RELS271 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Maxine Grossman RELS271 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/25/2025	I would recommend this class to anyone looking to fulfill a GenEd requirement who's interested in learning about religion. Dr. Grossman is one of my favorite professors I've ever had. She genuinely cares about each of her students and helps them achieve success. Every lecture was super engaging, and by the end of the semester, the class atmosphere felt more like a discussion than a lecture. She's very mindful of her class's diversity, and she makes sure to explain religions in the same engaging and open-minded way. It's important to note that this class also requires long homework assignments with the expectation of thoughtful responses. She can be a harsh grader and loves elaboration. I honestly think you can't write too much in the homework assignments. We also had two papers, one being an easy interview of a classmate, and another being a comparison paper on three different religious chapters. The last paper took much more time, but was doable.
Maxine Grossman RELS271 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/30/2025	She knows everyone's here for the Gen Ed. You'll have some kids that get really into it (sometimes too much) and you'll have people in the back of the classroom that don't really engage. Dr. Grossman wants to engage with everyone, and if you're someone who likes learning, you'll like this class, because she's a really interesting, thought-provoking lecturer who makes sure that she interacts with literally every student personally by the end of the semester. If you want to do well in this class, don't be afraid to be a little kooky and write your answers to the homeworks in a very inner monologue kind of way. She wants deep, thought-provoking personal reflection, and if you're not willing to be interested in the subject material, then it's going to show on your grade.
Maxine Grossman RELS271 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/30/2025	DO NOT take this class if you are not religious or not interested in religion. Her homework requires a lot of thoughtfulness and she grades harshly but leaves comments on everything if she has critiques. She is very nice and really cares about this class and her students, though. You must stay engaged with the class throughout the whole semester if you want to earn a good grade. For just gen ed credits, I do not think it was worth all the time and effort and would not take this again or recommend it unless you like religion.
Rachel Schine RELS271 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2024	As long as you're interested in religion, take this class!!! Dr. Schine is an AMAZING person and an even better teacher. She clearly loves what she does, and it will be impossible to find another person nearly as knowledgeable about religious studies as she is. The class is a smaller setting, and has somewhat of an unusual structure, but it works. Mondays are lectures, and on Wednesdays she introduces the topic with a lecture and then has small groups present the readings of the week, followed by a class discussion. The main assignments are participation, 2 or 3 reviews that are 3-4 pages long, and the final project. Two things you should know: 1) the readings can be very long and time-consuming, so its best that you have an interest in religion, and 2) the final project is an 8-10 page paper so be ready for that. But Dr. Schine is very inclusive of any topic you might want to do as long as it holds some relevance. I truly enjoyed this class!
Maxine Grossman RELS271 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/02/2023	Professor Grossman is very kind and does her best with the difficult task of teaching a concept as diverse and unexplainable as religion. She is very clearly knowledgeable about the subject but oftentimes has trouble containing all of her expertise in an organized and brief lecture. Lectures can often run a minute or two overtime and more often than not you will not get through the entire slideshow. Grading in this class can sometimes be unclear or contradictory. For example, one of the main assignments for the class is a weekly reading check that has a stated sentence limit. However, when staying at this sentence limit I have received comments asking for another sentence or two. My grades on these assignments increased after disobeying the sentence limit set by the professor herself. Ultimately, despite some of these causes for frustration Prof. Grossman does have a true passion for her craft and a desire to help her students succeed. Also although her assignment grading can be very technical exam grading seemed very lenient in comparison.
Maxine Grossman RELS271 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/24/2022	Honestly, RELS271 is probably one of the top classes I've taken ever. Prof Grossman, as other reviews have said, is very engaging, has high expectations, will give so much help when you ask for it, and provides genuinely interesting readings/assignments. You come out of 271 with a general but still nuanced understanding of religions, theories of religion, and how to communicate well about it. If you're not interested in the subject though? Or perhaps interested, but not great at putting in effort into readings/asking for help/talking in class? This class may not quite be your vibe, nor may Prof Grossman. But if you're interested and willing to struggle with the material a bit, you'll get SO much out of this course. Would recommend!

