EVSC 2030

Be prepared to read. Every topic could literally be made into a class in and of itself.

The class gives a lot of useful information, and Professor Thomson explicates on where you need to study, but the multiple choice section of her tests was very hard. It was such that the answers to questions in that section could be anything from none of the choices to all of the choices to only three of them, and if you missed one or added one that shouldn't be there, the whole question was marked wrong, or there was a significant penalty. She tried to make the class personal, but it's hard to do that in a two-hour lecture, and she would not allow electronics at all. The reading was also so much that I could never get through it. I would try to avoid this class unless you are incredibly passionate about environmental policy, although it certainly brought to light a lot of topics that were relevant that I hadn't kept up with.

Most horrible class ever. Don't take it. Just a 2000 level class and you get like 100 pgs/week. Tests are unfair and designed to trick you, even after you read.

Professor was a giant prick and abrasive.

I didn't think that this class was as "awful" as many say it is...it's just tough. There is a lot of reading and discussions are active. The tests are difficult and somewhat tricky.

The one time I went to office hours, Prof Thomson was pretty rude and showed very little interest in my questions, even though I had put a lot of thought into them. Lectures are ok, tests were ridiculously hard and unnecessarily tricky. I ended up getting an A in the class because I worked REALLY hard. But having a rude, arrogant professor made it that much harder.

This class has very dense reading that takes forever to do.
Beware.

This class is interesting if you like the topic; however, it is definitely not easy. There is a ton of reading, and Professor Thomson is a moderate to hard grader. Also, no kind of technology is allowed in class or discussion, so trying to write down everything she says
(all of which could be on the tests) is practically impossible.

The other reviews are true. There is a ton of reading. And Vivian is definitely not a warm person. But she's obviously incredibly knowledgeable and I don't think I have ever learned more in a class than this one. If you're interested in the subject, it is definitely worth it.

professor thomson is incredibly knowledgable. you'll learn a lot but you have to put in the work (lots and lots of reading) to do well on the tests. highly recommend for anyone interested in environmental policy

If you are really ready for hard work, take this class. If not, especially if you are a first-year used to getting A's, please don't take this class. Teacher is nice, but her class is hard.