This class was pretty straightforward. The readings were A LOT but I definitely didn't do them all. Attendance and participation was 40% of our final grade while two 5-6 page papers were 30% each. The participation included emailing him two analytical/reflective questions about the week's readings. We would have to submit them the night before class. We then discuss each reading one by one during the seminar. I would only say one comment every other week or so because I get a little anxious when I speak up in class so I'm not sure how that affected my participation grade. The prompts for the papers were clear and it was just us making an argument using evidence from the various readings. The final paper did confuse me a little though because I felt like it was kind of the same as the midterm prompt, just worded differently. But on the first paper I got a 90% and the second one I got a 94%. My final grade was a 92% so I'm not sure if he really ended up including the attendance and participation grade. I'd say this was a pretty chill 191 seminar and the material was interesting. I'd take a class with Posner again for sure.

Do not take this class with Posner. You may be tempted to because of IDS 120, which he teaches very effectively. However, you will be severely disappointed with IDS 191. The subject matter may sound interesting, but it is far from it. You will have an average of 150 pages of reading a week from difficult sources. These include 30+ page studies from economics journals. You will then have to show up to a 3 hour class (only once a week) to talk about these boring readings.

Posner is a really nice professor and he cares about his students, but the subject material will make the midterm and final take home essays difficult. The prompts are not straight forward or easy, they are more like puzzles you have to figure out.

It would help if the subject matter was more interesting than it seemed, but as a senior, you will not enjoy this class.