very interesting, a great teacher

very knowledgeable, funny

good professor. brags that he's friends with uma thurman's father.

The best core humanities prof. See if you can get him for discussion

Eckel is very knowledgeable and makes complex ideas extremely interesting.

Good lecturer but often gets caught up in his stories about nothing

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Very funny, great lecturer, personable, helps explain complex ideas in funny way

a great lecturer, hilarious, gets to know students-take his class!!!

An interesting lecturer for an interesting course. He is kind of arrogant though.

i gained alot from the class, not so much him. the reading selection is GREAT.

Eckel is one of the best professors I've had at BU. His class was a breath of fresh air. The man will go to all lengths to teach you a concept. I loved his class.

he is a very considerate professor and makes the effort to get ALL students involved in the discussion. he takes into consideration that not everyone likes to contribute equally and is very personable!

He's just great.

He's a very engaging professor who makes his possibly boring subject matter come to life.

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I hate core with a burning passion, but I loved Eckle. the problem with core is that the awesome lectures have nothing to do with the test. read the book, go to discussions. lectures try to give backgrd on books and authors that you really dont need.

I thought professor eckel was great... It was a very interesting way to learn about the subject matter. He was very energetic and very funny... Although the work load was not light, it was fun doing the work. His lectures were great!!!!!!!!

He is engaging and enthusiastic about the subject matter. He loves to hear your opinion and he will try to draw it into the discussion. He is incredebly knowledgeable, but he never acted arogant anyone. His door is always open!Definatly one of the best!

He's awesome... But he gets much harder in 102 than he was in 101. A bit picky with papers, but you learn so much.. also... dont bother reading most of the books... spark notes is enough to get you an A

God, could he love the sound of his own voice more?

GREAT! I didn't really get to know prof. very well, but he was always nice to me. Makes an effort to know your name. Tests are long, but straight forward. Lectures are interesting, don't need to read the books...gets into too many discussions with student

Great Prof. Had a great time, learned alot. As long as you tell him you need help he's more than willing to give it. Definitely one of the best profs. i've had so far.

eckel is a very engaging prof, but paying attention in class does not really help you succeed. kind of a hard grader, esp in the second semester. but if you need something, he tends to come through for you. a nice guy

Expects a great deal but also tries to reach people on multiple levels in case you have different bkgrounds/majors. A lot of material but extremely relevant and rewarding to do the work. VERY engaging discussion and so unbelievably brilliant man.

has his favourites. you'll get that B you need for honors, just keep the communications lines open with him, and follow through with what he wants you to do.

funny guy, great lecturer, fair tests, makes class interesting

Eckel is amazing. He's so smart and informative, while be interesting and funny. He knows how to speak in almost any accent [or atleast tries.] Definately take this class, only two essays, two quizes, a midterm and a final. The readings are few and the term lists he gives helps a lot. I <3 Eckel

The content of this class is very interesting and Eckel presents it in an entertaining fashion. Good readings and assignments are fair. My only complaint: although I received a B+ on the midterm, it was terribly constructed and left out vital concepts in favor of random, memorized vocabulary words.

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after other lecturer went into hospital and was gone for the semester - came in and cleaned everything up and added structure - entertaining

eckel is a great professor. so energetic and engaging. you can tell he's really passionate about the material. he's a very fair grader, easy to contact if you have any questions. one of the best teachers i've encountered at BU so far

Never had him as a discussion leader, but his lectures were good and it was obvious he put much effort into organizing and developing core humanities. Nice guy and funny.

Eckel came in half way through the year and did a great job with the class. He is very helpful and entertaining.

he was funny, engaging, passionate about the material. He didn't stay focused on any single religion, so i was trying to guess which religion he really is.

Does a good job making potentially dry material interesting. The tests are graded fairly. Make sure to do the term lists he gives. They help with understanding & guide you in what you should be reading, bc the reading can be a bit much if you don't know how to sift through what's not necessary.

Very fun class! Eckel loves his material, and doesn't mind showing it. Grading is fairly easy, I didn't get less than an A- on anything. If you do the readings, you won't have a hard time. This class was always the highlight of my day; anyone with interest in eastern religions should have a great time!

