as you understand them. He's fun to listen to and although the lectures aren't mandatory, they can be pretty interesting sometimes. He makes you reconsider a lot of things.

Lectures weren't terrible but he did read off of a script. As long as you do a good job on any projects exam grades don't matter that much. Discussion sections are basically worthless and most of the time my TA marked me present when I wasn't there. Easy A for Ethnic Studies and overall not as bad as I thought it would be.

Professor Camal literally reads off a script for his lectures, and most of his tests are quite easy, online, and a lot of questions are able to be found through Quizlet. As such, I did not attend lectures for the last two exams worth of content. Discussions are mandatory, but useless. Easy A if you need an ethnic study, but would not take again.

He is okay considering the class is an easy A. Overall the textbook quizzes are boring yet with an online textbook and being open book it can be fairly easy to find the answers. Personally I found you can read the textbook and skip lectures, or skip the textbook and go only to lectures. There is a lot of writing involved with this course, so beware

Lectures were extremely boring, Camal reads off a pre-written script in a monotone voice the entire time. He sometimes walks around the room and forces participation so definately sit in the middle. Also comes off as very condescending and controlling towards his students. The only upside is that you can get an A without showing up to lecture.

I really liked Jerome. He is very sweet and cares a lot about anthropology. He understands that not everyone there wants to be an anthropologist, and teaches many valuable things for life. I appreciated his enthusiasm, lectures can be a little boring though.

I really enjoyed showing up to Anthropology lecture because of Professor Camal. He was great and really passionate about his work. I would take this class again. My only warning is if you dont like to write do not take this class. Its an easy A and actually interesting to learn about.

reads off lecture slides. not so passionate about the class. but very easy A. good class to take for honors, the project is easy.

This course included three exams, three reading responses, and three projects. If you take the course for honors, there is a very easy group project and reading. Prof. Camal is great, but lecture can get repetitive and boring sometimes. And you NEED to read the textbook in order to complete reading check assignments.

Professor Camal was aight, but my main complaint is that he only reads off the notes he has on his computers next to the slides. The tests are all on Canvas. The class is super easy, but discussions are mandatory. TAs can be hard on grading, so be careful.

I loved this class, please take it with Camal if you can. He loves France.

He's an okay professor- lectures are kind of boring. Discussions are very interesting. Easy A for an ethics credit.

Professor Camal was nice enough, but lectures were just him reading straight off a slide and it was painfully boring. The class is super easy and all of the tests are online, and you get to take each test twice. Discussion sections are mandatory, but they're usually interesting and we get to have in depth conversations about important topics.

Professor Camal is extremely passionate about teaching anthropology. The class overall is pretty easy. There is homework but it's relatively easy. The topics covered can be interesting and there is a textbook required. Discussion sections are also mandatory. The lectures can be kinda boring but they're only 50 min.

Didn't have many interactions since the class was asynchronous, but Professor Camal made the content interesting. Discussions are important

This class is easy and there is little work required, but the professor is poor at communication. I was 0.62% from an A after our final (which was supposed to have me at an A but my grade mysteriously went down) and had a solid A all year. I emailed both my TA and him about possible extra credit I could complete and never heard a single word back.

I don't know about the other comments but I do believe he did a great job teaching online this semester. What I like about him the most is that he grades you based on a lot of assignments instead of grading you based on a few major/ significant exams. The class was an easy A because of the good grading policies he has. Definitely would take again

This class is super easy , and a good ethnic credit class to take . There is a lot of unnecessary busy work , but if you do it , its an easy A. Prof. Camal was an okay teacher , the lectures were pretty boring and he read off a script the whole time . Not really engaging well to make it entertaining . I would prefer someone else to take this with.

I was not prepared for how much busy work this class was. I found lectures incredibly dry and almost hard to listen to because he's clearly reading directly off a script. You get the sense he takes himself very seriously, which also just makes him kind of insufferable. If you want an easy A it's fine but try and get anyone else.

This was the first class I took at UW. On the first day, TopHat was not working & I asked if I could be marked present anyways, to which he said no and then yelled at me. Disliked him since. He is also quite rude and insults students from time to time. However, the class is ridiculously easy. Check google for half of the exam questions.

Easiest Ethnic studies A on planet earth. Quite a rude professor though. He also said that they are changing the entire class this summer so be prepared for it to be harder. If you like anthropology then you might like lecture. I didn't like anthropology so I just sat on my phone. Also, sit in the middle so you don't get called on.

Jerome is interesting. I feel like he would be better in a smaller class, but right now it just seems like he doesn't really care. He's snarky, kind of rude, and makes lectures much more painful than they need to be. Which is a shame, since the subject matter is interesting and very important. He just doesn't do a good job conveying it.

