PLIR 3060

Difficult class, but doable with a little focused work. Packs a lot into each lecture, but in a good way.

Copeland loves the material and his enthusiasm makes lectures enjoyable to sit through. The reading can be overwhelming and repetitive, and the 10 page take home midterm essay is stressful. Watching Copeland draw his incredible map masterpieces on the board makes going to lecture beyond worth it.

The class is relatively interesting, but Copeland is very biased with his DDT theory. Other levels of analysis (individual and domestic) are often overlooked as a result of his bias. If you like war- go for it. Otherwise, be cognizant!

Fascinating class. Copeland is not biased, he just has his own theory that he offers to you. In fact, he encourages you not to "kow-tow" to the professor (his words) in the 10-page paper. Incredibly knowledgeable about the historical details of all major wars and keeps lecture pretty interesting. Zuri was the best TA I have had to date.

There is considerable amount of reading involved in this class. It is a course that will teach you the main theories in International Relations supplemented with historical readings. Learn to master the theories and use them to make a logical argument with only slight reference to historical evidence for backup. Take Catherine Sanger as your TA as she is an amazing woman who really wants her students to take something out of this class. She is passionate and charismatic.

Copeland is a very dynamic lecturer and presents the material clearly. He offers his own opinions, but unlike many other professors he openly urges you to critically analyze his theory. Fascinating class, even for a non IR major. A+ for Mr. Copeland!

Great class that covers a lot of theory but focuses on case studies. Copeland is a genius. He focuses a lot on his own theory of major war but invites and even encourages you to disagree with him and argue against it. One take home midterm (limit 10 pages) and in class final. Joel was the best TA.

A really interesting class, probably my favorite one this semester.

I think Copeland did a good job making the class interesting to attend. However, the reading was excessive and he needs to take the time to pull out only the useful passages. His dynamic differentials theory is a thought-provoking one and his study of the First World War is unique. However, this theory gets stretched far past its point of usefulness when he uses it to blame the United States for WWII in Japan, the Cold War, and more specifically the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Didn't do the readings, and I'm doing alright. Midterm is a paper, with an in class final.