Maxine Grossman
RELS271

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/25/2025

I would recommend this class to anyone looking to fulfill a GenEd requirement who's interested in learning about religion. Dr. Grossman is one of my favorite professors I've ever had. She genuinely cares about each of her students and helps them achieve success. Every lecture was super engaging, and by the end of the semester, the class atmosphere felt more like a discussion than a lecture. She's very mindful of her class's diversity, and she makes sure to explain religions in the same engaging and open-minded way. It's important to note that this class also requires long homework assignments with the expectation of thoughtful responses. She can be a harsh grader and loves elaboration. I honestly think you can't write too much in the homework assignments. We also had two papers, one being an easy interview of a classmate, and another being a comparison paper on three different religious chapters. The last paper took much more time, but was doable.

Maxine Grossman
RELS271

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/30/2025

She knows everyone's here for the Gen Ed. You'll have some kids that get really into it (sometimes too much) and you'll have people in the back of the classroom that don't really engage. Dr. Grossman wants to engage with everyone, and if you're someone who likes learning, you'll like this class, because she's a really interesting, thought-provoking lecturer who makes sure that she interacts with literally every student personally by the end of the semester. If you want to do well in this class, don't be afraid to be a little kooky and write your answers to the homeworks in a very inner monologue kind of way. She wants deep, thought-provoking personal reflection, and if you're not willing to be interested in the subject material, then it's going to show on your grade.

Maxine Grossman
RELS271

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/30/2025

DO NOT take this class if you are not religious or not interested in religion. Her homework requires a lot of thoughtfulness and she grades harshly but leaves comments on everything if she has critiques. She is very nice and really cares about this class and her students, though. You must stay engaged with the class throughout the whole semester if you want to earn a good grade. For just gen ed credits, I do not think it was worth all the time and effort and would not take this again or recommend it unless you like religion.

Rachel Schine
RELS271

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/11/2024

As long as you're interested in religion, take this class!!! Dr. Schine is an AMAZING person and an even better teacher. She clearly loves what she does, and it will be impossible to find another person nearly as knowledgeable about religious studies as she is. The class is a smaller setting, and has somewhat of an unusual structure, but it works. Mondays are lectures, and on Wednesdays she introduces the topic with a lecture and then has small groups present the readings of the week, followed by a class discussion. The main assignments are participation, 2 or 3 reviews that are 3-4 pages long, and the final project. Two things you should know: 1) the readings can be very long and time-consuming, so its best that you have an interest in religion, and 2) the final project is an 8-10 page paper so be ready for that. But Dr. Schine is very inclusive of any topic you might want to do as long as it holds some relevance. I truly enjoyed this class!

Maxine Grossman
RELS271

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/02/2023

Professor Grossman is very kind and does her best with the difficult task of teaching a concept as diverse and unexplainable as religion. She is very clearly knowledgeable about the subject but oftentimes has trouble containing all of her expertise in an organized and brief lecture. Lectures can often run a minute or two overtime and more often than not you will not get through the entire slideshow. Grading in this class can sometimes be unclear or contradictory. For example, one of the main assignments for the class is a weekly reading check that has a stated sentence limit. However, when staying at this sentence limit I have received comments asking for another sentence or two. My grades on these assignments increased after disobeying the sentence limit set by the professor herself. Ultimately, despite some of these causes for frustration Prof. Grossman does have a true passion for her craft and a desire to help her students succeed. Also although her assignment grading can be very technical exam grading seemed very lenient in comparison.

Maxine Grossman
RELS271

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/24/2022

Honestly, RELS271 is probably one of the top classes I've taken ever. Prof Grossman, as other reviews have said, is very engaging, has high expectations, will give so much help when you ask for it, and provides genuinely interesting readings/assignments. You come out of 271 with a general but still nuanced understanding of religions, theories of religion, and how to communicate well about it. If you're not interested in the subject though? Or perhaps interested, but not great at putting in effort into readings/asking for help/talking in class? This class may not quite be your vibe, nor may Prof Grossman. But if you're interested and willing to struggle with the material a bit, you'll get SO much out of this course. Would recommend!

Reviews for RELS271