PLPT 1010

As a 2nd year politics major, this class was a requirement and I went in very close minded. I did none of the readings, attended the 9am lecture maybe six times all semester, barely participated in discussions, and ended up with a B+. So take that as you may.

Tough class overall. As a requirement for politics majors it is a necessary evil as far as GPA, but as far as course material and lecture goes it is really very interesting. Bird is a very approachable professor and has some truly outstanding lectures. Class consists of two graded papers and a final. Learning how to write for this particular class is the key to success. I would recommend just because I enjoyed the material so much.

Very hard to get an A, but such a worthwhile class. Bird is amazing and so intelligent and the class really forces you to think and open your mind. Topics and discussions were fantastic and I learned so much. Ross is great, a tough grader, but very helpful and knowledgeable

First off, only take this class if you are a politics major and need the three credits of PLPT to fulfill your major requirements. Bird makes it almost impossible to get an A unless you are a gift from god. Grade based off 2 papers and an open note, short answer final. Doing the reading is completely unncessary because Bird's powerpoints (which he posts online) tell you everything you should have gotten out of the reading. An A- is definitely possible if you are great at bsing and know enough about politics to pull your bsing material from. Sadly, this is honestly a GPA killer despite being a 1010 class. If you're looking for an easy politics 1010 class, take any of the other 3, just not this one.

Porfessor Bird is awesome. I took the class as a 9am my first year and really enjoyed coming to class (attendance is necessary for an A becuase he asks questions about random stuff in the class during TA sessions). The class has 2 papers and an open note final. He puts up all his powerpoints after every week so you can use those when taking the final as well. Your grading is based entirely on your TA. I had Andrew Gates and he was amazing! I heard Ross Mittiga and Harrison Frye are good too. If you are thinking of applying to the PPL major TAKE THIS CLASS! Professor Bird is the PPL director so if you do not enjoy the material covered in this class PPL is not for you.

Prof. Bird is a really cool dude. He is easy to listen to; however, he typically just reads off the power points and goes so fast that it's impossible to copy, even a summary, down. Two papers and a final is a very typical grading scheme. The final was much easier than the papers because it was open-notes and he provides sample questions beforehand. Lectures gave me a good grasp of the information. I had William Sbach as my TA and I would not, under any circumstances, recommend him. His grading was extremely arbitrary and he was not clear in his expectations. On my second paper, I went to him, multiple times, for guidance and each time I went back, he complimented my paper more and more, eventually saying that my paper saw huge improvement and he expected to give it a good grade. When I got it back, it was covered in red, with most of his critiques stemming from things that he initially told me were good points. I will never take another class with him again and I would strongly urge others to not do so as well.

Professor Bird is a great teacher, this course is a lot of fun. However i did not like that there were only three assignments. Two papers and a final. The first paper was extremely difficult. The final is open note and open book. Your grade depends on your TA. I had Ross. He is a nice guy and knows his stuff, but grades very very harshly, especially for an intro course. Would not recommend him.

Going into this class, I was thinking that it would just be a necessary evil of getting a degree in the Politics department. However, I ended up really enjoying this class! Two papers and an open note final. I thought that the first paper was extremely difficult but they other two assignments made up for it easily. The beginning of the course included a lot of dense readings that were hard to get through, but toward the middle and end of the class, we covered much more relevant ideas that you can easily apply to the world you see around you now. I ended up coming out of this class with more knowledge than I ever imagined and really enjoying what I had learned! It definitely opens up your mind to other points of view. HIGHLY recommend and Bird is a ridiculously great professor, he never lacked energy or a good sense of humor. You will not regret it if you go in with the right attitude and put in the work necessary!

This class is not worth your time. Do not take it. Seriously don't do it. You will regret it come end of the semester. Your grade is based entirely on two papers and a final. So basically if you have a bad TA, you get a bad grade. Even though Professor Bird is a nice guy and gives engaging lectures, the overall class is not great. So much reading each week that it becomes impossible to do. Take my advice and stay away from this class.

Professor Bird is a very enthusiastic lecturer, which is especially enjoyable considering his British accent. He did a good job of covering all the material. I liked how he would systematically tear apart every single position/idea we learned about. Even if you are not really a "politics" person, I wouldn't let that stop you from taking the course. I definitely feel better informed about important political issues. The one frustrating aspect of any philosophy-based class is that you just kind of end up going in a circle. Bird is really reasonable about readings, most are quite short. My least favorite part of the course was that there were only 3 grades (2 ~5 page papers and the final).