PLCP 1010

Overall, this class was very fair and comprehensive for an introductory course. Definitely go to lecture as Waldner does not post his slides and type down every single word that is on his slides (will help you for the midterms and the final). Only read the readings using his lecture guides as he tells you what concepts are important. Discussion sections are super helpful for quick summaries of the readings.

#tCFF23

I hated this class. The instructor was fun, and engaging in lecture, but I could not retain anything. He talks in circles, speaks about a ton of concepts we don't need to know for the class so it's hard to differentiate what we actually need to know or not. Insane amount of reading which is boring and incomprehensible. Only 3 exams make up the entire grading of the class and you don't know how to take any of them.

Great lectures and lecturer. The course covers a lot of difficult content, especially for an intro course. But, Waldner explains it all well (although sometimes at lightning speed --- slides are uploaded though so this isn't anything to worry about really). There is definitely a lot of reading, and you do need to do it to understand the course IMO. That said, the grading is easy because all of the tests are take-home and open book.

This is a tricky class, especially as a first year. The readings are dense, and it's tough to grasp the content if you aren't on top of the readings for every class. However, once you figure out how to break down the main points of each reading/lecture, this class does become incredibly interesting. Somehow it manages to be both very specific and broad (focusing on individual research studies and broad theories of democratic/economic development), which is uniquely overwhelming and fascinating. If you are not interested in broad questions of democratization and political development, this class is not for you. I was certainly challenged, but if you have the willpower to put in the work the content eventually clicks. Professor Waldner is an engaging lecturer, but it can be difficult to navigate his text-dense slides. The TAs helped a lot, and so did the lecture guides the professor posted.

Waldner was a phenomenal professor. Before I signed up for the class I saw ratings that made me a bit nervous about how difficult he would be about grades, but I am so glad I took the class. I was never surprised by anything he put on a test — he would always make sure to review everything we needed to know at his review sessions before each exam.

Waldner is a great professor and makes the classes enjoyable. His lectures are jam packed with info and he moves pretty fast so it can be easy to get lost if you aren't paying attention. There are a lot of assigned readings - you don't need to do every reading, but DO the readings he references in class because they will be on exams. If you're genuinely interested in the material, you'll enjoy the class.

This class was way harder than I was expecting as an intro to comparative politics course. The first part of the course is mainly focused on hypothesis testing and causal inferences, so don't be surprised if you don't get to actual comparative politics until halfway through the semester. I would highly recommend doing the readings because most of the exams you will need to remember what each reading was about and pull out specific ideas and concepts that will be hard to remember if you don't have detailed notes. Waldner also goes over the readings in class and breaks them down because they can be fairly dense, and your TA will help you understand them as well. Exams were essay based, and I found it hard to complete the midterms in time, but the final was easier to manage pacing, although it was definitely harder than the midterms. Somehow I managed to finish with an A in the class, but I honestly wouldn't recommend this class. If you can do well in this class you might as well take a 3000 level politics class. #tCFfall22

This class was pretty hard. It is basically statistics and I wish I had known that before coming in... It is obviously lecture-based. No quizzes, just midterms that are essay questions. Same for the final. Lots of reading every single class I could barely stay on top of it. Class notes are very important because he summarizes readings in class, so it's best to attend lectures. His lectures do drag on though are about 40 slides each. You can always go back and review the pdfs of the lecture slides though which is nice. The midterms and finals expect you to know the authors and their main points. I would not recommend this class to people who want to learn about domestic or international politics. I would recommend it to people who want to understand the logistics of politics, like voting systems, democracy-building, and state-building. Just all numbers, not really political information of today.

PLCP 1010 was undoubtedly my favorite course this semester! We learned so much regarding methodology, political theories, statistic analysis, and more. I went into this class thinking it was going to be centered around politics, however, statistics played a large role. I am not a math person whatsoever, but I still succeeded in this course! I would recommend this class to everyone no matter their major; these lectures go beyond politics and are applicable to so many areas in life. We had two midterms and one final! The exams are straight from the notes and readings (the important readings he goes over during class), and they are essay/short answer format. They are timed writings, and he does ask a lot for the amount of time you have. However, they take the time into consideration when grading! The readings are dense, but so insightful. I read about 60% of the assigned readings and still averaged an A in the class. As long as you attend lectures, you'll be fine. Waldner also does not take attendance, which is extremely helpful especially during the pandemic when people were sick left and right. However, attendance for discussion sections are mandatory. #tCFfall2021

I loved this class! Waldner is clearly very passionate about the material and you really don't have to do the readings to do well in the class. The discussion section is kinda pointless but still fun if you're interested in the material. Fortunately this semester he cut back on all the coding and statistics so the courseload has gotten even lighter. Overall a good intro politics class that I def recommend to everyone interested.

