PLAP 1010

#tCFF23 To be quite honest, Professor Ceaser does not format his class terribly hard. If you did well in AP gov, you will be fine. However, you must do the readings so you know what will be on the quizzes. For the final exam, it is less reading heavy. I say your grade lays in the hands of your TA. Luckily, I had a great TA who graded reasonably (not too hard but not easy either). Shoutout to Amaneul (sorry if I spelt his name wrong). It is easy to accidentally get a B+ in the class if you are too arrogant. I was averaging a B+ until after the final exam and final paper. I ended with an A- so yeah just be careful. Show up to discussion and participate. I would assume most people taking this course are interested in the law pathway, so this is foundational knowledge (aka...it would look bad if you don't do great in a somewhat easy class).

This course provided a relatively low level of commitment, yet imparted a solid foundation in American politics. The 50-minute lecture format was convenient, though participation in a mandatory discussion section was required. Notably, TA Amanuel greatly enhanced the learning experience. His amiable demeanor, profound knowledge, and adept teaching style significantly facilitated comprehension of the course material.

While the course did not entail an exceedingly rigorous curriculum, it featured two papers, three quizzes, a final exam, and a discussion grade as the sole graded components. This structure made it challenging to recover from a poor performance in any of these assessments. The primary lecturer demonstrated considerable expertise, albeit with a slightly less approachable demeanor. Additionally, the teaching approach leaned towards traditional lecturing, lacking the integration of modern instructional tools such as PowerPoint presentations. In essence, the course adhered to a more conventional, 'old school' style of teaching.

This was a very standard and solid politics introduction class. I think a lot of people went in thinking that it would have super interesting topics and niche subjects, but this is quite literally "Introduction to American Politics." Of course, that meant that we would talk about foundations of American politics, which starts with the American revolution and colonial history, and then major American political institutions as the bulk of the course.

Professor Ceasar is one of those professors who you just know is really smart. He definitely knows the topic well and is quite passionate about the contents of the class. He does like to ramble a bit during lectures, but honestly I'd rather take a professor who rambles than a professor who reads straight off the slide or their notes with no added comments (definitely something to note though). He does also bring up present-day events and how they relate to the class, so it's not all history and hard facts.

The readings for each week are not bad at all. Usually, it's a chapter of the textbook (~30 pages) and an article that's like 5 pages or less. I think that that's very reasonable, especially for an American politics class.

Grades are split by 2 papers, 3 quizzes, discussion attendance and participation, and the final. I had the best TA (Amanuel, such a funny and nice guy, wishing him the best) who wrote super interesting discussion questions and made discussion good to attend even if it was 7:00pm and everyone was sleepy. I thought the grading for the papers and quizzes was very fair, and I thought the final was very reasonable and fairly easy.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this class! Low commitment, low in workload, and I liked it overall. It may not have been the most mind-blowing or intriguing class, but a good starter for politics and one I'm happy that I took. #tCFF23

Good course, lots of reading. Combination of essays and exams which I thought was nice. My TA Emily was so nice and gave great feedback. Not a hard class as long as you do the readings. Only comment would be that lectures were sometimes scattered and Professor Ceaser would talk about many different topics that were kind of all over the place, which meant my notes were pretty disorganized and it was harder to go find stuff later. Overall, good class, if you work hard you will get a good grade.

This course feels like a high school class. It should honestly belong in the history department because it is more like a "History of American Politics" than an "Intro to American Politics" class. With that being said, it is a fairly easy class to take if you just need a politics class for a gen ed requirement. Would not recommend taking this class just for fun though. There are not many graded assignments in this class: 2 papers; midterm; final exam; and discussion section. The two papers are not long and fairly easy to write. They were not graded harshly. The midterm exam was all multiple choice and very easy. The final exam was all essay based. This course is very much memorization based, so as someone who struggles with that I had to study a lot, but I could see where a lot of people would not need to study very much to get an A in the course. It is important to go to lecture because Ceaser does not use PowerPoints or record lecture, so there is no way to get the content if you miss class. He is a very dry lecturer. I found it hard to stay focused in class because he was so boring. Furthermore, it is really hard to tell what is important because he just rambles and rambles without really emphasizing anything. If you have to take this course, it won't be that hard, just boring.

