PLCP 4140

Prof. Waldner is an absolute gem. A lot of teachers are committed to the course material, and that's perfectly fine. Waldner loves the material, too, but he's also 100 percent committed to training students. If he keeps the class the same, you'll read a book each week making some type of argument related to the formation/fall of democracy/dictatorship in a given region of the world. You'll write a 500 word response paper eight of those weeks critiquing those books. And once you're in class, Waldner takes the gloves off and gets you to think about all the potential strengths and weaknesses of each argument. You'll learn a ton about comparative politics, yes, but more than anything, this class gets you to think critically about claims academics and people in general make. Wonderful class and professor

This was honestly the best Politics class I've taken at UVA, and I'm a Foreign Affairs major. Professor Waldner is a great guy, really makes you think, and really goofy. I learned so much in this class. That being said, it was a lot of work. We read a book a week (~250 pages) and wrote a 500 word max essay about each one. We were allowed to skip writing an essay for 4 weeks, so we wrote 8 essays in total and one of the grades was dropped. Hence, the grade was made up of 7 essays, each 10%. We were supposed to have a final that was worth 30% on the last day of class, but when we got to class to take the final he said we had done all the work for this class already and didn't have to take it (would've been an open note essay for which we got the question ahead of time). Therefore, our grade ended up consisting of the 7 essay grades + participation. He is such an understanding, intelligent, and funny guy. I HATE class participation (I've always struggled to get myself to do it), but he made me want to participate (something I never thought I'd say). I'd honestly recommend this class to anyone willing to do the work. It is definitely worth it. You will learn so much on how to critically evaluate and analyze arguments/theories.

I really enjoyed this class, Waldner does a great job of explaining the material and making it accessible, as well as leading class discussions. Our grade was based on four 500 word papers, and while it wasn't that bad, it was difficult to condense a paper into 500 words. Overall, I learned a lot and it was a fun seminar to go to.

Great class, only 4, 500 word essays make up the entire grade. Waldner is very accessible and class discussion (this is a seminar) is great.

On a side note, Waldner is hilarious and really opens up a few weeks into the class. Dont let his gruff nature scare you off the first few weeks.