Great prof; teaches what's on the tests and well.

Jodi is a GREAT professor, in fact she is THE BEST professor I've had at UNC so far. She's very easy to approach and talk to, and her lecture style is not only clear and understandable, but can be entertaining as well.

Lecture was boring and she packs a lot of info into each lecture. I had to study a bit to keep all the names and dates straight, but I never had to do any of the reading except for what was assigned for recitation. The tests came straight from lecture and with or without the GENEROUS extra credit, I easily got an A!

One of my favorite professors!

As long as you can keep up, this class is great

Great class Great Professor. Incredibly interesting! Im looking forward to having her again next semester!

Great class, better teacher. She goes incredibly fast but makes ancient religious study very interesting. Tests are ID's and essays given in advance. Normally gives oppertunity for extra credit and a large portion of the final grade is easy recitation attendance.

I. Love. Jodi. Magness. She is by far one of the most interesting professors I've had at Carolina. Her test questions come straight from class, so you can't miss it, but it makes them easy (you get the essay ?'s ahead of time). The books basically reiterate class lecture so you don't really have to read. Recitation attendance is mandatory.

She was probably the best professor I had this semester. She kept the class entertaining. The exams were not to bad, the TAs didnt grade too harshly, and she even offered extra credit opportunities. The hardest part of her class was the 7-8 page term paper due before the thanksgiving break, so if you dont procrastinate on this then youll do fine.

This class was supposed to be an easy A. It wasn't for me. She is great! Her lectures were interesting and she gave us the pictures for the ids and the essays before the tests. Your grade depends on your TA. I got a B-...

Amazing professor, she does a great job of making all of the lectures interesting. Very experienced in her field of work, so she knows what she's talking about. She doesn't put the notes online so you can't skip lecture without having a friend to get them from. The TAs vary in difficulty but they're fine- I had the hardest one and managed an A-.

Jodi is brilliant. Her class was one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken. Her lectures are well planned and you will learn a lot. She is an expert in her field and talks about her own experiences. She does talk fast, so you have to write down things quickly. Her tests were short ID's and essays, which she gives in advance. Great Prof.

This class in NOT an easy A. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS if you aren't good at essay writing or history.

A complete waste of a first year seminar- this class was incredibly boring and the daily essays made students feel as though they were imbeciles for not knowing about toilets in 30BC. Do not recommend.

TAs are very inconsistent with grading. There is A LOT of memorization but you're only tested on a couple terms so you still have to study everything. It is clear she is passionate about her subject. To me, she made this boring subject as interesting as it possibly could. GO TO CLASS and take DETAILED notes, including DATESNAMES.

Absolutely loved Jodi! Her lectures are long but very interesting, and all the material you need for the test and more is described in lecture. Go to class and take notes and you'll do well!

I loved her class. So worth it. Lectures can get long, but she does try to make them interesting. Your grade does depends on the TA you get, but they will be fair for the most part. The exams are directly from her notes and powerpoints, so you should be fine if you try a little! By the way, I got away with not using the textbook at all.

She is hilarious! The class is all lectures and though many reviews say it's 'so boring', this has been one of my favorite courses. If you're interested in Biblical times it's cool to see the archaeology. If you study really hard for the exams you can get an A- (even if you know everything you won't get a 100 because UNC doesn't work that way).

Graded completely by TAs and it's pretty harsh. A few times my TA told me what I put on my exam was correct but she had to count it wrong because it wasn't exactly what was on the grading key. Get your BN credit somewhere else. Easy to get a B, pretty hard to get an A. Term paper is beyond the scope of the class/undergrad ability.

Jodi is the beeest - she is so passionate about what she does. Class can get long and feel like a lot of writing but the information is interesting if you put in the work. My TA was helpful but a hard grader. Hard to get an A in this class. I definitely recommend it - especially because it gets three gen eds !!

Anyone complaining about this class simply didn't try bc they thought it be an easy A. Jodi is an amazing & passionate lecturer and literally gives you what will be on the exams. TAs may grade differently, but if you put the right info they will give you credit. As for the term paper, it was simple as long as you spent time reading it. EASY CLASS!

Not an easy A. There is not a lot of work associated with the class but even if you pay deep attention to the lectures and prepare for the tests early, you are bound to do only alright. They look for such specific information and don't allow room for creativity. Grade depends entirely on which TA you have.

The lectures can sometimes be really dense, Professor Magness is really a master of the material and is super excited about teaching it. She's accessible outside of class and is always willing to help clear up difficult concepts, but your grade is ultimately determined by how easy/hard your TA grades. Her lectures are based exactly on her book.