What a snoozer. I mean it. It is unbearably difficult to sit and listen to Ceaser lecture for even 50 minutes. He goes on and on and on about random topics that are meaningless and contribute nothing to the lecture. No powerpoints, no notes on Collab, just him rambling about nothing. Lecture attendance is not needed if you want to keep your sanity. If you're feeling sleepy, feel free to stay in lecture as you'll be out cold as soon as Ceaser opens his mouth. This class could be moderately interesting to people who enjoy politics/history but not with Professor Ceaser. Sorry

I was lucky and took AP Gov in high school and did well in it (got a 5 on AP exam but decided to take this class anyway) so I knew most of the material before even taking the class but if you dont, you're gonna have to teach it to yourself. Ceaser is a TERRIBLE lecturer and goes off on a lot of tangents and its so easy to stop listening. You would just be able to skip but thats only if your TA is good at going over what he said in lecture because theres always a few questions on midterm/final that are things he only talked about in lecture. Papers aren't bad but depends on who your TA is with regards to grading. If you're good at politics you'll be okay- I ended with an A bc im good at politics and had a good TA but may be difficult if you dont have these things.

Overall, this course wasn't much different from AP Government, but Professor Ceaser tends to go on and a lot of tangents, sometimes rambling about nothing relating to the lecture for 20 minutes. This was still a really good class, but if you can take it with another professor, I would do so.

Okay so I really don't want to hate on this class because the material is pretty interesting and Ceaser is a really nice guy, but I want to caution anyone who wishes to take this course. Firstly, the academic structure of the class is as follows: two essays, a midterm, a final, and the addition of participation points awarded for active contribution during discussion. While this is not too bad, messing up any one assignment may result in an impossibility to raise your grade back up, so keep this in mind. The midterm wasn't TOO bad but it certainly wasn't great either, both papers are graded by your TA and unless you are really bad at writing you'll likely end up with between a C+ to an A on your papers, the final is both VERY specific and conceptual, but if you allow yourself enough time to study for it you should be fine. I can not stress this enough when I say you must read ALL OF THE MATERIAL if you wish to be successful in this class. Also an important point to note is the fact that you won't receive your first grade in this class until after the drop date, which for some people really hurt them and their GPA. Ceaser is the next person I want to talk about because while he is a nice and quirky guy, he also runs the most unstructured class I've ever been to in my entire class. Ceaser simply speaks to a lecture hall of a few hundred students and expects you to take notes on everything he says. There are no powerpoints, there are no online notes posted, and Ceaser will go on unnecessary tangents that make your notes confusing and unstructured as well. When I say Ceaser goes on tangents I don't mean he veers off talking about federalism for two minutes to talk about current affairs, instead he'll shift the conversation to aliens and peanut galleries for minutes at a time completely breaking everyone's train of thought. This class is essentially a far more difficult version of AP Gov with some ambiguity sprinkled in. I finished with a B+ because I re-read the entire textbook and all of the supplemental readings over the course of two weeks and did well on the final which helped raise the B average I had prior. Overall it is a very interesting class and would recommend it if you want to give yourself a challenge!

While this course is just a foundational course in American politics, I found it really interesting. This first half of the course covers the basics (Founders, branches of government), it becomes more applicable to modern day politics as the course progresses. Professor Ceaser is a great lecturer. He sometimes goes on tangents, but he always talks about current politics and tries to keep the mood light while lecturing.
There was a lot of reading per week that was necessary for the discussion. The textbook information was usually went over in lecture, but reading it was helpful for the midterm and final. Primary sources were discussed in the discussion section. I had Kal Munis as a TA. His discussion section was very dry, but the powerpoints he did sometimes were great study guides. The questions he asked demanded that you read at least the primary sources and discuss them. Participation in and attending the discussion is part of your grade.
There were 2 papers. Both had multiple topic options and were graded fairly. Midterm was was pretty basic info if you attended lecture and did the readings. Final was a little harder than the midterm, but still pretty easy.

I came into UVA thinking I wanted to go into law/government, so I took this course. This course pretty much made me not interested in it at all, not sure if it was because of my TA or because how boring and hard the class was. This was my first C I have ever gotten. Tests were incredibly hard and the papers were graded pretty harshly. Again, this could've just been because of my TA (Nicholas Jacobs). I also feel like I never knew what to expect on exams. We were never really given a clear outline of what to really know about. They just threw a bunch of irrelevant knowledge at you pretty often.

The TA saved my life in this class. James Ceaser is very clearly knowledgable (he has a PhD from Harvard) but his lectures are quite unstructured and boring (there are no powerpoints). Also, because there is a lack of structure, it’s difficult to study for the exams, but the TAs in discussion definitely help. I wish this class was more “politics” focused. I thought this would be focused on policy and such, but it’s basically your IB HOA class. Take it if you want, but eh.

Do not take this class. Skip over it and take the more specific and interesting politics classes. This class is not fun, and it is a much more difficult abstract version of AP Gov.
The Professor is VERY smart, but lectures can easily get off topic and it is impossible to study for the midterm final because there is NO WAY to pick out what is important and what is not. The professor and the TAs give NO guidance whatsoever on how to study or prepare for the midterm or final.
Papers were not bad but your grade depends entirely on your TA.

