PLAP 3500

Pivonka is by far the best teacher I have ever had at UVa. Hes so young which makes him relateable and he always makes class interesting. Class is basically a big interesting discussion. He discusses all of the readings that you need to know for the midterm and final which are extremely straightforward. The papers are also straightforward as well (2). Would 100% recommend this class completely!

One of my favorite professors and classes at UVa thus far-- So funny and laid back but expected you to come prepared and have great discussion. It wasn't hard to come prepared for his class either because he chose interesting but not too long readings, so it was never intimidating to start the homework. I thought he taught the material well, and his exams/ papers were really straightforward and easy if you participated in class at all. #tcf2016

One of the best professors I've had at UVA, very knowledgeable & makes class discussions entertaining. Very willing to help. Overall, class material is very interesting & readings are discussed in class. For a politics class, workload & grading are pretty manageable, would definitely recommend!

Pivonka is the man. Take this class. 10/10 would recommend.

As a government and economics major, I really enjoyed this class and getting to see how my areas of study overlapped. Professor Pivonka is a fantastic lecturer and explains the material very well; he genuinely cares about students and makes an effort to learn everyone's names; and the class always had great discussions. He also is very generous with extensions and tries to be accommodating of everyone. I would highly recommend this class and any class with Professor Pivonka!

I took PLAP 3500 (American Political Economy) with Prof. Pivonka. I could not recommend this class more highly. I started out the semester skeptical (and not too enthused about the subject matter--I had signed up for the class because I needed to fulfill a PLAP, and it was the one that fit in my schedule). My expectations were exceeded in every way. This is not an economics class-- it is lowkey political theory, and Prof. Pivonka makes the information accessible, palatable, and relevant to modern political issues. Most of the reading comes out of a course reader and is pretty manageable. Class time is spent debriefing on the important points of the reading, and then debating different approaches to political economy, which is a lot of fun. The essays had kind of inconvenient deadlines (they were due the same week as the midterm and final, respectively), but the prompts were fair and fun to contemplate. Also, Pivonka is a very lenient grader who just loves to hear your input on the material, and he's very generous with extensions if you need them. The midterm questions were given to us in advance, comprehensive, and reasonable. Overall, a very valuable class that isn't super stressful.