This class was really easy for me. He asks topcoat questions but you can easily do them at home. There is about one or 2 weekly assignments but they're pretty easy and the 2 midterms and the final are online and you're given 2 attempts so its not too hard to do well. I think this is a pretty easy A ethnics study class

For an anthropologist, his cultural reflexivity is shockingly poor. He frequently condescends to his students and doesn't seem to understand that if he actually treated his students like people instead of sheep, they wouldn't be so reluctant to participate in lecture.

After reading many negative reviews about him on RMP, my friend and I were surprised to find Jerome to be a pretty good lecturer. The class is easy and is structured well. Some negative reviews on here are likely due to the class being 'political'. It's true that Jerome can get political at times, but it's never to the detriment of lecture quality.

His lectures were extremely uncomfortable. He would call out students in the middle of class, insult the entirety of the Midwest (Including the University for not being elite), and was overall very unprofessional. The class itself is easy, but you do have to show up to lecture to do well on the exams. If you can, avoid him at all costs.

A lot of busy work, grading depends on TA

Super easy class. Midterms are online. Lectures are mandatory tho since he takes attendance through top hat. Discussion is mandatory as well (take participation attendance). Read a lot of reviews about forced participation in lecture, as long as u sit in the middle and not on the ends of the rows he will never ask u to participate.

His is really a nice professor. But sometimes his homework really annoys me. This is the mid-term week and I got three assignments due tonight. Also, he graded Tophat questions on accuracy, which I am really frustrated every time I got a question wrong. If you are fine with this, then just go with him.

Nice guy

kept class entertaining. he basically gave answers to exams and homework during lecture.

Kind of a jerk during lectures. Demanded participation from a 200+ person lecture then would proceed to make fun of the student. Other than that, semi-fair exams that are taken online, open-note, and get two attempts.

Lectures are super boring so get a group and switch off going, as long as you do all the discussion homework (you get three absences and some dropped assignments), get the online textbook for the online tests and you can easily look through it, just highlight important people and events and you'll be fine. Textbook homework is easy, dont read

If you're taking this class for an easy A- you will not be disappointed. If you're taking this class out of interest or learning, choose a different prof. Jerome is opinionated, lectures are dull and uncomfortable, and you will learn virtually nothing. But the exams are online and very easy, and most of the grade is participation/completion based.

This is an easy course. Prof. Camal isn't as mean as the other comments make him to be, but if you don't want to be forced to participate in lecture, don't sit in the aisle seats. The textbook is the majority of the exams, exams are not worth much too. Basically, show up to discussion, do the assignments, and you'll at least get an AB.

Jerome is both childish and unprofessional. I truly hope the university reconsiders their choice in allowing an ineffective instructor to lead a course of nearly 400 students. I cannot emphasize enough how rude, ignorant, and opinionated he is. The worst, he would publicly embarrass students in a manner which came across as a bully. Exams are impos

This dude is WACK. He is an awful professor. He will force people into answering questions the way he wants through his heavily opinionated ways. Even if you go to lecture and read the book, his midterm and final questions are so meticulous that it won't do you much good. Stay away from this man if you want an easy A for an intro anthro class.

I would avoid this professor at all costs. He bullied students in class, he made remarks about a student's inability to read in a 400 person lecture. He is unwilling to hear any opinion that do not align with his views. Most students in the class stopped going to lecture. Exam questions were based on his opinions. Very unprofessional and childish.

Lectures are meaningless and a pure waste of time. You will only see him walking around and making students answer questions. Illy organized. Exams are the worst: he literally said that they are not about your learning but how fast you search contents. 60 mins to do 40 questions about trivial details. Strongly suggest him to take education classes

DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS. Thought this class was going to be an easy A, but it turned out to be hard. Do bad on one assignment and you won't get an A in the class. I highly recommend not taking this class.

I would not recommend taking a class with Jerome. He makes students uncomfortable by putting a microphone in their faces during lecture. He covers about 3 things during lectures and his tests are too difficult based on the subject matter.

Each lecture consists of group work followed by a question/answer session. If you say something he doesn't personally agree with, he'll outright tell you are wrong, even though most of the information he teaches is subjective. Here's the good news: you don't have to attend lecture. If you do the reading and go to discussion, an A is guaranteed.

Terrible prof. Not only is he opinionated and rude, he tries to get the entire 300 person lecture to discuss with each other. And if you don't feel like ever participating, sit in the middle of the lecture room or he WILL shove a microphone in your face. His powerpoints are ineffective and so is him reading from his notes about subjective topics.

