PLIR 3060

AMAZING CLASS. Really interesting and Copeland is super enthusiastic about the material. You do have to put work in- you can't get by without doing the readings. The paper was scary at first but if you've done the readings its not bad. ONLY TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU CAN HAVE MATT SCROGGS AS YOUR TA. he helped out a lot.

Class was fairly interesting. Going to lecture is very valuable. Do the readings if you don't go to lecture but lecture is valuable and Copeland is really enthusiastic about the topic. He's a little bias towards Dynamic Differentials Theory (his own theory) but if you do the reading you can get away from his biases. Overall an interesting course and I would recommend it to Foreign Affairs and Government majors in particular

AMAZING teacher! He is so excited about the topic and it makes you excited. I would recommend this class to anyone. I came in three weeks late, and missed multiple classes and never felt behind. Writing just for the midterm.

Professor Copeland engages the class in lecture and is very passionate about the subject. Readings are extensive but relevant.

This class is one of the best I have taken at UVA! Professor Copeland is incredibly knowledgable about the material (part of the reading is from his own book on the origins of war) and he has enthusiasm very class that keeps you engaged!! There are extensive and lengthy reading for each week, easily 150-200 pages average, some weeks more some weeks less, but as long as you keep up with it you'll be fine! And there is only a midterm paper of 9 pages and a final of three greenbook essays, plus 25% participation form sections (which is easy and really boosts your grade). If this is a subject material you're interested in I would HIGHLY reccommend this class! Theory is first 35-40% of the class, but last 60% is all application to past and modern cases which is really interesting! Copeland forces you to think of the world system in various ways that expands your personal view and develops your critical thinking skills. Loved this class, and Copeland is great!!

Professor Copeland is awesome and very knowledgable about his field. The class seems daunting at first, because there is a lot of assigned reading, but it is totally worth it. If you can get Jeremiah as your TA, do it. Also, Mr. Copeland is not one to limit the amount of A's that his class can receive. If it is A work, it is A work. With that being said, you have to earn your grade. This was a pretty challenging course, but it was very rewarding and you come out know a lot more about geopolitics.

My class's breakdown included discussion worth 25% of your grade, a midterm worth 35% of your grade, and the final making up the remaining 40%. Take the class.

Every Politics student should take a class with Professor Copeland, he's by far the best professor in the department. He really helps you understand theory and then applies it to a number of historical cases. Midterm is an 8 page paper and final is three in-class essays where he gives you the prompts ahead of time. The only class better than this in the Politics Department is Copeland's 4000 level class

As a politics major I decided to take this class after reading the reviews from 2016. However, this class has drastically changed since then. I HIGHLY recommend finding another class to take. Professor Copeland is incredibly boring and his lectures are dry. To make things worse, he is anti-technology in the class room. All his lectures are spoken with no powerpoint slides and students are prohibited from using laptops in lecture and discussion. Students were expected to print and annotate each weeks readings (100+) and bring them to discussion. TA's were ok depending who you had, grading was fair.

WOW. This class is still as difficult as ever. Fortunately, I have a suspicion that this will remain one of my favorite classes I've taken at UVA, long after I've graduated. As my first Politics class, the amount of readings this class required completely slammed me, however, I've never been more interested in the course-content of a class. Prof. Copeland was just an enigma to watch. He knows his stuff so well and can explain it so articulately, that you're never quite able to look away during lectures. This is not a class where you can skip lectures, as main arguments are elucidated during those, something very important for sifting out which aspects of your super long readings are more necessary than others. The Midterm paper and prepping for the Final will consume your every thought for the week leading up to it, but thankfully, that only happens twice a semester. I can't emphasize enough how much unduly stress this course will put you through, but if you're truly interested in war theory, it's definitely a "hard work pays off" type of class instead. I would recommend going into the class with a fairly concrete sense of geopolitics and an already natural effort of paying attention to current affairs, because having background knowledge is important in examining case studies, but I didn't have the pre-requisite of having taken one PLIR class before and was just fine!

Lectures were super engaging and easy to follow, the material is admittedly quite difficult and you MUST do the readings in order to follow along in lecture + pull off higher than a C on the exams (which are all essays). However, the content is very interesting and I highly recommend to anyone interested in world affairs + global politics. Was a bit peeved that we had to purchase his own book, but much of the second half of the course comes from it and it is interesting. Only criticism is that nothing is posted so attendance is necessary.