I thought Professor Eckel was not only intelligent about the topic but made it so much fun. He is really funny. Your grade depends on the TF you get, so in the beginning I suggest scoping out the TF's and pick the easiest one. Otherwise, the class was really interesting and made me interested in religion.

Prof. Eckel is a great guy, tries his best to make a dry topic more interesting. How well he succeeds is debatable. The TF's were horrible! Discussion was completely useless and I hated going. Only take this class if your really interested in E. World Religion, it's NOT an easy A by any means.

I'm convinced that Eckel is one of the greatest profs. you will find at BU. The man is so at peace with the universe; he's enlightening. He must be the happiest man in the world. He's empathetic and compassionate(why he's so good at his subject). Creativity, humor and spirit make the class life changing. Best class and prof. I've had so far.

A gem of a professor. Has a genuine sensitivity for his students and teachings. Probably will live to 120 given how happy he always is and at peace with everything. Has no shame in dancing around the room to illustrate a point. A wonderful guy and well-worth the difficulty of the material. Crissy, my TA, was also great. She's so intelligent and coo

Eckel is absolutely amazing! His lectures are always funny and engaging. He's also great to talk to in his office hours and offers extra credit to bring up your grade. Definitely take this class-even if you're only mildly interested in relgion to begin with.

Everyone should take at least one class with Eckle before they leave BU. I've never had a lecturer be more into the subject. Depending on what TF you get, your grade can be easy to come by or incredibly difficult. But the class is really interesting and you'll learn a lot.

the class is amazing purely because of Eckel. he loves what he does and he cares about his students. don't get hung up on details, just learn/love the concepts-- you're not going to get a bad grade, so just study and do your best, but have fun and really get something different out of this class.

I enjoyed Eckel's class... He brought alot of energy and excitement to just about everything in the class(which is rare at BU). Eckel has a great sense of humor and you'll learn to love his quirks. If you read the book, go to class, and study the terms list/hand outs before quizzes and exams you can pull off at least a B+ with minimal effort.

He is a very entertaining person (weird, but in a good way). The class is very interesting.

Can be a tad confusing; the class was often silenced during discussion, mostly because we were so befuddled. However, he cares about you as an individual and is overwhelmingly and inspiringly passionate about Eastern religions and culture. Not a hard A.

I simply loved this class because of him!! He makes it fun and entertaining...which is pretty awesome! I just have to say, if you're going to take this class or any other religion class, take it with Eckel!! He's the ****!

Extremely engaging and entertaining, knows the subject very well, and generally a nice person. If it's at all possible, take a class from him sometime before you leave BU. He will make you glad you came here.

He was sorta interesting. Very engaged though. You could see he loved teaching the class. Cool to talk to outside of class. Loves discussing the topics actually, so go to his office hours or seminar prof's. The final/midterm exams have a lot dumb fill-in-the-blank questions. Also, ALWAYS read the books!! This course heavily relies on books!!!

This man is extremely knowledgeable and displays an obvious passion which makes him an excellent teacher. He is engaging. If you go to class and do most of the reading the class is pretty easy. Interesting and a great professor. He knows how to teach.

Pr. Eckel is an amazing teacher. After each class, I feel like I have learned something new and interesting. He is passionated by his subject, and he is really helpful during office hours. Attend each lecture, do the readings and you're gonna do well in the exams. You definitely have to take a class with him, you are not gonna regret it!

Pretty good professor. Knows his stuff very well. He also tells a lot of funny things in class. The class itself is alright, it's not that hard and the tf are cool.

I had him for both CC102 discussion and RN103 and I am soo depressed that I can't have him again because he doesn't teach any more classes!! Take whatever class you can with this man and you will come out loving it and loving him! Pay attention in class and be curious about the material and have fun!!BEST TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD

This class is impossible to keep up with. Every week there is so much reading and the midterm tests you on pointless information like quotes and terms in Sanskrit. Some of the TFs are super into the subject and expect you to be extremely excited about religion. NOT recommended.

