PLCP 3120

Professor Schwartz is super funny and interesting... only wears Hawaiian shirts to class. His class is highly dependent on a paper you write for the class that is worth 70% of your grade in the class. It is on a topic of your choice that relates to the welfare state. I am happy with my grade but it was one of the most difficult & complex assignments that I've done at UVA (highly rewarding though). In terms of the class itself, it definitely gets down in the weeds but Herman is brilliant and knows the answer to every question. There is no test done on any material in class so if you don't pay attention or do readings, the only thing you'll hurt is how much you can learn. A little bit boring for sure but def gave me some awesome insights... grading not too bad either. Highly recommend if interested in politics

If you’re curious about the more sophisticated arguments for socialism, this is the class for you. I learned a lot about how welfare works and appreciated how Prof. Schwartz debunked common myths. However, he is extremely dismissive of any opinion other than his own and completely misrepresents conservatives on the few occasions he mentions them, often attributing racist or anti-poor sentiments to motivations for decentralized or free-market solutions to welfare problems. It's very tough to get an A because the TAs grade the term papers very harshly. There are 2 open-note reading quizzes instead of tests though, and no final. But be warned there is a lot of dense reading. The big assignment is a 3000 word term paper that you can split in two parts across the semester. I ended up learning a decent amount about welfare, but only take this class if you are really interested in it.
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