PLAP 3500

This is a review for political economy. if you are interested in learning the foundations of how we think about economics in american politics, take this course. Its not an economics course in the sense of learning graphs and doing First order conditions. It's just readings from people like Aristotle, Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and many others. Professor Koganzon is a very smart and effective lecturer. what she does particularly well is synthesize material from different readings and bring together themes from across the course. This helps a lot with understanding how the readings connect with each other. The two 6 page papers are not very demanding because the prompts she provides give you a lot to write about. the midterm and final ID sections are what hurt me.. make sure you do the readings because she will be able to tell. lectures are kinda dry but if you are interested in economics and politics you might like. The class is entirely seminar style which I enjoyed too.

One of the best politics courses and professors at UVA. There was more theory and less hard economics than expected, but extremely fascinating class for anyone interested in political theory or American political history. Readings aren't long, range from Aristotle to Marx to Barack Obama, and are important for class participation. There are two six-page papers with plenty of topics to choose from, and a fair midterm and final with short answers. Professor Koganzon leads incredible class discussions - she focuses on the main points from each thinker while making connections and raising issues that really make you think. She's clearly intelligent, well-prepared for every class, and a natural at facilitating discussion. Take this class with this professor.