I had him only as a lecturer in the core. He wasn't boring, but not really interesting unless he was doing something quirky like that dance he did on stage. Oh man, it was hilarious. He fell on his back! He's very easy to talk to, in person or e-mail. He's willing to help you out and loves the Core. He's pretty clear and somewhat engaging.

I had Prof. Eckel for a humanities requirement and I love him (he's awesome!!!), however the TAs make your grade. BRIAN LOH is the ONLY AMAZING ONE. The other two, Marielle and Emily, will make an A paper a B- or C. Must get Brian! Eckel is really entertaining in class as well. Tells interesting stories. Take it if you're really interested in subj.

anyone who said this class is hard is brain dead. It is the most reasonable workload I've ever had in a course, and Eckel is beyond words amazing. If you're not interested at all in the subject, he will make you interested. Great at explaining abstract concepts. A very fun and interesting class. Worth waiting to take the course when he's teaching

As previously stated, it all depends on the TF's that you get. As in all classes they are the ones who grade your assignments. I found the grading of my TF to be very biased and inconsistent. The tests are fine except for quotation identification, which is difficult to know with so much reading.

He. Is. THE MAN.

I think professor Eckel is a wonderful man with endless insight and a large bank of knowledge that he is always excited to share with his students. He is very engaging and passionate about Core. He is worth getting to know.

Eckel is a great prof. He's very enthusiastic about the class and the material and tries to get everyone engaged in discussion. Sometimes he goes a bit off-topic, and he's not the most organized prof in the world, but I liked him nonetheless. If you have the chance to take a discussion section with him in Core, do it.

Professor Eckel is so enthusiastic about Core and about life in general. I learned a lot about how to deeply analyze books. Sometimes he takes off points on essays for things that were not included in the question, but if you go talk to him at office hours he is very helpful in explaining his point, or giving you back points on your essay.

He definitely is a really awesome guy and he makes the class very interesting. However, he tends too go way more in depth than is necessary for this intro level course. The exams were somewhat unfair and required more memorization than actual understanding of the concepts.

I have mixed feelings about this professor. He is a nice guy who loves his subject. His lectures and fun and entertaining and he really knew how to draw in an audience. The problem was that he did not give much work and on the work he did give it was harshly graded. To top things off, the exams were hard and was mostly memorizing quotes.

I wish he said things that made sense.

idk why hes being harshly criticized here but hes one of the best professors ive had the material isnt too hard as long as you study and spend some time on it and get to know your tf (especially david scott if he still tfs)

Professor Eckel is a great professor. He made me love eastern religions, and I know that's just what he tries to do in his classes - he always wants to try to make you see what is really cool about the subject. He is a good grader; he never tries to trick you or deflate your grade. He really cares about his students, we're not just faces in a crowd

Prof. Eckel was awesome! He knows a lot of information and has cute little stories that keep the class entertaining. Such a nice man. I would take another class with him in a second!

prof. eckel is the best. his lectures are always fun, especially when he starts going off on tangents. he strives to keep you awake and entertained. i've learned SO MUCH in this class. he gives quizzes a lot (which are actually helpful) and the tests aren't too hard. the only problem is that the TAs and discussions sections are boring.

Eckel is a great lecturer, very engaging. His exams and quizzes are mostly based on memorization, so if you study it's an easy A. I also learned a lot for an intro course.

I learned so much about Buddhism and loved this class! His grading criteria can be a little unclear, so if I did it over again I would go in to office hours before each paper. Take this class if you are interested in religion or Buddhism!

Excellent lecturer!

He's very kind and nice, there's only one midterm and final exam. but you'll have weekly response, and it's very short

He's a very sweet prof and really cares about your work. The class requires a lot of memorizing but he does what he can to make things fair. Don't expect an easy A but I would recommend the class anyways.

Great class if you want to learn more about religion take it. Focuses on Judaism, Christanity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. He tells you what he wants you to do. Go to office hours! If you talk to him and go through handouts exams and quizzes and papers will not be too hard. Initially the class seems indimidating but you learn to love it.