This complexity of the material of this class for a 1010 is A LOT, but Professor Waldner does a great job in lecture of breaking it down. While there are a lot of readings, you can get away with skimming the intro/conclusions and tables, then paying attention in lecture to what Waldner highlights from them. I took this course as a first-year interested in majoring in Politics-Foreign Affairs, and I would strongly recommend the course. It is a lot of work but it is definitely worth it.

Prof Waldner was a great lecturer and really cared about all his students. He always offered his help pretty much 24/7, especially at the beginning of the year when we were learning to use R. Using R was definitely not hard at all since all you had to do was run the pre-written code and answer questions based on the stats. The beginning of the course was pretty stats heavy, but not too bad. There were a ton of readings assigned for every lecture, but I stopped doing them after the first week and just read the summaries of them provided in the discussion sections and did fine (B+ final grade). I had Sally Bonsall as my TA and she did a good job at summarizing the important parts of the lectures and the readings in her powerpoints. However, I know Simonas Cepenas had some more in-depth slides of the readings, but less in-depth of the lecture. To get the best of both worlds, I just had someone send me Simonas' slides before exams. I really liked Sally as a TA because she made discussions interesting and I think she might have been a slightly more generous grader.

#tCF2020

Waldner is a great lecturer who really cares that each student understands the material. I would not recommend Tolu as a TA, she is smart, but her discussions were very stressful and not as helpful as the other sections seemed to be. There is a lot of stats, but not hard to understand. The midterms and final were very fair and followed the course material very well - they were essay format.

Professor Waldner is a great person with a good heart and an intention to help students gain an overall understanding, but his delivery is quite confusing. The expectations of this course greatly exceed the introductory level. The readings are extremely lengthy and the volume is way too high. Depending on your TA, your discussion sections will either save your prep for midterms/finals or be a demoralizing experience. The fact that we had a virtual class (and therefore open note exams) was an absolute lifesaver, I would not have survived without them. This is definitely not an easy A class, you have been warned!
#tCF2020

PLCP 1010 was an overview of the major theories and methods of comparative politics. Professor Waldner was an engaging lecturer. There were a lot of readings and they were pretty dry. Discussion sections depended on your TA... Tolu was not particularly helpful in explaining the material. The assessments were writing-based. There were also a few easy but dense homework assignments that used R programming. Ultimately, the course was really interesting as someone who has never studied comparative politics, but it was a fairly standard large lecture intro class.

This class was sometimes very challenging to me, but as a future foreign affairs major, it was extremely interesting. The readings can get very long for an introductory class, but by the middle of the semester, you're able to see what information is actually important for the exams. The beginning is focused heavily on statistics, which was a little more difficult, but nothing that can't be done. Discussion sections were VERY helpful. Overall, I'd recommend this class, especially if you are looking to major in the Politics area, but aren't completely sure. Also, I highly recommend Simonas Cepenas as the TA; he made very helpful, concise, and direct powerpoint slides with all of the relevant material. #tCF2020

This was a great class. The first portion of the semester is very statistics heavy, but it all has a purpose later on and helps add context to the more theoretical topics towards the end. There is a ton of reading, most of the time it isn't necessary to do all of it, just make sure you have the general ideas for the exams. Dr. Waldner is a very caring professor, it is obvious that he really wants every student to succeed. This class wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I learned a lot and am still happy I took it. #tCF2020

The reading can get lengthy but Waldner is a great teacher. The exams are all essay questions so grading is pretty lenient. You do, however, need to know the readings and be able to name drop the authors and their main points.

I really enjoyed this class. Professor Waldner is great and I found his humor to make the class more exciting ( but i get that some people may not find him funny at all). I found the material interesting and easy to understand, and the homework assignments were pretty easy and didn't take too long. The only downside was the grading. I found it hard to get an A, even with putting in the effort and understanding all of the material. There are two midterms, both short answer and then a final which is also short answer, but longer.

