Amazing teacher. Hard, but extrememly intresting. As well, very helpful. If you want to do well, you will.

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Very intelligent, he provides wonderfull sources for reading assignments, but is sometimes stuck up and standoffish.

Luis is a great guy and a great professor, though sometimes he's a bit too proud of himself. If you're willing to work, his class will be very rewarding. I would definitely recommend him.

Luis was interesting and engaging as a professor and I would definitely recommend the class for those with an interest in anthropology.

Luis is a wonderful professor and very into what he teaches. If you do all the work (a lot of reading) you can easily get an A. There are open note quizzes, one test, one paper, and 4 movie reviews (that if you hand in you automatically get an A). He is sometimes too proud of himself, but I'd reccommend the class to anyone.

one of the best teachers at uvm. this was one of few classes where i actually just listened to the whole lectuer and didnt space out, or doodle or anything. he is way intelligent.

luis is da bomb

Luis is amazing, very interesting and makes you think.

AMAZING teacher. very interesting. one of the few classes i actually enjoyed.

dudes, this is the best professor ever, ever! I love him; he is soooo smart and interesting and funny, and his lectures are just a breath of fresh air in my schedule. I am sorry that he will not here next three or so semesters. Anyway, Luis, you rock, buddy!

Best professor I had this semester, definitely impassioned, does the best he can with a big cumbersome lecture hall. Readings vary in quality, some are excellent. NOTE TO QUEER STUDENTS: course doesn't include an adequate discussion of gender.

Awesome teacher! Papers are pretty difficult, but he doesn't waste your time with them. Very intelligent, and knowledgeable about the material. Definitely take him!

Luis is a very knowledgable professor. He's nice, smart, and wants students to understand difficult concepts and participate in class. He does stare at you sometimes...which is kind of weird. His quizzes and tests are hard because he asks multiple choice questions with one to three correct answers of which you need all to get all the points.

i had him for intro to global studies as well. luis is great, he knows his stuff. he can be a little pompous but its okay cuz hes really smart and hot (when he doesnt have strange facial hair). his classes can be very reading intensive but they are also ultra rewarding-i have learned a lot from him in the 2 classes

Luis Is a great teacher. Can be a little demanding with papers but is a great teacher. Knows his stuff and is very fair

great professor

Take his class, do every reading and get an A.

Good overview and interesting material, but a hard grader.

Luis is a great professor. There is quite a rigorous course load so you should stay on top of it. If you do the assigned readings participate in class you will do well. He respects those who actively try to learn about the subject.

I never learned more in once class than I did with Luis, however I also never worked harder, especially for a B. He presents the information well however is a very hard grader. He's a great person to sit down and talk about life with but may have you pulling out your hair in a class with him due to his ego and biased views.

Amazing teacher!

Good class. Not too difficult if you go to class and take notes. With regard to the textbook, you just need to know the key terms and you're fine! Quizzes and exams are definitely tricky though.

Vivanco is a very approachable professor. His lectures are pretty comprehensive, but expect to read many 20-paged articles or more on end. He literally tears your writing apart, but you'll end up a better writer by the end of his course. He makes himself available if you need help.

Assessments are usually open note so making a table of contents for your notes may be helpful. This really helped on the final. There is a lot of reading assigned nightly. The class is passable without doing it, but you're gpa will probably take a hit.

Luis comes off a little weird but in order to pass his class, since everything, quizzes AND exams, are open note, all you need is good notes. Technically the textbooks are enough to pass, but he often includes little things in his lectures that are relevant. Not to mention he makes his lecture worth it.

It is hard to predict what you will be tested on. There was a lot of reading, but I found them not completely necessary. Lectures could be boring.

He's a good teacher and I'd recommend him. He's super obsessed with Anthropology but it allows him to teach it in such a passionate way. He bashes psychology a lot for some reason but it's not too bad. He's cool and funny and teaches the material in a way that makes it easy to learn.

Luis was a really good professor, I learned so much in this class and he presents material in a very engaging way. We had 5 papers due, and he tore each one apart. Ultimately a good experience because he gives very detailed feedback and it made me grow a lot as a writer. Personally, I found him a little distant/hard to reach.

He's the best. Extremely interesting and easy going

Luis is wonderful, at first I was nervous for this course as I was surrounded with upperclass anthro majors but it was actually so interesting. I spent a lot of money on books though, but you DO need to read them! There were no exams, just "reading logs" every couple of weeks to write.

Best anthro professor! I would love to take more anthro classes taught by him, he really knows what he's talking about and makes it easy to learn

Super nice guy, interested in the topics but the large lecture size made it difficult to stay engaged. Much easier to talk outside class. His material covered in class feels very different than that on the tests and essays so make sure to study.

I was lucky enough to get to take ANTH021 with Luis when he changed his class structure dramatically for COVID-19--the choice-based grading structure was an excellent way to do ANTH021. Luis is really funny and charming, great at leading thoughtful discussions both in and outside of class, and uses awesome materials (films, books) for the class.

Luis is a nice person, and doesn't grade harshly. He as well as a bunch of TAs are often available for help outside of class.

Best class I've ever taken. You legit have to show up, do the work, and if you do so with effort, you will end with an A.

