Professor
Andrew Sabl
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Most Helpful Review
Sabl is an incredibly knowledeable and interesting man who has been cursed with a horribly boring voice and an odd sense of humor that only those at his level of nerdiness find interesting. I took PS10 with him, and fell asleep in several lectures, but the few times I managed to stay awake and pay attention, I realized he knew what he was speaking of and found what he said actually really helpful in understanding the readings. He assigns a lot of them (a total of five books for PS10), but because the tests are multiple-essays with several questions to chose from, you can get away with doing close readings on only a few of them and skimming through the rest. My suggestion for anyone taking his class: know at least what readings are being discussed for the week, and take an energy drink with you to lecture.
Sabl is an incredibly knowledeable and interesting man who has been cursed with a horribly boring voice and an odd sense of humor that only those at his level of nerdiness find interesting. I took PS10 with him, and fell asleep in several lectures, but the few times I managed to stay awake and pay attention, I realized he knew what he was speaking of and found what he said actually really helpful in understanding the readings. He assigns a lot of them (a total of five books for PS10), but because the tests are multiple-essays with several questions to chose from, you can get away with doing close readings on only a few of them and skimming through the rest. My suggestion for anyone taking his class: know at least what readings are being discussed for the week, and take an energy drink with you to lecture.
Most Helpful Review
i took M115b with Sabl and overall most of the topics we discussed in class were very interesting. Sabl was very enthusiastic about teaching and always like to end his lectures with a very dramatic statement. He didn't post the lecture slides online so it was very important to go to all the lectures. Also his slides were very vague and only included a very brief overall ouline of the lecture so it is important to pay close attention and take notes. The course consisted of three papers and a final. The paper topics were not that difficult and for the second and third papers he gave several prompts/topics to choose from. There were about six different books and a course reader required for the course. I found many of the readings very difficult to understand and didn't get much out of reading them. It was much more important to go to lecture and discussion. The final consists of 2 essays and you are expected to reference the readings throughout the entire course. Sabl does not give a review or outline for the final of what is important for the final because he says that "everything from the entire course is important that is why i taught it in the first place." overall not a bad class and i ended up with a b+
i took M115b with Sabl and overall most of the topics we discussed in class were very interesting. Sabl was very enthusiastic about teaching and always like to end his lectures with a very dramatic statement. He didn't post the lecture slides online so it was very important to go to all the lectures. Also his slides were very vague and only included a very brief overall ouline of the lecture so it is important to pay close attention and take notes. The course consisted of three papers and a final. The paper topics were not that difficult and for the second and third papers he gave several prompts/topics to choose from. There were about six different books and a course reader required for the course. I found many of the readings very difficult to understand and didn't get much out of reading them. It was much more important to go to lecture and discussion. The final consists of 2 essays and you are expected to reference the readings throughout the entire course. Sabl does not give a review or outline for the final of what is important for the final because he says that "everything from the entire course is important that is why i taught it in the first place." overall not a bad class and i ended up with a b+
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Most Helpful Review
Great professor. Professor Sable's class is very insightful: he delves into the heart of issues such as: philosophy, economics, politics, war and social issues. HNRS 173 is a small lecture style class so the setting afforded him with the ability to philosophize on the issues rather than run through them quickly like in larger lecture style class. In this environment, Professor Sable clearly evinces his high level of education, however I can't say if he exudes this knowledge as effectively in a larger class. Class breakdown: read the assigned pages, discuss the readings (he hands out questions for that week to be discussed, so everything is organized), bring your books to every class and participate. Although, he doesn't appreciate any nonsensical comments which can't be supported by the book. Literally, he will ask you where in the book can you find support for your claim? Grading: I consider him a stickler-professor when it comes to grading essays and grammar. Sometimes I did great and other times not so great. After taking his class, your writing will improve by at least twofold. He has higher expectations when it comes to writing so be open-minded and don't shy away from asking him for help. Overall, great class! It is a disservice to yourself if you don't take this class, especially if you're a poli sci, philosophy, or history major.
