LPPP 3620

This course was genuinely a living hell for me. I want to preface I think Paul Martin is a great guy who is super knowledgeable and passionate about Policy and American Politics, however his course was just a nightmare. To begin, the readings in this class are very LONG and EXTREMELY dense, taking hours to complete. This is not a class where you can get away without doing the readings, since the two exams were based upon them. The first half of the course mainly focuses on theory in Public Policy, then shifts to focus on the Federal Government and American policy making. The name “Engaging Policy Communities” is incredibly misleading, since the course does not delve into engaging any community of any type. It should be framed more as a theory in Public Policy course. The course consists of 7 Reading Engagement Papers, 2 Mid Term exams, a semester long group project that consists of three papers, and small in class activities. The reading engagement papers are randomly graded by student graders, which was particularly frustrating since they all had varying levels of difficulty. In particular, Andrew Chand was AWFUL and would mark off points for ridiculous reasons and provide contradicting feedback on my papers. The exams were also challenging, since they content on them was anything goes and no study guide was provided whatsoever. My biggest issue with this course is there is no way to receive help. The people who grade papers do not have office hours, and Paul Martins office hours were at times most students have class. There were many times I went to office hours and simply did not leave feeling any more confident and was left to fend for myself when asking about incredibly dense readings or directions on papers.The lectures felt useless and I genuinely do not feel like I learned a single tangible piece of information in this course. I really dislike theoretical classes and this is what this class entirely was. It honestly has made me really dislike Batten this semester, and this has by a long shot been my absolute least favorite course I have taken at UVA (over Calculus!). I will say one aspect I enjoyed of this course was the group project. It is very important you select a good group, as you will be working together all semester. The project allowed me to gain better research skills and really gain a better understanding of how weak American Policies are. Overall you’re in for a boatload of work in this class. It is unavoidable since it is required for the Batten major and god it is just awful.

This is one of my favorite courses I have ever taken at UVA, but I should preface that it is NOT easy. There are two readings assigned a week, which are dense and long, but very necessary to do. Over the course of the semester, you are assigned 7 one page single spaced papers (REPs) that you can write on any readings of your choice. There are two midterms, which aren't easy but aren't too bad if you've kept up with the readings and taken notes on them. The final portion of the class is the 3-part semester long group project, which I loved. It's a lot of work, but really fun to go in depth on a policy issue, so make sure to choose one you find interesting.

What made this class so enjoyable was Prof Martin and his teaching style. Often, he didn't lecture much but would communicate the content of a class through guiding a discussion very thoughtfully. When he did lecture, he was able to explain concepts from the readings very clearly and always picked relevant and interesting examples. I appriciated the structure of the class, the first half of the semester focused more on theory while the second focused on the specific structure and policy making tools of the government. Most classes I've taken either focus theory OR the specifics of the real world, so I really appriciated that the course tied the two together. All in all, this class made me a better writer, critical thinker, and taught me a lot about policy.

My one issue with the class is the feedback and grading for the REPs. The assignment description is kind of vague, and the grading, which is done by undergrad students, feels arbitrary and inconsistent. The assignments Prof Martin graded himself felt much more reasonable.

This is EXACTLY the type of course I wanted when I applied into Batten. All material was relevant and useful - and the professor made sure of it, applying political theories to events happening today. Moreover, you'll work on a semester-long group project where you really show what you know - applying those theories yourself in three long memos. But if that group-project doesn't make the readings and lectures stick, the weekly essays will. They're set up to your benefit: you only have to write seven, and you get to choose in the 15 weeks which seven you'll write based off of the week's readings. At first, they'll seem impossible to write for the length. Then you'll realize, they're not long enough for how much you need to fit in! but that's how you'll develop your memo-writing: no fluff, just jam the content into every sentence. Also, I've heard from others the complaints about the lecture-style of the professor. Sure, some things he says feel tangential, but really, they're all examples of the idea he's trying to elucidate by providing an anecdote. Yes, the readings can be long, and the class can feel tough (that's Batten 3rd-year Fall for you). But if you have a good project group (pick people you KNOW will carry their weight), you do those weekly essays as early possible (DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE FINAL WEEKS - it helps your midterm-grade to do them earlier), you participate in class to get a better understanding of class-concepts, and you talk to the professor (he's a cool guy, please get to know him), then you'll love the class.