It seems strange that he cannot get through a lecture without reading word for word from his notes.. just shows Jerome is not a polished public speaker. The notes he reads word for word provide little to no value, they're just his opinions. Whenever he wants to engage the class he shoves the microphone in students faces.. which again is not helpful

His lectures consist of bland powerpoints and him trying to force participation (even though it's a 300 person lecture). His online quizzes are tedious, and he has a knack for wording the questions in confusing ways. Try to find another class to fulfill your ethnic studies. Avoid at literally all costs; he IS as bad as all these reviews say.

I was hesitant to add my voice on this site, but was reassured after reading the previous comments that I am not alone in determining Jerome Camal is with almost all certainty the absolute worst professor on this campus. I just dread the idea of his lectures, he is rude and shoves the microphone in our faces while wasting time on nonsense. bad prof

He wonders why people do not show up to his lectures, it is because they are a waste of time. He adds little to no value in his style of opinionated teaching and shoving microphones into peoples faces. Very rude too, he cannot seem to respect alternative views. Oh, and his exams are on his useless lectures not the book so you have to show up.

Jerome's lectures don't cover useful information. He isn't able to efficiently get through the 50 minute class because he wants our 300-person lecture to discuss everything he talks about. Be prepared to have a microphone shoved in your face and then have your answer be ridiculed. The class seems interesting, but he kind of ruined it for me.

this class is easy if you go to lecture, pay attention, and take notes. With two exams both online it is a breeze if you get the online book and search for key words AND look over your lecture notes. The only other longer assignment is the book report, isn't too bad since you get to pick your book. Loved this class, great energetic lecture style.

I took this thinking it would be an easy ethnic studies requirement @ UW. The semester started out ok and Jerome seemed just socially awkward. However, as the semester has progressed it is evident he runs the lecture as a forum to inject his opinions into students and treat those who may disagree with no respect. Jerome is an effective instructor.

I would like to agree with the many previous comments on Jerome's ineffective approach to teaching at UW. He is most likely the most arrogant and opinionated person I have ever had lead a classroom, which is not only distracting but wastes time. Jerome is the worst professor at UW when it comes to making lecture a value-added experience. Avoid him.

If you love feeling like you're in third grade again he's your guy. He won't start lectures until we all respond "good morning," he makes us do small group work in a 700 person class, makes us answer questions into a mic in lecture, starts every lecture with a half hour review of the three slides he went over last time, just all in all a bad time

Jerome Camal has been the absolute WORST professor I have ever had. Not only is he a hypocrite, his viewpoints have lacking support, and he humiliates himself by sharing his opinions in forceful lectures. Jerome, if you are reading this- please do UW a favor and go play your music with your island folks far away from our campus. You are unwanted.

Jerome Camal is THE WORST professor I have had here at UW-Madison. He is probably the most arrogant human being on the face of the planet. You are forced to come to lecture with the joy of having a microphone shoved in your face for "participation". Prof. Camal, "We might have different opinions, you'll always be wrong and I'll always be right"

Poor teacher, urged everyone to go to class to have a conversation that wastes time. Seems like the type of guy to read Rate My Professor reviews and convince himself that he is a good teacher by telling himself that only people who disagree with him write these reviews. Very "woke" (even for someone who agrees with a good amount of his ideas).

Professor Camal is easily the worst professor I have ever had here at UW Madison. He teaches mostly on his own opinions instead of facts and is very rude to those who don't agree with him. Class assignments were boring and most of the time just seemed like busy work. If possible, avoid Professor Camal's class.

Jerome is by far one of the worst professors at UW-Madison. As one of the most opinionated and arrogant people I have ever met, Jerome will lecture to project his own views on topics related or unrelated to the course. Attending lectures added no value and are a complete waste of time. Furthermore, his exam q's were subjective to his view of life.

Not at all a fan of this professor. His lectures are boring, slow, and generally poorly put together. He is a mostly ineffective teacher. As other people have said, he is generally opinionated and honestly downright pretentious and egoistic. I would only recommend this class if you need an ethnic studies credit.

At first I thought he seemed very open and kind, but realized that he is quite opinionated and struggles with getting the class to open up. The class is an incredibly easy A as long as you have a clue about writing the fieldwork journals, and if you can keep the vocab straight for the online quizzes. Easy but would not necessarily recommend.

Although, he IS opinionated, I believe that's what makes the class fun. In a topic like anthropology, one must have opinions so it's his right to share what he believes. He does encourage participation, which sometimes does get annoying, but you can't blame him when half of the lecture is falling asleep. The class is an easy A. Definitely recommend

The class is easy but there are better options for an ethnic studies. Lecture consists of Jerome reading monotone from notes and shoving a microphone into people's face to stimulate "participation"

I don't really agree with these harsh comments below. I would say sarcastic / ironic when to describe him, not mean. I am not a fun of his powerpoint style lecture. However, I think his music taste is lit and his research field (musicology in Guadeloupe) is a rare topic to know about also.

