Ronald B. Epstein

I hate writing a bad review, because this instructor as a person is very nice and at times quite funnyBut as an teacher he has a lot of work to do. He does teach his classes in a fairly unattached way, and I swear to god I couldnt hear practically anything he said all semester. I would ask him to speak up and he would do that for about 5 sec and then slowly trail off to a whisper. I eventually got tired of asking, sat near the front of the room and still couldnt hear him. But the man does know his Buddhism...Take that information as you will. I really didnt learn anything from this class nor was it a very good experience, the only nonsensical word that describes this experience was Blah. The only desire or religious experience I ever felt strongly in this class was the desire to leave it, and the solemn wish that I had taken Needleman.

He knows his stuff but his class structure sucks. The homework is worth 15% but it in itself is like a huge paper. The TA's don't help you much and he doesn't seem approachable. If you want to get a good grade in the class plan on reading a lot and answer any homework or assingments with an answer that is as long as possible. Also write the homework right after you read the assignments or right after you watch the videos, it will help you so that you don't wind up doing them the night before and trust me, its long a hell.

I think a lot of how a teacher is seen has to do with the biases and expectations the students have coming in. I agree with the response about people being upset that the Professor views all religions to be of equal importance and how some students may be upset because they view their own religion as superior. Fortunately, in my class, we had few of those. The students in my class were very open to learning about other religions as well as their own. It is actually refreshing for me to learn about the similarities between all the world religions. The two textbooks are fun because if you don't understand it in one book the other will present the information in a different way, complimenting each other nicely. The assignments are a take-home midterm and a final research paper. Neither are difficult, but most require thoughtfulness--which I appreciate for this subject. He admits his bias towards Buddhism early on in the class, and when he discusses other religions (such as Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity) he invites students who have grown up in those religions or practice those religions to share their experiences and knowledge with the class in addition to his lectures. He is a quiet man, but you can tell it's out of peacefulness and he is highly unoffensive towards others and their beliefs. Very respectful man, and though he seems to steer around some of the students' questions, I have enjoyed the class and have learned things I didn't expect to learn.

Where he succeeds: Prof. Epstein is exceptionally educated in his specialty, Buddhism. During his lifetime, he has spent a great deal of time studying the I Ching, Taoism, and Confucianism. He command of resources on these topics is outstanding! He is the editor, and I say this in high regard, of a website for his students with more materials than one could possibly have time to examine. He also discusses quite specifically the biases in each book (required and suggested reading) we have the opportunity to examine. If, for example, you do not like a particular translation, he will let you purchase alternative texts; if you do not agree with his interpretations, he will create a positive environment where you feel comfortable speaking of your insight and dissent. He also will postpone quizzes until all the respective material has been covered and EVERYONE has had their questions answered. He also lets you choose virtually any topic for your final research paper. In terms of content, Prof. Epstein is outstanding.

Where he fails: He is not a teacher. He does not enjoy teaching. Generally speaking, and he has spoken of this specifically, the university promotes growth in the mind in a way which is contrary to Buddhist principles & goal. Consistent with his Buddhist world view, he does not want to convince. If YOU have questions, he will answer them. You taking the class is sort of like a question in itself that he attempts to answer. But there is no passion, no immediacy, no inspiration. He is centered as an individual and is "non-attached" your performance. He is a good person, and will accommodate special requests, but there is no fire in him . . . and I can tell he doesn't really care whether I excel or fail. When you're coming to dry lectures with little sleep and studying far into the night on a paper you know is of little concern to him, it becomes quite discouraging. The content is there but the teacher is not. If he's not going to be "attached" to the development and inspiration of his students, I think he should find a different job and let a real Teacher fill this position.

Epstein's class on Nature of the Religious Experience was a complete waste of time. If the class time was not filled by a video, then we were in group discussions (which amounted to a bunch of us sitting around wondering what he wanted us to talk about), and if not that then we were listening to a soft-spoken unorganized lecture. Epstein seems like a very interesting and helpful man on a personal level, but as an instructor he is dry, lacking energy, and conducts an unorganized class where 70% of the people stop showing up after a few weeks. There was extensive reading for this class from a disjointed Reader with required reading summaries. There were also three papers and no exams. If you are looking for an easy class that specializes in irrelevance, this class is for you. (Everyone that I spoke with from the class said that they, too, LEARNED NOTHING). If you are actually curious about Religion do not take Epstein.

Prof. Epstein is a very soft spoken man so much so that many times it was very difficult to hear his lectures even from the front of the class. His lectures have no energy or excitement about them. He doesn't put any enthusiasm into his letures what so ever! He is too mellow to be an exciting instructor. I did enjoy the videos he showed, but the reading assigments were a bit bland. Many times he depend upon his TA to answer questions and often when he tried answering questions himself you were left feeling that he somehow went around the question. I just didn't learn much from his class. I had a difficult time staying awake during his long 3 hour lectures. I would warn my friends about Epstein but he can't be avoided if you're interested in Buddhist Tradition because he's the only Prof. on campus to teach that course. So I recommend learning about Buddhism elsewhere like maybe UC Berkeley or even the public library.

A few notes about any teacher and class I have found must be dealt with in context with the students. In the first and other occasional moments, Epstein made clear his bias for Buddhism, and that the religions discussed had more depth than could possibly be fathomed in a survey course. A comment discussed that the teacher used Christian students to discuss Christianity due to his ineptness, but it was in fact due to his flu. Many students entering the class within their religious tradition came in as biased as the teacher, and I felt they were dissappointed in the teacher's regard to all religions as essentially equal to the disheartening of those holding their religion superior to others. The texts were outdated, but the teacher acknowledged this and provided alternative information in class and on the internet. I felt his videos complemented the class with a more multi-media and provacative addition, but it may be bad form to for the teacher to leave (as the videos happened at the end of class time). His class depends upon the maturity of its students, and regarding this, he falls short. I found the texts and lectures informative and provacative.

In the classes I have taken with Dr. Epstein he has not only shown a deep knowledge of the material but also a strong enthusiasm for teaching it and for learning more about it from his students. His lectures and class discussions have been most helpful in my learning. It is pretty shocking to me to read his other reviews, but I guess it is easier for people to complain than to stop and comment on what a good teacher you think someone is.

Epstein was extremely disinterested in the 502 class. During the sections on Christianity, be basically turned the class over to a student who had a deeper knowledge of it than he did. He also, showed video tapes during every class meeting. Talk about a way to get out of lecturing! He was more interested in the 510/Buddhist Tradition class (he's a Buddhist), but he didn't present the material in a way that fostered a real grasp of the subject. The only texts were Buddhist sutras, no academic analysis or anything.

Seems disinterested. Unhelpful. Does not explain the subject matter or direction of the course. Disappointing. Has quizes on trivial details from extensive reading. Most of the pupils have trouble staying awake during class. Someone should light a firecracker under his...

Although Epstein has knowledge of the material and shows enthusiasm in it, he doesn't present the material to be as interesting as it really is. His lectures were not helpful and I learned mostly from the reading material, which was much more interesting. He assigned a paper at the end, which wasn't too difficult. It's a good class to learn about other religions, but it's nothing that you can't learn from just reading the books on your own.