This course would better be titled "Introduction to Statistics" than "Introduction to Comparative Politics". Waldner focuses heavily on the statistical approach to comparative politics, and the course didn't actually get interesting until the last few weeks. Though I got an A- in this course and diligently read and attended every lecture, friends who never even looked at the articles achieved similar grades. The discussion sections are particularly useless, as my TA only regurgitated the previous lectures that week. All in all Waldner is a nice guy, but this class simply wasn't what I expected and introductory comparative politics class to be.

Professor Waldner is a great teacher, but the course itself is not what I expected. I went into this class thinking we would learn more about modern democracy and politics, but a good amount of the class is spent on the foundations of a nation and nation building. Waldner's lectures are sometimes jumbled and vague, but I had Olyvia who was a great TA that really helped to clarify the material. As far as actual class work, there's lots of dense, unnecessary reading, five homework assignments that you have to go to the library to do, two pretty easy midterms, and a final. I didn't love or hate the class, but I wish there hadn't been so much reading. The exciting material doesn't really begin until after the first midterm, so beware.

Professor Waldner is AWESOME! He makes a introductory class interesting and enjoyable. Readings could be a little bit time consuming, and not all the materials are fully discussed in lecture or discussion.

This is one of the easiest politics classes I've taken. You do not need to do the readings to do well. I did not read a single article and still got a B+. Pay attention in lecture and the exams are easy. The class is based on 3 exams.

Waldner is a great lecturer

Organize these comments by "lowest rating" and they all will give you the most accurate feedback of the class. If you hate dreading going to a lecture, avoid this at all costs. You will not like politics after this; an upper level PLCP,PLIR,PLAP,PLPT would be much easier.

This class was one of my favorites. The material is a little dull at the beginning of the semester, but it really picks up by the end. Waldner covers a lot of basics which makes it easy to understand. He also brings in a lot of examples that make it more engaging than just reading off slides. The exams are not difficult, the TAs are just looking to see that you paid attention during class. Waldner is also a very nice and approachable professor and he really loves to talk to students. I highly recommend this class; it is so applicable in any class you take in the politics or history department. Also Bob is the TA I recommend.

Waldner is a good professor and his lectures are pretty interesting, although there's a lot of just reading off of the power point. The course itself involves comparing political structures in different countries and there's also a significant amount of data analysis. There are two exams and a final which are all short answer/essay questions. As long as you do the readings and incorporate as many case studies into your essays, you will end up with a decent grade (as in B to A- range), but it's still pretty hard to get the A.

Very enjoyable class. It is challenging!

PLCP 1010 is an enjoyable course, especially if you keep an open mind in the class. It's more based in theory than you'd expect, but Waldner does a good job of getting the information across in an understandable and usually funny way. Midterms are very open-ended which is refreshing.

Prof. is a smart and interesting guy; his lectures can be a bit vague though, but if you go to class you'll know what he's looking for. I found his class to be a fun hour and the class really wasn't that much work. The reading were interesting but not necessary. I got an A without doing the readings after the first month of class. I just read concluding paragraphs for references.

Waldner is one of my least favorite professors.The topics are extremely vague, even for an intro survey course, and he makes awful jokes. There is an extraordinary amount of dense reading, which is only slightly touched on in lecture/discussion but expected to understand the overall theme for the exams. The exams are vague which means you can talk pretty much about whatever you want, still depend on knowledge from the readings and great writing skills. Don't recommend.

Professor Waldner was one of the most engaging and favorite professors I've had! He strives on making sure you understand the course material thoroughly (which is a good thing!) The course itself is very theory-based, and can be a bit heavy on certain concepts. There's supplemental readings before each lecture that are fairly lengthy for an intro course. (You don't have to do all of them though; I only read the conclusions and pulled a B+.) The midterms and final are a very vague in topic, but as long as you understand the material, it becomes fairly simple. Highly recommend this course if you've never took a politics course before.

Waldner is one of the best lecturers I've had at UVA. He is engaging, friendly, funny, and extremely knowledgeable. This class is primarily concept-based, and Waldner wants to make sure his students understand the concepts and think, rather than simply memorize facts for the exams only to forget them the following week. I got by just reading the conclusions of the readings and ended with a B+ in the class. Don't listen to the guy below me -- the consensus among people I know in the class is that it's worthwhile and everyone really likes Waldner.

