Personally, I thought this class quite easy; everything you need to know is on the powerpoints, tests are open note, and the TA's are more than willing to help you work out paper topics and arguments. Which reminds me, GO TO YOUR TA BEFORE YOU TURN IN PAPERS. It's not that the papers are hard, but there is a direct correlation between doing really well and seeing your TA. I thought the reading was minuscule, but that might be because I am a history major and am just used to it. Overall the class had a good atmosphere, but not the most fulfilling. I know that once I realized Bird would just say what's on the powerpoints and post them online, I stopped taking notes. But, he is quite funny and the discussion Democracy at the end of the semester will make you think. Good class for first years if you make use of your TA's office hours.

Readings are tough and PDFs of lectures can be daunting as well. To get the most out of this course, you really need to go to class. Bird is truly one of the best professors at UVA.

Great professor! Definitely recommend to people

very thought-provoking. the material was often difficult for a 101 course but bird and the ta's made it much more digestable

This course was surprisingly difficult for a 101... Bird is interesting and super quirky- which can sometimes get annoying, especially at 9am... Ana was just as hyper as Bird, but she was definitely helpful as a TA. The readings are interesting for the most part, but not really necessary as the information is on the Powerpoint slides which Bird puts up right after lecture. The Midterm and Final are open note, which is great, but are still graded fairly difficultly. The papers are interesting and doable.

Professor Bird is a very charismatic lecturer. I enjoyed the course & I really recommend Callum as a TA.

Bird is an extremely energetic and engaging professor. There is a decent amount of reading but you don't have to finish it since he summarizes it in lecture. He tends to read directly off his powerpoints which he posts on collab so lecture isnt necessary anyway. Overall, Bird is a great professor and his class is definitely worth taking.

The material is rather dense but you have to get a good TA-makes the class great

Bird is a funny guy. Lectures were great, and you learn a lot about distributive justice and democracy. Definitely recommend it.

Just get to the powerpoints, intresting clas though