Absolutely loved this class! Professor Varon is an amazing lecturer and super engaging. She really brings the information alive, and the 50-minute class period goes by in the blink of an eye. I found discussions to be fun and not annoying/boring at all (which some discussions can be). Your grade is derived mostly from papers, but Professor Varon and the TA really like it when you go to their office hours and are very helpful! Couldn't recommend enough if you are interested in US history/like learning about wars.

This course was not hard, but it was boring. Professor Varon often read straight from a binder of notes with no lecture slides. The readings are quite lengthy and necessary to some extent for the "think pieces", the midterm, the final, and the term paper. Your TA can also make or break your experience in this course. I would not recommend this class unless the topic interests you but managing a B or B+ is the average grade.