Waldner is a funny and interactive lecturer. This class is made up of two midterms, both of which are in-class papers and one final (also a paper). The discussions mostly focus on assigned readings and are mandatory for the attendance grade. The concepts are usually easy to understand. All the lectures are posted on Collab. Very conceptual class and theoretical, but if you're generally interested in comparative politics it is very interesting, but not what you're expecting most likely. Papers are graded by TA's and Jenn Simmons did a good job of giving a lot of feedback and recommendations.

Waldner makes the concepts in Comparative Politics so much more difficult than they actually are. He is a very boring lecturer, and attempts to crack jokes that aren't funny at all. The readings are copious, and he rarely addresses them in class but expects us to know them for the exams. This class is horrible and I dread coming to it everyday. If you are passionate about Politics please do not take this class because he will make you hate it. The class doesn't even talk about Politics, honestly. Its more of a history class, which is not what I signed up for! Do yourself a favor and take PLAP or PLIR instead.

Pretty easy and basic politics course. Two midterms and a final. Never did the readings, just paid attention in discussion and got an A-. April was an awesome TA and very helpful. If you are thinking about majoring in politics then I would recommend this course.

Professor Waldner is a funny lecturer however the class is not what you would expect. It covers broad concepts rather than learning about different nations and comparing politics among nations. Class is difficult when it really doesn't need to be. I wouldn't recommend this class, but if you have to take it, I strongly recommend Geoff Gordon as the TA.

This is probably the only 1010 politics course worth taking. Doing the reading is unncessary to get an A if you can bs your way through discussion and hide the fact that you didn't read, then your TA will basically tell you all you need to know about the Collab readings for that week. The textbook is probably fairly useful if you don't know much about politics already. I did none of the reading except for reading the occasional 1 page case studies on countries in the back of the texbook so I would have real life examples to use in my essays. There are two midterms which are essays based on a broad prompt that allow you to basically write about anything, so you can avoid everything you don't know. The final is short answer. I studied for about 2 hours before each exam and got a solid A.

Overall this class was kind of boring to sit through, although Waldner can be really funny. However, the exams were actually much harder than expected, and consisted of writing about an open-ended big topic. Overall, I wouldn't really recommend taking this class, I didn't learn that many new things and it was harder than it should have been. However, if you do take it, Geoff Gordon was a great TA!

Definitely take this if you have any interest in politics. A lot of people give Waldner shit for being "arrogant" or "rude", but don't listen to those nerds because I think he is hilarious and engaging. A lot of reading, but I did none of it and was able to get a B+ in the class. Exams are pretty straightforward essay based and short answer like most politics courses, no papers or anything so thats cool. Just go to class and take good notes and you should be able to get by with not much effort

This class was very informative. Professor Waldner is clearly very knowledgeable.

The teacher uses really dense, scholarly articles (in addition to less frequent chapter readings). The articles are really boring, and one does not need to read them to get a good grade. Lectures are boring, and Waldner thinks he's funny when he's really not. He posts lecture slides online which explain all of the readings. There is also a mandatory discussion section that is pointless. You have to write two discussion questions per week that you don't discuss, and all in all, you learn nothing in discussion. I did not read the articles and the last five chapters, I skipped the last three weeks of class (as well as some classes during the earlier portion of semester), and I still got an A-. I never saw someone who got an A on one of the midterms, and Waldner says there is no curve, but I believe he curves the final because there are people who end up with A's (slightly more than thecourseforum says). The only grades are two midterms and a final, meaning no papers or written homework. It's really boring, and unless your a politics major, then I would not recommend this class.

I did not like this class when I took it... that being said after having taken this class I see the usefulness of the concepts Waldner discusses. This was an annoying class, but if you do the readings you should be fine and be able to glean something interesting out of it.

DO NOT take this class unless you are planning on majoring in foreign affairs or a related subject. concepts are extremely broad and extremely boring. all of the concepts are based off of his lecture slides and dense, scholarly articles that can be difficult to read at times. he posts all of his lecture slides online, but his lectures are helpful. there are two midterms and a final exam. very few questions determine your grade, and your work is relative to everyone else's. he assigns readings in the textbooks, but they are irrelevant to the material on the midterm and the final, and they are very basic. Bob Kubinec is a great TA

You can get away with not attending lectures because Waldner posts his lecture slides online, but he often clarifies his slides in class. The textbook readings are completely unnecessary - skip those. You'll need to spend plenty of time on the articles he assigns, though. Waldner's a good lecturer - I appreciated his attempts at humor. An easy and useful class.