Very very easy class. Although I didn't personally like Camal as a professor, his online quizzes were super easy and things were not graded too difficulty. Must go to lecture for tophat questions, but lectures weren't super exciting or interesting.

I personally was not a fan of Professor Camal. He was very arrogant and opinionated. He was very sarcastic, extremely rude and absolutely savage when walking through the aisles and finding that someone had a different page open. His class wasn't very interesting but the online quizzes were super easy. Class was only mandatory for tophat questions.

This class is a VERY easy A if you attend and pay even half attention. Take notes on vocab so you have it accessible for quizzes that you take on your own with open notes. Professor is very rude and will call people out in class, very opinionated and almost disrespectful, but this doesn't impact your grade because its such a large class.

good music taste I think previous negative reviews are a bit harsh. He's a really nice guy just is extremely passionate about his field and gets frustrated when students think that they can just brush important issues/topics to the side Go to lecture cuz Top Hat stinks. Also talk during discussion. If you don't read textbook take notes in class

Prof Camal is a close-minded and rude professor who never allows your opinion to be "right." He wants the class to participate yet embarrasses someone in front of the class if they answer what he considers to be wrong. Overall, the material and class isn't hard. Participation is important.

I was not impressed. His course was easy, but personally he was very conceited and close minded. I basically copied definitions of readings, went to lecture (which you should do even though he said participation isn't graded, it is through TopHat use), did the open book quizzes, and did weekly journals.

Camal lectures straight from the textbook, making it useless to read most of the time. However, it is helpful to skip the textbook before class and copy down vocab because he asks TopHat questions on it. Weekly fieldwork assignments are easy A's if done on time and quizzes are online and easy if you know the vocab for the unit.

Professor Camal was a pretty okay professor. The class was pretty easy itself. However, he says attendance isn't mandatory but a large portion of your grade is through Tophat participation points completed in class, so it basically is. He made the class pretty political so if you're conservative it might be a rough one.

Class itself is so easy but Professor Camal is opinionated and judgmental. Luckily, you don't have to interact with him. All the quizzes are open book online. Also interesting topic.

Course doesn't require a ton of work, a small assignment every week, no midterms and the biggest part of your grade is a final book report. His lectures are easy to follow and all the quizzes can be taken with your notes and book.

Had Professor Camal for Anthro 104. Overall it was a chill class, participation points were worth about 30%. Final paper is worth a lot of your grade and can be graded strictly. Show up to class and you should easily get a B or an AB

Decently entertaining professor, but very close minded about a lot of things. Knows the material well. Lecture material can be pretty dry, but not difficult. Tests are online except for the final. Tophat grade is the only reason I went to lecture.

Camal was an average professor. Maybe it's just my disinterest in the subject, but lectures tended to be a bit repetitive if you did the readings. Took the class Fall 2015 when exams were online, now they're not and heard that's a bit harder.

Anthro 104 overall is pretty easy if you go to lecture and discussion. You grade is highly based on tests (only 4 - all online and open note) and the group project. Definitely important to get a good TA as they do all the grading on the group project (30% of grade). Also hope for a good group as it makes it less painful.

He is extremely interesting during lecture and uses the TopHat program, meaning lecture is a must for participation. Tests are online and open note for Anthro 104, and the textbook wasn't much use. Overall, if you do all of the in class participation and go to discussion, then it is hard to get a bad grade in this class.

Online tests but are kind difficult. You must show up to discussions and lectures.

I actually had the chance to get to know Camal; I think he's a good guy, who certainly has his opinions, but you can still get along very well with him if you keep the discussion on more important matters at hand. However, that said, the TAs are quite random with grading. Tests either easy or hard. Camal is good but the class is mediocre @ best

Camal came off as arrogant and kind of a jerk. He teaches straight out of the textbook and if it weren't for his online participation points there would be no reason to go to class. Ethnographic project isn't a problem if you have a good group and TA. Tests are online and fairly easy.

I ended up being very bored with this class. There is no point in going to lecture (outside of tophat points) because he regurgitates the textbook. Tests are online so if you have any idea how to work a glossary or google you can pass them without any studying involved. The ethnography is annoying but not that much work.

Professor Camal is not openminded to other student's opinions and will call you out if you are "wrong." The TA's might be the hardest part about the class and if contacted, neither Camal nor the TA will discuss with you in a respectful way about why you received the grade that you did. Wish I would have taken a different class.

Do not take this class. The TAs grade extremely hard and if you ask questions they have no reasons for why they took points off. I would recommend it to no one, they make the class way harder than it should be, give no constructive criticism and overall don't care about their students success. Also, the prof is extremely rude but that's obvious.