The class is mostly focused on the history of American politics, not so much on contemporary politics. Professor Ceaser tends to ramble a bit and his lectures are confusing because he doesn't use Powerpoints. Going to lecture is necessary because everything is tested on exams. 1 midterm, 2 papers, 1 final. The midterm was very specific, and the final was also but to a lesser extent. Read EVERYTHING and understand it. Also, for your own sake, keep up with the readings and don't wait until the exam to read all of it...that's what I did, and I suffered through reading more than half of a textbook in 2 days. That being said, it's not too hard to do decently in this class (B+/A-). I would say it is pretty difficult to get an A though. The class is worthwhile if you've never taken a politics class before.

VERY DRY. He's really nerdy cool and funny, but it goes often unappreciated because of how dry he is. Lectures are not worthwhile and wholesome. Textbook is informative and the way the course is structured is well done, just not how he teaches it. I'm currently sitting pretty at a B-. Not worthwhile.

Ceaser is a very interesting man to talk to, and seems to have a genuine love for the subject matter. That being said, he tends to ramble during lecture.

Professor Ceaser is quite a dry lecturer. As others said, he tends to ramble and doesn't use slides or anything, so it's quite difficult to follow his point and pay attention for the whole class. Readings are relatively easy, as are the midterm and final, but I didn't leave feeling like I had really learned anything. It just felt like a rehashing of a high school government class. I had Anthony Sparacino as my TA. It was his first time teaching a section, and while he was a nice guy, discussions were awkward and pretty pointless. I would avoid taking this class with Ceaser if you can.

Class isn't too hard as many have already outlined, two short papers that are fairly easy to write, a midterm and a final. Reading is usually 50-60 pages a week and not too bad if you have a passing interest in politics/civics.

There are some general things one should be aware of though. Both the midterm and the final are multiple choice (the final also has two essays).
The midterm especially, will test you on EVERYTHING, if you haven't done the readings or come to lectures, it won't be a pleasant experience. I found the multiple choice for the final much easier, and I knew most of it not because I took the class but because I have a general interest in politics. Essays were straightforward and included stuff that was discussed in sections, to the point where if you had studied your section notes well enough, it was hard not to do well on those.

Lectures can be a bit dry. Ceaser actually cracks quite a few jokes but a lot of them involve current events stories that students don't always pay attention to, so they might not appear all that funny to everyone, I personally thought he had quite a few good ones.

Also, the general theme of this course is American politics as it relates to The Founding of the country (Declaration of Independence, the ratification of and debate over the Constitution). A lot of people may not like that and it took me until the end of the course to understand why Ceaser places such emphasis on the founding. It finally occurred to me that that this is the "why" of American politics, why the system looks like it does, why there is conflict and lethargy built into the governmental structure, why the states were granted certain powers etc. In most college intro classes to politics you would get the "what", basically, this is what the government looks like. Ceaser gets to that part as well, but by going back to The Founding, he gives students an understanding of why the political system in the United States is set up the way it is and what the results of this is.

So for this reason, I recommend the class, if only because it does a very good job of explaining the "why" of American politics, on top of that it isn't very hard and doesn't involve too much work.

This class was a stereotypical college class; Professor Ceaser lectures without slides or much interaction with students. Even though the class can be quite boring at times, Prof. Ceaser really cares about his students and makes a lot of witty comments. Not the most riveting class but you leave feeling like you learned a lot, especially about the American Founding and American politics from the perspective of the Founders.

Ceasar has a boring lecture style but I thought he was very amusing and I found myself laughing at his jokes regularly. DO THE READINGS and attend section and you'll do fine. 2 papers, 1 midterm, 1 final.

Ceaser's lectures are very boring. You can tell he is VERY knowledgeable and passionate about politics, but the lecture is dry. As long as you go to discussion and do the readings, you will be fine. Very easy class with two papers, one midterm, one final.

VERY boring class. TA is what made it worthwhile. Two short papers, a quiz, midterm, and final.

This class looks at American politics from the point of the view of the Founders. Go to class, take notes, and skim over the readings and you will do fine.

Very dry lecturer...if you read the book, it's the same as going to class. Sections are helpful, and Belcher does a good job of preparing you for midterms and finals.

Heavily constitutional, uses own textbook, but all in all, relatively easy to succeed.

Interesting class. He wrote the book so the lecture follows the book very well. Basically like high school government. 2 easy papers, some in class quizzes and a few midterms. Good class

Ceaser is a terrible lecturer. You will be bored to tears and sleep if you're lucky. His lectures are unorganized and he rambles all the time about the Founders, Jefferson, Britain etc. His book is HORRIBLE and although some of the reading is interesting, he doesn't cover it much. Don't take the class. Save your soul.