Waldner is a pretty good lecturer, and he often tries to keep students engaged by telling (bad) jokes, while still getting the important material across. He sometimes goes off an incredibly long winded tangents and uses unnecessary examples, but he always manages to get the point across. The reading is a bit heavy and annoying, but it's definitely manageable. Two midterms and a final.

Professor Waldner was great. He tried to make the lectures interesting and funny (though some of his jokes were overused). There's a lot of reading which you should definitely read if you want a good grade and it's dense but readable. The exams also aren't too bad as long as you incorporate examples from the readings into your essays. Overall definitely a worthwhile class if you're interested in international government or even just politics in general.

Waldner is the MAN! The class is exciting and the material is very interesting to anyone with an interest in politics. Unfortunately, the reading is dense and dry, so getting through it is tough, but necessary. Waldner manages to spin a story together out of all the crappy readings that is enjoyable and so interesting. Sam is a great TA. His discussions can be dry and boring, but he is incredibly helpful and knows the material better than the other TA's.

Waldner made this class. Favorite professor of my first semester by far. There's a lot of reading but you can grasp the concepts without reading everything if necessary. If you're looking for a class to compare England's government to our government, this is not it. Waldner focuses on state formation and success/failure, but it's not boring at all.

Waldner always kept lecture interesting, to say the least. Personally, I enjoyed his sense of humor. The topics were very broad, and it was mainly based on theoretical arguments that could really go either way. If you're going to take this class, be sure that you are able to write a good essay in a timely manner and also go to lecture and discussion sections. I'm not going to lie, I read less and less as the semester went on because the readings were so dense and crazy long. Everything tied together though by the end, and I feel like I learned a lot from this class. Paromita Sen was an awesome TA: always willing to help us prepare for exams, she extended office hours, and was fair in discussion and grading in general. This class is based on two midterms (15%, 25%), the discussion grade (only 10%), and a final (50%!!). The grading was pretty fair and consistent, and I ended up with an A-. It's definitely tough to get an A or even A- in this class, but if you're interested in the subject matter, you may as well take the class!

The class was very theoretical and confusing at times, but sometimes interesting. It is very hard to get an A and Professor Waldner thinks he is extremely comical, even though he has used the same jokes for decades. The lectures during the first half of the semester were very conducive to sleeping, but they got better by the second half of the semester. He's actually a very intelligent guy, but very set in his opinions. This class is a lot of reading and very theoretical, so I wouldn't recommend it.

Professor Waldner is generally a very good professor. I enjoy his readings and I think that they are generally very easy to connect to his class if you read all of it through. His exams are fairly straight forward and they are generally easy. His lectures are very straight foward and they tell you everything you need to know. I disagree with other reviewer's assessments that Waldner's class is overly difficult. I feel like you get back what you put in. On the other hand, Waldner is not very enthusiastic when it comes to helping his students individually. He was not as helpful as I hoped he would be when I spoke to him one on one a couple times. Also, my TA was Susan Brewer, she was a pretty good TA, very good at explaining things but she was not very good at predicting what would be on exams.

Awful class. Do not take this unless you are EXTREMELY interested in foreign affairs. Honestly, at the end of each lecture, I am not sure whether Waldner is going to crack a joke or throw a temper tantrum as people pack up. He loves himself and makes sure to throw in unnecessary readings simply because they mention his name. He is incredibly verbose in lecture and likes to mention that he was a Fulbright just to show off his intelligence. Which is great. It is wonderful that he is intelligent and knows a lot. I wish that he would share his knowledge with the class instead of sharing little quips about himself. There are 2 midterms and a final. His midterms were 2 questions. One question was 30% of the grade, and the other was worth 70%. The final is worth 50%. On the most recent midterm, his question was extremely confusing. Midway through the exam, he decided to clarify and explain the question. This changed the entire exam. So thank you, Waldner, for once again failing to be clear and concise. I asked my TA how you get an A in the class, and the response was "Write something that I would write." So good luck if you take this class. Go to lecture, read the hundreds of pages of readings, and get a B.

Pretty crummy class to be honest... Waldner assigns a ton of reading, and he likes assigning readings that reference him but have little to do with the Midterms. He insists there's no curve but he doesn't really give out As to even the most studious individuals (usually about 6% of the class gets an A) so it's gonna hurt your GPA. As a TA Paromita Sen (Paro) was pretty good... pretty hot if you're into Indian chicks like I am but otherwise just generally pretty helpful. Watch out though - there was a midterm where my TA and my friend's TA both said something wasn't important and then it was worth a big percentage of the grade. Overall, unless you really like comparing systems of government and history, you're gonna fall asleep.