If you remember alllllll the vocabularies, take notes of every single detail he mentions, and read all 6 books, you will do just fine. He likes to remember student names, so it might help if you go to office hours. He certainly knows about religion, and have great stories to share. If you don't study, you fail.

Professor Eckel is adorable and an overall wonderful teacher. Lectures can get a little boring and you definitely have to study hard for exams, but nothing is unmanageable. The best of professor Eckel is what you can get outside of class - he's been all around the world and will happily tell you about his experiences in office hours.

He is an amazing professor. Don't listen to the other people that gave negative reviews for him. The fact is that he is an amazing person. He will help you if you go to his office hours and he tries to remember the names of everyone in the class. If you have interest in the material you will naturally do well and remember the material given.

Eckel is such an amazing professor. He is so enthusiastic and caring. Mandatory attendance which kinda makes sense because all you have to do is attend classes and listen to his lectures. Essays worth more than exams so look our for that. Visit office hour because you'll find him sooo helpful

Eckel is incredibly sweet, kind, and caring man. He really cares about his students and can teach an amazing amount about Buddhism. He keeps lectures light-hearted but also very educational. With that said, you have to work for this class. If you don't do the reading class can be miserable. If you do the reading you can have a lot of fun

Professor Eckel is the best. It is a privilege to hear his lectures. His insights about Buddhism is life-changing. Taking his class is the best decision I ever made. Would still take it again. No more needs to be said. He speaks very clear and to the point. Not too heavy workload as long as you put your heart to it. Tests are easy to ace.

Eckel is one of my favorite Professor's I've ever had a class with. He is extremely knowledgable about his topics and will make you fall in love with Buddhism. He has a great sense of humor, offers clear grading criteria and gives you cute buddhist souvenirs if you go to office hours. You have to work for an A, but definitely take this class.

I love Dr. Eckel! He's easily one of the best professors I've had this semester, and I would love to take another lecture by him. Funny, smart, passionate, he clearly enjoys what he's teaching. Remember to memorize and understand quotes and vocabulary. His final essay prompts are very interesting. Love him!!!

He gives very interesting lectures as long as you open your mind to get some knowledge from the word of religion. It is just an entry level class so could be pretty manageable once you put some effort on it.

A very caring professor who connects with his students and likes to establish a conversational exploration of dense readings to make it easier to digest. Can't express how caring and understanding he is to his students. Also very knowledgeable and engaging with a variety of topics.

One of the best professors at BU. He is incredibly caring of all his students and loves cracking jokes during discussions. He is very clear on assignments and grading and is willing to help out no matter what. He is incredibly knowledgeable and very friendly. Overall, amazing professor, I would take him again in a heartbeat!

Eckel is a real gem. He's witty and makes some intense philosophy consumable. He's also a fair grader for being quite an experienced professor and writer. I enjoyed his class quite a bit

Professor Eckel is a great teacher for the subject of wisdom. He took the ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible, the Odyssey, Platos Republic, etc., and made an amazing class out of them. Each discussion hed have some different fact to tell, keeping them interesting and the engaging for the students. Would love to take another one of his classes.

Genuinely one of my favorite people, able to turn seemingly boring and dense texts into fun discussions, truly tries to connect with his students and was open to any and all feedback. Do the readings or at least skim for each discussion

Eckel seems to be an expert in Buddhism, a trait matched by his passion for the subject. This combined with his sense of humor and immense experience resulted in stimulating, rewarding lectures and a heightened interest in the topic for all students. He finds an incredible balance between being a wise Buddhist scholar and a modern professor.

Professor Eckel is an angel as a person and a really kind professor. Encouraged us to enjoy texts that were often boring or confusing. Light on assignments, but you are expected to read a lot of books/texts for each class. If you read the texts before class, you will do great, and if not, it can be hard to keep up. All in all, great teacher.

I guess it doesn't matter now that he's retired, but in case Eckel sees this -- Thank you! I loved your class and the insights you brought.

A great professor - very kind and insightful with the works discussed in the course, and always gave good feedback on essays. Happy retirement!