PLAP 2250

This is an amazing course! I learned so much. Besides regular readings, you only have two papers and two exams. Brooks is an amazing professor that I love. He really knows how to lead a lively discussion. This course took all the important readings in politics everyone should know and allows us to compare them to politics today. This class is so interesting and everyone could benefit from it.

This was an interesting class and I really enjoyed the way Professor Brooks taught the course. Other than the fact that this class is offered so early, it is pretty enjoyable. If you are not much of a talker, stay away from this course, as participation in discussion is an important part of the grade. There was a decent amount of reading but for the most part the class was manageable.

Professor Brooks was a really engaging professor and made this class much better for it (I heard other professors taught this course in their own way, and weren't quite as good). The material for this class is the same no matter which professor teaches it because it's sponsored by the department. The standard is a ton of excerpts and readings (around 2-3 per class) with a theme for each class. There are some suggested questions that guide the class and you go from there, with a discussion about the readings. So class is as interesting as you make it since you're the one making observations. The midterm and final were both essay-based and not difficult because Prof. Brooks released a list of possible questions from which he would choose questions for us. The essays we had to write over the semester were also not a big deal to worry about. Overall, a good class on the Lawn and I learned a lot with Prof. Brooks. A quick and shallow overview of political thought in America from then until now.

This is a fantastic course, taught by a wonderful professor. The readings are always relevant, so I never felt like what I was reading was only busywork, and it is fascinating to see how, as the semester progresses, the students begin to weave together the tapestry of the American Political Tradition on their own. Professor Brooks is funny, very smart, and approaches this complex topic with a philosopher's mind, which leads to almost daily conversations that can veer into the theoretical but never fail to leave the students exiting class with more than they came in with. Highly recommend.

I highly recommend this course. Professor Brooks does a great job encouraging discussion and engaging the class. It's a small setting on the lawn, hard to beat.

I m currently taking this class and I cannot recommend it enough. Professor Brooks is the best professor I have had at UVA so far, and the way he teaches the class is very very enjoyable and highly engaging!!! The material is really interesting and you get to read the most important literature ever written by American Political philosophers, founding fathers, and contemporaries. It is discussion-based which is nice because if you have a great class then you can go very in depth with the questions Professor Brooks presents at the beginning of class. There are two papers and a midterm and final, but they are not anything to stress over. This class is amazing, Professor Brooks is funny, smart, down to earth, and is very passionate about this subject. TAKE THIS CLASS!!!