Dr. Magness really knows her stuff! Coming into this class I was sure I was going to hate it, but because she was so passionate about the material, the class was not bad at all. Your grade come from 4 exams and a term paper (kinda a pain), but I would highly recommend it considering it knocks out 3 get-eds!

RELI106 has been my favorite class this semester. You aren't allowed to even touch an electronic in class, but her lectures are AMAZING. You can tell how passionate she is about the topic, you can't help but be interested. Exams are very reasonable, and she recently switched to a multiple choice format on exams instead of short answer.

I absolutely loved this class! She is really passionate about helping her students, but it is a class that you have to work for an A!

Jodi is amazing! She is very passionate and knowledgable about the subject matter. The class is not a lot of homework, but it graded difficultly. There are some weird assignments like dressing up and artwork, but it is only Jodi trying to make the class fun.

Jodi is very knowledgable and passionate about what she teaches. The lectures can be boring, but you must attend to learn the material. The tests are not too bad, and I think they are easier than last year. Recitation is also required, and it is dependent on your TA. A good TA will make the class easier and better!

She is so nice and makes the class enjoyable! This was one of my favorite classes at UNC!

She's obviously passionate about the topic, which makes the class so much more interesting. Only tip is that her tests can get pretty detail-oriented but if you show up to class and take thorough notes, you'll be fine.

Dr. Magness covers a lot of information in lecture so taking detailed notes is important for this class. She is receptive to student feedback, as she made the tests multiple choice due to previous complaints about test format. She is passionate about this topic and it made the lectures interesting, even for someone with no religious background.

Look Im going to be honest, the professor lectures are fine even great sometimes. Regardless you are going to struggle on the test, you must describe everything you can on those study slides and hope that you will get credit for them. You may have written legit facts but at the end of the day they may not be the facts that they were grading for.

This class is hard. The professor has lots of passion for the subject, which I like. Injecting the bit about the Talpiyot tomb and the term paper were nice additions to the class.

Jodi is an amazing professor and is world renowned in her field. She is passionate and can be funny. The topic is genuinely interesting. However... the exams are a total guessing game and the TAs are insane. This ended up being my hardest class and the only grades you get are exams and a monsterous paper. Don't expect to get an easy A.

I wish all my classes were taught by Jodi Magness. She is adorable and funny and I loved her lectures, she made Biblical Jerusalem seem like the most interesting thing on the planet

While Prof. Magness likely won't be the one to grade your work, she is a really incredible teacher. I honestly looked forward to going to her lectures. She is super knowledgable and experienced with the material, plus some classes will just be watching documentaries (which she was a part of)

Jodi is an awesome lecturer! This class is asynch during the pandemic so it's kinda rough, and with the same workload each week, it gets kinda boring. Material is super easy, just a lot of work. Tests were 70% total and are open notes. Textbook is a waste of money.

Taking this class online was not great because it's asynchronous and I had a hard time motivating myself to watch the lectures. Short papers and quizzes every week to make sure you know your stuff. I wish I could have taken this in person because Magness seems to be really nice and a fun professor.

A truly knowledgeable and caring professor.

Dr. Magness is extremely knowledgable and passionate. She has had so much experience and loves to share it actually doing archaeological research. I have zero interest in the subject but enjoyed the lectures because of her love for it. The lectures could be a little confusing with no prior knowledge but it is easy to pick up. I definitely recommend

She is a great teacher, and the tests are easy as long as you pay attention during class and take good notes. The excavation paper was extremely difficult, but if you spend a lot of time on it, you can figure it out.

Very passionate professor. However, you need to be careful on weekly essays and make sure to check into the writing center for each essay. Difficult readings. Willing to help out students. Difficult course material.

great lectures and very passionate. The readings are challenging, but she usually reviews the same material in class. "Essays" are a large portion of the grade; however, there are only two 250 word essays due each week and she gives good feedback and will review it prior to submission. I would recommend RELI 63 as a solid first year seminar

Doctor Magness is a great lecturer. I learnt a lot from her course. However, there are too many things for you to take notes that it is easy for you to miss something. Sometimes the mid-term questions could go into many details that you won't pay attention to. Besides, the course is relatively harder than other GE courses.

Dr. Magness is knowledgeable and passionate, which comes through in lectures. Despite the lecture-heavy orientation of the class, she's engaging enough that I find it hard to zone out. Yes, it's a harder class. Yes, tests are heavily weighted. But if you want to know something well, take it with the prof who wrote the textbook (she's that good!).

She was a tough grader when it came to writing papers. Overall, she was not too bad and she was chill. She was clearly passionate about what she taught. There was a 200-250 paper on a question in class that was due before every class and her lectures were a bit mundane, but she had some fun parts to her class.