Great professor. Professor Sable's class is very insightful: he delves into the heart of issues such as: philosophy, economics, politics, war and social issues. HNRS 173 is a small lecture style class so the setting afforded him with the ability to philosophize on the issues rather than run through them quickly like in larger lecture style class. In this environment, Professor Sable clearly evinces his high level of education, however I can't say if he exudes this knowledge as effectively in a larger class. Class breakdown: read the assigned pages, discuss the readings (he hands out questions for that week to be discussed, so everything is organized), bring your books to every class and participate. Although, he doesn't appreciate any nonsensical comments which can't be supported by the book. Literally, he will ask you where in the book can you find support for your claim? Grading: I consider him a stickler-professor when it comes to grading essays and grammar. Sometimes I did great and other times not so great. After taking his class, your writing will improve by at least twofold. He has higher expectations when it comes to writing so be open-minded and don't shy away from asking him for help. Overall, great class! It is a disservice to yourself if you don't take this class, especially if you're a poli sci, philosophy, or history major.
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Sabl's Poli Sci 10 class was a good, straightforward class. He is an extremely droll speaker, and his lectures are very dry and filled with odd jokes that amuse him, and only him, to no end. I found his lectures to be largely useless, and I stopped attending them as soon as I determined that they weren't worthwhile (along with most of the rest of the class, apparently, as he sent out an email partway through the quarter complaining about the poor attendance, and requesting that we start coming to lecture again). His assigned readings were partly good and partly bad. Partly bad because the material is, unsurprisingly, dry and not as pertinent in our 21st Century society, and partly good because Sabl chooses great translations of these stuffy old politicos. I admittedly did not do all the reading, however I made sure to at least skim each weeks assignment, especially because I had a very good T.A. who made us write a one-page summary of any particular part of the reading that we wanted. This turned out to be a great boon in studying for the final, as I merely reviewed all of my 'favorite bits' from each reading, and was therefore able to expound greatly on what ended up being very broad essay topics, using only a handful of choice examples from each text. The midterm essays also allowed for great freedom, and I chose the topics that pertained to the authors which I found most interesting or, in the case of the second midterm essay, the authors which I had actually skimmed, versus the authors that I had not even picked up. I spent only about 5 hours total on each essay, and received an A grade on both. Do not be afraid about his final, as many people were, because he builds it up to be a very frightening test (he recommended we bring 2 or 3 Blue Books, in order to write more -- a ridiculous precaution), when it consisted of two short essays that had you to pick 1 out of 3 or 4 very broad topics that allowed you to write only on the two or three authors you knew best. So long as you at least skim a majority of his readings, and you have a T.A. who does a decent job of reviewing each author with you, you should fare very well in his Poli Sci 10 class.
Professor Sabl's Poli Sci 10 class was a good, straightforward class. He is an extremely droll speaker, and his lectures are very dry and filled with odd jokes that amuse him, and only him, to no end. I found his lectures to be largely useless, and I stopped attending them as soon as I determined that they weren't worthwhile (along with most of the rest of the class, apparently, as he sent out an email partway through the quarter complaining about the poor attendance, and requesting that we start coming to lecture again). His assigned readings were partly good and partly bad. Partly bad because the material is, unsurprisingly, dry and not as pertinent in our 21st Century society, and partly good because Sabl chooses great translations of these stuffy old politicos. I admittedly did not do all the reading, however I made sure to at least skim each weeks assignment, especially because I had a very good T.A. who made us write a one-page summary of any particular part of the reading that we wanted. This turned out to be a great boon in studying for the final, as I merely reviewed all of my 'favorite bits' from each reading, and was therefore able to expound greatly on what ended up being very broad essay topics, using only a handful of choice examples from each text. The midterm essays also allowed for great freedom, and I chose the topics that pertained to the authors which I found most interesting or, in the case of the second midterm essay, the authors which I had actually skimmed, versus the authors that I had not even picked up. I spent only about 5 hours total on each essay, and received an A grade on both. Do not be afraid about his final, as many people were, because he builds it up to be a very frightening test (he recommended we bring 2 or 3 Blue Books, in order to write more -- a ridiculous precaution), when it consisted of two short essays that had you to pick 1 out of 3 or 4 very broad topics that allowed you to write only on the two or three authors you knew best. So long as you at least skim a majority of his readings, and you have a T.A. who does a decent job of reviewing each author with you, you should fare very well in his Poli Sci 10 class.
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