Went into this class with high hopes, but after struggling through frustrating readings that have nothing to do with the class, I can tell you that this is not your standard "intro-level" course. Waldner is really good professor. He likes to show of his intellectuality a bit, but in general he does a good job explaining the content of the class. The readings are a pain, especially because they generally are way too long, boring, and unrelated to Waldner's lectures. Unfortunately, they tend to pop up on his midterms. Also, Waldner likes to do this thing where he makes random questions for the exams on the morning of. The midterms are written, and are okay depending on your study habits.

Waldner is a great professor, good sense of dry humor. The Susan Brewer-Norman is the best TA of the bunch and helps to really organize all of the information. Even with lots of reading for a 100 level, it is well worth taking the class.

Way too much work for a 101. Skip it and take a 300 level instead. It'll be easier.

This class like any introductory class, was broad, but somewhat interesting. The material is presented in a slanted way from Waldner, but as long as you agree with him in your essay questions then you'll do fine. Lecture could get quite boring, and was really reading intensive, but overall not bad. All tests are blue book tests, two midterms and a final. Get a good TA, and your grade could be rewarded.

One of the best course I've taken at UVA. but this is a difficult course for a 101 level.
The material is truly interesting. Prof Waldner is very knowledgeable. His lectures are informative and organized. You learn so much about politics through this course.
Definitely get Brandon Yoder as your TA. He is very helpful to explain, clarify things. His way of drawing causal diagram helps so much for the exams! You learn so much from Brandon.
Definitely recommend this class

I am a Foreign Affairs major and took this as a fourth year because I thought it would be an easy A. It was definitely much harder than my expectations and there were way too many readings for a 101 class. Pretty interesting though and he is a great lecturer (when you go). 2 midterms, one final (50% of grade).

Good class, great lectures.It gives a very structural approach to government, istitutions and the state, different from what you might expect, but still very good. I strongly recommend TA B. Yoder, very good at explaining mechanisms.

Walder is funny but the class is complex. Sometimes I would have no idea what was going on in class.

Lots of reading- would have done better if I had actually done them! Great lectures- highly enjoyable prof.!

Excessive course packet, but the material was fairly interesting. Waldner was a amicable enough guy and really gave you his own opinion/theories. The reading wasn't really necessary (there was a lot). midterm, 2 quizzes, paper, final.

Would not recommend this class unless you are truly interested in the material...Waldner's lectures, although funny at times, were kind of confusing. I found the class to be too hypothetical. I would highly recommend taking a discussion with Brandon Yoder, though, he's great.

Super enthusiastic professor! Waldner was hilarious and really made me want to go to class. It's a 101 class, but don't expect it to be easy. Lots and lots and lots of reading

Great speaker, I loved going to lectures. He uses some pretty amusing metaphors and comparasions that I actually found very helpful. WAY too much reading, I didn't do all of it though. To get an a you have to know and incorporate the readings alot. You can get a b by going to the lectures and taking really good notes, but without readings, it's impossible to get an a.

Great class! Waldner is an amazing public speaker and very fun to listen to. Some of his views are a bit one-sided, but all of the material is interesting nonetheless. MAKE SURE YOU GET A GOOD T.A. because they do ALL of the grading and are ultimately responsible for your overall grade. The concepts are somewhat abstract so it's important to get into a good discussion section to help reinforce the material. I would highly recommend this class to anybody looking to broaden their knowledge about early political systems and structures of states. Not a typical easy A 101 class.

Great class and professor but too much reading. You can get away with not doing it though!

This class was difficult, but lots of fun. Questions on the midterms and finals seemed easy at first, but required very thorough answers. It was hard to get an A, but not impossible. This class definitely sparked an interest in politics for me.

I learned so much in this class and it really opened my mind up to how Europe vs. developing countries developed. It seems like its hard to get an A but really easy to get a B. Jon Shoup is an AMAZING TA- and get a good one because they grade everything. All grades are based off writing-Quiz, midterm, paper, final. The questions are very predictable and are not hard but you have to write very thoroughly to get a A. The lectures are summarized really well on his slides, which he posts online. There is alot of material and Waldner is a VERY entertaining lecturer but the material seems so much more complicated in lecture than it really is. Recommended.

this class was way too vague. It's very hard to get an A which is really frustrating. I took this class for fun and sincerly regret that...