Nothing but nice things to say about Luis, this class was by far my favorite during a difficult semester. The readings and videos we watched were honestly changed the way I thought about a lot of things - Luis really cares about sparking your curiosity. Not a harsh grader as long as you made the effort! Has a kind of subtle sense of humor too.

Professor Vivanco has everything outlined in the syllabus, but you do have to stay on top of assignments. Quizzes every week and some longer-term assignments. I took it to fulfill requirements but I ended up loving it. The material is fascinating and eye-opening. He really takes students' perspectives into consideration.

Love the grading system used, which is point based so you can skip work that you don't want to do and still receive an A. Professor was engaging, but you could also just look at powerpoints. Didn't need the textbooks really (though they are assigned and he does expect you to use them). Assigns his own textbooks which is really crumby to pay for

Luis used a points-based grading system which I loved. You choose the assignments you want to do to accumulate points and essentially can choose the grade you want based on the effort you put in. I didn't even end up having to do the final because I had enough points to earn an a. The quizzes were online and open note, and very straightforward.

A great introduction to cultural anthropology! This was a point-based course, and there were lots of assignments so you can pick and choose. I was at an A prior to the final exam and still decided to take it. It's obvious that Vivanco is passionate about his fieldwork, which is great to see as an anthropology major.

Luis is a great professor with lots of experience in the field who translates that well into a lecture setting. His points-based system is a little difficult to get used to, so I recommend you meet with either him or his TAs to plan your semester out.

I loved Professor Vivanco! He was so cool and really brought engaging interesting lectures into the class. My only complaint would lie with class size, it was really easy to let the class slide and the 'build your own grade' concept was tough because it was easy to lose track and not complete every assignment.

Luis is my favorite professor at UVM. His point-based system allows for a relatively stress-free class, as you can only gain points, not lose them. This class allows students to focus on learning rather than grades. He is passionate, covers great topics, and takes feedback from students. Luis is a great person to know!

Luis is a great professor if you are willing to do the work for the class. You definitely have to try to get a good grade, but he's a fair guy and very kind to students. If you go to office hours- it'll be great. Very intelligent guy and great lectures.

Awesome professor. Very funny and interested in his students.

This was a great class but you have to stay on top of your work, otherwise, you can easily fall behind. The first day of classes drew me up as a non-anthropology major and it was a memorable experience. As long as you do the readings, go to class, and keep on top of the points system for the class you will be fine. Highly recommend!

great class! took this as a non-anthro major for d2 and sustainability credit and definitely recommend. make sure you do assignments and keep track of how many points you have! the one thing I would say is it's not really necessary to buy ALL the textbooks (there were 5 in total), but you should get the ones that have reading worksheets

I am blown away by Luis's passion and understanding. He truly cares about his work and his students and prioritizes students' well-being. His points system is difficult for someone who had never experienced something like this; it is crucial for students to PLAN OUT YOUR SEMESTER based on when stuff is due and the grade you want. 10/10 for Luis :)

I had a lot of fun having Luis as a professor for Cultural Antho. His lectures are extremely interesting and he is always happy to answer questions about interesting topics. He also is more flexible about deadlines than he says, I once turned in something a week late and he only took a couple of points off. Definitely do all the projects!

ANTH021 with Vivanco was pretty good, he is an engaging lecturer and is clearly passionate about his field. His point-based grade system can be confusing, so make sure you do all the assignments and quizzes. Not a super difficult class but definitely worth taking.

I really enjoyed this class! The grading system was weird so it's important to keep track of the syllabus as he doesn't always give reminders to complete assignments. As long as you do all of the assignments you'll pass the class with an A.

Luis is the best! Super fun lectures, he's so real with students and really funny. Has awesome life experience that is relevant to the class. By far the best way to learn history/anthro!

Luis is a great professor, his grading system is hard to follow but I think the best way to go about it is just to do everything during the semester and then you don't have to worry about the final. Super funny and obviously cares about his students. Attendance was not really required, I started skipping like halfway through and still got an A.

Luis is very nice and clearly cares a lot about his work. If you can adapt quickly to his menu points system for grading, it's an easy A. not my most interesting lecture but not super boring.

Luis was a great professor! This class has a lot of reading and homework. That being said, the points based system allows you to skip a few assignments but if you want to get an A or higher you basically need to do all of them. The final is open-note and open-book which was nice and helped to get a final boost on points.

Luis is a funny, intelligent, passionate professor and this class (Cultural Anthropology) is very interesting if you are willing to interact with the material (textbook readings, some short films).

Luis is awesome. I would take a class with him again for sure. He is very knowledgeable on his subject matter. The class was not very difficult. You choose your own grade by how much work you decide to do which was a bit stressful but ultimately helpful. Totally fair grader and cool guy. Take it!

Luis is an incredible professor. This class will open your eyes to the world of anthropological, holistic thinking, and you really get out of it what you put into it.

Luis is the GOAT

Luis's class was very different from other classes I've taken in that it uses a points-based system. As a whole, I didn't really enjoy this because you still have to do every assignment to get an A, which isn't really what is advertised in this model. Aside from this, I really enjoyed the lectures, and Luis is super passionate about the subject.