Dr. Magness is phenomenal! The course is lecture heavy, but she does a wonderful job of giving a historical narrative as opposed to spewing facts in class. She is very passionate and extremely knowledgeable about the subject she teaches. Notes must be handwritten. Similar to AP Art History format: remembering names, dates, significance of artifacts

Jodi Magness is my favorite professor so far at UNC. Her lectures are incredibly engaging and she works very hard to make every student as passionate about the course material as she is. I absolutely think everyone should take a class with her.

Dr. Magness is an amazing lecturer. She is strict about no phones/technology during class but that honestly helped me pay attention the entire class period and actually absorb what she was teaching. Didn't love that she doesn't post lecture materials (ie slides) after classes, so it is absolutely necessary to take good notes during class.

I can't believe she teaches at UNC...there's a reason she flew off to Dubai this fall and speaks at ivy league conferences on the regular. Such a unique personality and respected academic. MINIMAL Canvas usage and not transparent on grading at all---I genuinely didn't know my grade until it was on my transcript. No hw and easy FYSem.

I love Dr. Magness. She is an INCREDIBLE lecturer. I've never taken a reli class and I was dreading it but it was one of my fav classes I've ever taken. She doesn't allow electronics (I promise its not bad, kinda nice) but you do have to go to class for the notes but exams are very fair and if you have Victor as your TA you chillin, he's the goat.

Dr. Magness is probably THE best professor I have had at unc thus far (and this is coming from a stem major). She is an incredibly engaging lecturer, makes content easy for anyone to understand, and is a really friendly and helpful professor overall. The class is only 4 tests and a paper, but she gives out all of the test questions beforehand!

Awesome professor, clearly knows her stuff. Graded by few things and doesn't post lectures, so if you skip class you won't do well. Three midterms and a term paper, challenging but not impossible with studying.

Took this just for gen ed credit but genuinely one of the most interesting classes I've ever taken. You just come to class and listen to her lecture the whole time but the lectures are so interesting that time flies! She's super knowledgeable and wish I could take more classes with her. Definitely worth taking and not hard if you go to class

She was THE BEST professor I had this semester and I would 100% take her class again, she is really knowledgeable about her subject and is very caring for her students (even brought a bowl of candy to class every day). Had 200-250 word essay due every class but wasn't really a lot of work since her questions were very clear.

I highly recommend it, even if you're not interested in religious studies or archeology. The homework was not difficult, and the prompts were usually pretty interesting. You can't turn the homework in late, however, so if you're absent, it is an automatic zero. Professor Magness has an awesome attitude and makes the class really fun.

While most of this class was based on tests, if you went to class and listened it was very easy to do well on them as they were written quite fairly. She does not post her slides, but had review sessions in class before all exams so it was easy to still get all of the information. She is genuinely very interesting to listen to.

Dr. Magness is mad cool. The tests are fair you just have to study for sure. First semester she allowed kids to use technology in class. 1 page papers throughout semester, 2 midterms and a final. Lots of different things to remember but She was so awesome and her computer background is her with Morgan Freeman on a show

This was such a great fy seminar class, it wasn't something I ever thought I would be interested in but Dr. Magness knew so much about the subject she made the class entertaining. Super easy class overall, there is a 200-250 word essay/paragraph due at the beginning of each class but you can knock it out in an hour or less and the professor is nice

Old-school professor; lectures, textbook readings, and exams. Not that I mind; she gives an entertaining, detailed, secular narrative of definitely-not-secular stuff. You need to be interested in the content to enjoy the class (for me, it's to learn about my religion). Still, great, easy-to-read textbook and simple exams; study hard, play hard

she cool the discussions were fun and she was passionate about the stuff she taught about invited us for pizza at the end of the semester we had to write a paragraph before each class about the stuff we were gonna talk about, which was work but it was interesting to think about

If you pay attention to her lectures, you will get an A, but she doesn't put notes on the board or post lectures (which also have like three slides), so you actually have to listen to her the entire class time and take good notes. But grading-wise, it was always a TA who was also amazing, a very caring teacher, you have to go to class!

She is really an amazing person as well as the most knowledgable professor in her area of expertise I have ever seen. Class is not an "Easy A" FYS, but not extremely difficult, not difficult at all actually ,but due to her grading system there is a very low margin for error so make sure you never miss class or an assignment.

She is really an expert in the content however the lecture is really boring; I slept most of the time in that class. The Midterms and Final were a little tricky but overall, it was decent. You will do good if you know how to takes notes while she's talking and ask questions. Take this class if you want to learn about past stories of the Bible.