COLA 1500

Professor Smith is just the best. The course is less a COLA than it is his teaching about the ethics of decisionmaking and politics, based on reading some books, articles, and movies. He's incredibly smart and funny, but you have to like his sense of humor. Popular with the pre-PST crowd. Definitely a higher reading load than the average COLA, but the classes are so fun and engaging. He also is immensely helpful in choosing classes--he knows everything about everyone at UVA. 10/10 would recommend.

The topic of my COLA class, Dilemmas in Conscience and Politics, was an absolutely great one that Professor Smith was very knowledgable on. You could immediately tell how smart Smith is and he does a great job of conveying his thoughts to his students. Though sometimes intimidating, he is very invested in his students and their well-being. This class made me look at the world differently and it challenged my own beliefs - highly recommend to all students. Professor Smith made our small-sized class open to all types of discussion and changed the course as we went along according to what the students were interested in - very unique. Be prepared to do a fair amount of reading and a lot of talking in class - it is solely a discussion class. All first years should take a COLA!

Professor Smith is an incredibly quirky and, in my opinion, interesting teacher. The course is probably a little excessive for a one credit class (a book a week, and a fiveish page paper at the end of the semester), but I found our discussions enjoyable and worthwhile. I wouldn't suggest this class to anyone who doesn't like talking, as a majority of your grade depends on your ability to interact and discuss the materials covered; however, I would suggest taking this class if you're an outgoing person who enjoys interacting with other students and can manage the courseload, because it really is an interesting topic of study and Smith is truly a good advisor and professor.

Professor Smith is not a good advisor. When it came time to sign up for classes, he gave everyone the option of simply saying they didn't need advisement and he would waive their requirement of speaking to him. He barely knew anything about departments that weren't related to political philosophy etc. but did know professors pretty well. He was really rude throughout the year and during discussions he would cut you off and scold you for using the word "like" or "mumbling." The COLA was way too much work for a one credit class, and throughout the year you would pretty much have to read a book each week for the discussion. A couple of the readings were interesting but the rest were hard to get through like Burger's Daughter and Death and the King's Horseman, (weird writing styles). You were required to write two 5 ish page papers. Again, too much work for a COLA. Wouldn't recommend.

Professor Smith is a really cool guy, and incredibly well-read. He has high standards and is a little quirky (specified the exact font he wanted us to use on our papers, for example). The course readings were very interesting and discussions were usually quite engaging. It was a lot of time reading for a 1-credit course, but worth it because the books made you think and being in a seminar with Smith was a valuable 1st-year experience. Also, he has been at UVA for a long time and knows professors in many other departments which was really helpful during advising sessions.

Smith is an interesting guy, but can get a bit nitpick-y, especially when it comes to your writing, so be careful. The reading was manageable with my schedule but I don't know if it was really worthy of only a 1 credit class.. especially because we didn't really ever talk about the "advising" part of the seminar. Ever. Great seminar, bad COLA.