PLCP 3012

A truly fantastic course, but if you plan to take it you must be prepared to read. Professor Fatton lectures extremely well and effectively ties in what he's lecturing to the mountains of required readings, and as long as you go to most lectures and do most of the readings, you should get a good grade. The final research paper is not too difficult, as you can decide to write it on whatever you choose. Overall a very thought-provoking class that is not too difficult.

There is an absolutely crazy amount of reading for this class. The good news is you don't technically have to do all of it, the bad news is the readings will help you a lot for the final and midterm. The only grades are the midterm, finals (both of which are essay-based) and a ten page research paper on a topic of your choice. The material is interesting and I'd recommend taking the class if you do it with a couple friends so you can split up the work and study together.

Highly recommend this class! Fatton is a good speaker and makes his lectures interesting and follows his planned out schedule in the syllabus. There are a lot of readings for this course, but not all are needed to pass the class. Only one that I really looked at was Peet and Harwick because it was referenced so many times in discussion. Overall great class

This professor is very knowledgable on the topics brought about in class. The content is very interesting, but the amount of reading is absurd. There is no reason to read it all or buy it all because you can find several of the textbooks and books online, but even then, a light skim of the reading is all that is needed. I promise you that if you try and do it all you will feel burnt out. I feel like it also depends on the TA. I had Bonsall as my TA, and she was really calm and relaxed about grading, and it was helpful because she always went over the readings (that I never did). There is a midterm, paper, and final exam in this class as well as some of your grade from the discussion section.

Fantastic class. Professor Fatton is an engaging lecturer, and the material is fascinating. Coursework includes a midterm, research paper, final exam, and discussion participation. Like others have said, there is an overwhelming amount of reading assigned, but your TA should be able to help you navigate it all. I highly recommend Nicole Demitry as a TA if she's available.

Okay so Fatton is definitely brilliant and knows his stuff, but man I got deceived by these reviews. I didn't find his lectures engaging at all, he just stands at the front of the room and lectures with no PPT. I definitely don't blame him for his accent, but he does have one and it made it difficult to listen to his lectures because he was throwing out lots of key terms and names of people and without a PPT, these were hard to pick up. There is also a STUPID amount of reading. Like, I'm the type of person to feel really bad if I don't do all the readings, so I really forced myself to read the 150-200 pages A NIGHT he had set up in the syllabus. I just...really was disappointed in this class. I also feel like TA matters, and in that case, DO NOT get Shiran she is the absolute worst and made the weekly sections so painful oh my god she grades so arbitrarily harsh and doesn't know how to run a discussion effectively. I went P/F because of her just because I knew she would take off points on my final for no good reason. During the transition to online, she stopped doing live discussions and just made us answer questions and despite answering mine super thoroughly, she would randomly give me like a 92 and just comment "good job" on it. Anyways, kinda regret taking this class

I found this course to be incredibly interesting and eye-opening. It's very relevant and I often found myself thinking about topics from class in the context of issues going on around the world. Professor Fatton makes interesting points in his lectures, but they can be pretty hard to follow sometimes as he uses no images or slides at all, just straight lectures. Also it was a 9am which could make lectures even more difficult. As for the readings, there is definitely an absurd amount. However I personally never read the full amount and after the midterm I completely stopped except for a couple readings referenced in discussion, and it is fine as long as you've been keeping up with the lectures and discussions. I enjoyed having Shiran as TA, she outlines the weekly topics with discussion questions, and gave additional comments on our discussion responses to provide extra information.

This was the first politics class that I have ever taken, and it was the perfect fit. Do not take intro to comparative politics; take this class! Fatton opens your eyes to a wide range of injustices and problems in impoverished nations. Although it is very easy to zone out in class because Fatton stands in front of a blank chalkboard for the entire lecture, the material is fascinating if you pay attention. We began the course by discussing development and theories behind the best methods for development. We then transitioned to a case study of South Korea, Haiti, and other developing nations. Lastly, we discussed inequality, Covid, and slums. The other comments will complain about too much reading. In reality, you do not have to do the readings to succeed. If you go to lecture and take notes and really understand what Fatton is talking about, then you will do well on the exams. Sure, the reading does compliment the material, but it would be impossible to read it all. Choose the readings that interest you, but do not feel obligated to read everything or anything. If Ammanuel is available as a TA, I highly recommend him! TL'DR: Easy, interesting class for those interested in the problems of developing nations