SLTR 3300

Pretty easy class and straightforward GPA booster. Only irritating thing is he assigns an entire book to be read in like a week or sometimes a couple of days, but you can skim and still be prepared for class discussions. Tolczyk really cares about the subject matter and his lectures are pretty interesting if you can get over his monotone, but he doesn't really care about grades and makes the tests really easy. You definitely have to 1) skim the texts for some passage IDs on the tests and 2)listen and take notes in class, but it's not much work compared to other classes.

I learned a lot from this class! The professor chooses some really interesting books and movies to read/watch and I highly recommend doing so. When he talks about books in class, write down the quotes/page numbers he mentions because he uses those on exams. I know a lot of the reviews say to participate but as someone with no history background and who was taking this class only to fulfill the Historical Studies area requirement, I was a little intimidated to speak in a 3000-level class, so don't worry if you're in the same boat. I participated two or three times the whole semester, did well on the exams, and ended up with an A. Exams also weren't too hard to study for. I typed notes during class so I would just go through those and make flashcards for stuff that needed to be memorized, he did ask for some dates and names sometimes but they were never anything too obscure. Make a friend so they can record class for you if you need to skip, there's no textbook so lecture is pretty important.

This class is absolutely worthwhile. Professor Tolczyk is very nice and extremely knowledgeable about the topic. He picked out thoughtful novels and films to study throughout the course that I always found interesting and thought-provoking. I really appreciated how Professor Tolczyk balanced and intertwined historical discussions with literary discussions about totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. I learned SO much in this class and it is truly important information that EVERYONE should know about. Especially in this day and age, I think it really important to understand the topics and themes he covers in this course and have some understanding of extreme authoritarian regimes besides that of Nazi Germany (which is discussed in the course). It is not always the most uplifting class (in fact, you leave kinda depressed sometimes), but it's so important. Do the readings and the watch the films so you can participate in class (it's really awkward when the same four people participate because they're the only ones doing the readings/screenings. He really not assign or ask that much of his students so I think it's pretty rude to not do the readings/screenings. Final and midterm are easy if you pay attention and go to class (and take notes).

This is a great course and an easy A as long as you do most of the readings and come to lecture. Tolczyk is a really cool guy and has done a wonderful job picking course material (films and readings) to give students the chance to learn about mass state violence from different perspectives. I am a history major and came into the course with a lot of background knowledge but I still managed to learn a lot during the course. Some of content can be very heavy since we do read a few memoirs and some film portrayals can be quite emotional but it is worth it. The only "negative" is that people were not always willing to participate during lecture so only the same handful of people ever participated which was sometimes annoying when I really wanted to have a good discussion a reading or film that was new to me, but since 20% of the grade is participation, it's an easy way to get an A for it if you are one who does participate. Regardless, I 100% recommend this class to anyone interested in the topic.

I had a good experience overall taking this class. The class content consists of reading 5-6 books, watching movies, or sometimes reading an article. There was a 40% midterm 40% final and 20% participation. I kind of pariticapted sometimes when he would ask us questions, but he never recorded our attendence so I am not sure how the grading worked for that part. The class is an hour and 15 minutes long so make sure you take notes while he is lecturing or record his lecture if you want to listen to it again. If you have good notes then you should not worry about the midterm or the final. Also, read or skim through the readings (which he goes over in class) because the midterm and final consists of quotes that he gets from the books which you have to identify and explain. There were some books that I hadn't read completely, but I still knew where the quote came from becuase you can sense the type of problem the quote is alluding to, which can easily help you deduce where the quote came from. I recommend that you don't miss any classes because if you do then you are missing a good amount of notes...unless you have other friends in class who can record the lecture for you. The class as a whole is worthwhile and feel like I learned a lot about communism/socialism. I got an A in the class so it's definitely doable just don't procrastinate when studying for midterm or final like me- take a look at your notes and memorize special terms and years of when the books were published and years of important events for the tests as well along with understanding quotes.

Really easy, but unsatisfying course. I was excited about the content of the syllabus but we did not address any of in depth- majority of class time was meant watching films or summarizing readings.

Really great class if you are interested in the Holocaust/WWII. Professor Tolcyzk is extremely knowledgable about the subject and he lectures in a sort of story-telling format. The class includes several novels that are only covered for one class periods so the reading can be lengthy at times but there's only two "quizzes" (and no other assignments) so students have plenty of time to prepare. Watched lots of films in class. ‪#‎tcf2016‬

Great course, Tolcyzk is a good lecturer who is clearly knowledgeable about the subject. Lectures can be a bit hard to follow (he has a thick accent) and he often shows films in other languages with subtitles- so make sure you pay attention. There is a fair amount of reading that is completely necessary to do as both the midterm and final pull HEAVILY from the reading. But if you do all the reading and go to lecture you will come out of this class with a fairly easy A.

Readings are really easy and interesting (but depressing). Tolczyk is a cute man who doesn't really seem to be all that organized but the class is so easy that it won't really matter. Just participation, midterm and a final. Don't stress about the midterm/final. Just take good notes about the dates and names he says in class and that are involved in the books/movies and you will be totally fine.

Prof. Tolczyk is the nicest professor at UVA. The readings in this class are extremely interesting (and depressing). It focuses on the soviet gulags and Holocaust concentration camps-- mainly prisoner literature. It complements nicely Rossman's History of Genocide. Overall easy class with lots of movies though lots of class participation.

easy A -- midterm, participation & a final