PLIR 4150

I took this course becasue it was the only one left that could satisfy the last requirement of my Foreign Affairs minor, and the best way to describe it is "eh." Copeland is a really great guy and clearly very interested in what he's teaching, but the course just felt super monotonous. You read 150-180 pages a week - largely on the history of wars - and then discuss why the theories we study explain the conflict. I'm not a theory person, and have avoided political theory classes at all costs, so that's one of the reasons I generally didn't enjoy discussions. The hardest part, though, is that the amount of information you're expected to be able to recall during class is insane. You have to know the readings really, really well in order to meaningfully participate, which is hard given that there's so much. He's open about being a pretty hard grader, so keep that in mind becasue both papers combined are 50% of your grade. Maybe I wasn't a huge fan of this class becasue I'm not into theories or economics, but if you like studying both of those then Copeland is your guy!

Best PLIR class I've taken at UVA. Copeland is a phenomenal teacher who elucidates IR theory like no other in the department. He has very high expectations and knows if you aren't doing the readings but it's pretty easy to get involved in class discussions as long as you put the effort in. Don't be afraid if you're not an Econ person-- the class really only requires basic understanding of economic principles (trade, diminishing returns, etc.) to understand what's going on. It's more a class on the international security implications of trade and economic relationships than an economics class. There's a lot of reading, but it's mostly really interesting except for a couple pieces. You get to read books that are fundamental to the field (e.g. Paul Kennedy's Rise and Fall of Great Powers, Zakaria's Post-American World, Nye's Bound to Lead, etc.). Copeland tries to make the class fun too with a Risk-style game played in the last 15 minutes of every class, aimed at exemplifying economic and military power dynamics between great powers. Overall, incredibly insightful class, Copeland is terrific, and well worth the challenging amount of work.

Worthwhile IR Seminar. Copeland is a great professor with a lot of knowledge and is good at facilitating discussion. Class is 150-180 pages of reading per week, a 10 page paper, a 15 page paper, and a final. Pretty theory heavy but for the last 20 minutes of each class you play a global strategy game.