PLIR 2050

This class is great if you're interested in economics and/or foreign affairs. You do not need to have much background in economics to take it. You will learn a lot, Pandya is a pretty good lecturer (can be a bit dry sometimes, but she definitely cares about the success of her students). Make sure to go to lecture and take notes-- lots of notes. Otherwise, readings aren't really that necessary. Assignments include Memos (basically current events that you relate to the class) and 2 exams (including final). Class is averaged to a B-

Get Brenton as your TA. He is the best TA I have ever had, hands down.

If you know about econ or if you are interested in it, this is a really easy but also interesting class.
You don't have to do the readings but I found them interesting so I did all of them.
The memos are easy to write because you can pick a topic of your choosing and you get a structure in advance.

This class is a great intro to economics, especially if you don’t have much background in it. As a foreign affairs major, I really enjoyed how it tied economics to international relations—it made the material feel super relevant and interesting.
The lectures were good and covered key theories with examples, but they didn’t always go super in-depth, and sometimes the professor’s explanations weren’t super clear so the readings were really helpful for understanding the material better and filling in any gaps.

The assignments were pretty doable. The policy memo wasn’t too hard, but we didn’t get much help or guidance on it. The midterm was tricky because what we were told to prepare for didn’t match what was expected... That being said, the final was straightforward and manageable within the three hours if you knew your stuff and paced yourself.

Overall, I’d recommend this class!

Signed up for this class as a first-year, so overall wasn't super sure what to expect. I expected it to be a little more math-based, but it was more policy-based based which was actually quite interesting too. The premise of the class is quite interesting as it is about finding the reason behind why many times countries don't necessarily take the most optimal (from a pure economic standpoint) choices.

For the class, the work isn't too hard. You must take notes on paper, so be prepared to do that. Your notes can be helpful, mostly just writing down any additional examples she might have, it's pretty hard to really capture everything as she moves very fast. Sometimes her explanations can be confusing, and asking her afterwards doesn't really answer your question or clarify, but the TAs are very helpful and also know what they are doing, so just ask them instead. Overall, the slides are helpful, but can be confusing as sometimes they have definitions that are a little oversimplified compared to what the textbook says. The textbook is lengthy, but skimming and reading can suffice. There are also additional readings that can be pretty lengthy, but once again, getting the gist of it should be good, and picking out an example or key ideas is good enough. There are some concepts that can be easily mixed up, but reading the book helps. Grades consist mostly of the midterms and final + policy memo. Grading, like many classes, is dependent on the TA, but should be fine. Midterm setups are words chosen from a preset list of ID terms, and then an essay usually asks to explain something, make sure to include specific examples, and involve relevant terms. Overall, not a bad course; however, Professor Pandya does move pretty quickly, so be prepared.