This is an awesome class. Prof. Waldner is an engaging lecturer . . . knows the material like the back of his hand, cracks jokes, drops the f-bomb. All lectures are power-points, about 2 hours of reading a week, quiz/midterm/final based on long essay questions which are relatively easy if you just study the lectures and readings.

This class was pretty easy if you understood the concepts, there's very little fact memorization if at all. Tests are just essays. There is a TON of reading but you can get by without reading most of it, especially because Jon went over the readings in our discussion section really well. Waldner has a strong personality and a wide vocabulary... It makes for a fairly entertaining lecture. Jon was a good TA

This course is a lot of fun and incredibly interesting. Professor Waldner is a very good lecturer and makes class enjoyable. This class very well may change the way you look at politics throughout the world.

Great lecturer, can skip class cause he puts the slides up online. Very interesting material and I would reccomend this class to anyone interested in the history of the formation of the modern state. Discussion sections help alot.

this class sparked my interest in politics

This was a pretty good class, Waldner makes you look at World history and its political structure in a really interesting way. There was an excessive amount of reading that was really unnecessary, the lecture material is what is important.

There is considerable amount of dense, complicated reading in this class. Nevertheless, the professor is wonderful at elucidating the concepts. Pay attention to the lectures and use them to study for the essays. Do the readings as well; however, you will be better prepared for the exams/ quizzes if you are quite comfortable with the material that he covers in his lectures as he will ask you questions that will be related to lectures. Try to have a good TA who can help you out in times of difficulty.

Phenomenal class that changed the way I looked at history...Waldner was engaging and everything was interesting. It is a lot of material, though, so lots of reading (some worthwhile, some not), but it ends up being okay. Elyssa is the best TA ever!

I didn't care too much for Waldner, but the class is pretty good. It is a broad look at how state development has taken place, and not too difficult. I didn't do the majority of the readings and got an A-. Susan Brewer is a great T.A, she's very helpful and SO nice.

Totally worthwhile class, best class of my first semester. At first I was really intimidated because there's a lot of upperclassmen taking it for a gov't/foreign affairs major, but I got over it. Waldner is an amazing lecturer, gets you really excited about the material. I only did about 1/3 of the reading and got away with an A-, which I think was kind of lucky. The midterm and final are VERY straightforward and fairly graded. I'd say the worst part about the class was the stress of not knowing how to study, but you end up realizing that you've absorbed a lot of info during lecture and if you understand the material, you'll do fine.

Prof Waldner has a very formal approach to material. He doesn't try to be fair to all opinions; he tries to stick to logically sound theories and be factually correct. The most clearly organized course I've taken at UVA.

Great lecturer, at times the material was pretty boring, but he did a good job of presenting it in a clear manner. Elyssa was a great TA and very willing to meet outside of class.

Engaging lecturer but with a manner that might rub you the wrong way. Definitely learned a lot, the class is very structured/organized. Reading varies a lot, some dense and boring, some more interesting.

A lot of reading for a 100 level class. I'd only recommend this class if you're planning to major in politics, specifically comparative. Not too hard, but definitly not an easy A

Professor Waldner is a very engaging speaker, yes. He is also utterly incapabale of presenting material in an unbiased manner. He loves to push his own beliefs on students, and that would be fine if this were an upper-level course, but it is not. If you're expecting a fair, unbiased overview of theories of comparative politics, don't take this class with Waldner.

I loved this class. There is a lot of reading to do that's fairly complex, but the professor and TAs help a lot to explain the material. Professor Waldner is very engaging and his lectures are enjoyable to atttend. A very good overview of comparative politics and a good course for anyone interested in the foreign affairs/comparative politics major

This course is really tough, but totally worth it. Waldner's an engaging speaker, which more than makes up for sometimes boring and long-winded reading. He's really funny. Oh, and not all the reading's boring, some stuff, particularly the last article we read, was really good.

This is not your typical intro level course that you expect to be unchallenging and an easy A. You have to work in it, but it is worth it and you learn a good deal. Professor Walder is an excellent teacher and he made lectures funny and interesting. My TA, David Moore, was also very good. It was a big help to go to discussion because he would clarify anything we were unsure about.