Professor
Lynn Vavreck
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Winter 2019 - The graded material for this class includes the following: 2 exams (worth 20% each), two papers (one worth 15% and the other 25%), and participation (worth 20%). There were two books for this class, the main textbook and then another book that we were supposed to read for discussion. You probably need to actually have both of these unfortunately. The first exam was based on lecture and reading material. You might be able to get by without reading but there were a couple questions on the exam that weren't in lecture, so I would recommend reading. I don't think there was anything too tricky about the exam, it included term definition and a couple short answer questions. The second exam, at least the quarter I took the class, did not require knowledge of course material at all. Like I didn't do any of the readings the second half of the class and it didn't matter. It presented you with a graph and you had to answer some questions about it. We were given 5 graphs ahead of time to study and ask questions about and then one of those was used on the exam. The first paper was pretty straightforward and required us to analyze a graph (based on polling data) that they gave us. I was a bit confused on how to structure the paper but went to office hours and a TA was able to clear it up pretty nicely. The final paper required us to use a bit more creativity; we had to come up with a potential slogan and message for a presidential candidate. You're provided with clear instructions on how to do this well so it's not too difficult. I believe the final paper our quarter was different than the previous so it might change. Your participation grade comes from discussion. You are only allowed one unexcused absence from discussion. Just showing up isn't enough to earn you participation points; the TA actually keeps track of how many times you talk. Some of the discussions were based off of reading, so you probably need to at least partially do the reading so that you can contribute. Part of our participation grade also comes from three short, 600-word essays we had to turn in during discussion; these were about our upbringing, beliefs, etc, so were pretty easy to write. Professor Vavreck is the best! I've never seen someone so enthusiastic about the Constitution.She is so well-versed in the topics of this class, it never ceased to amaze me. Her presentations were always well organized and always seemed to be exactly timed to fit the length of the class. When she spoke, I almost felt as if she were giving a performance rather than a lecture, as it was so entertaining and well thought out.
Winter 2019 - The graded material for this class includes the following: 2 exams (worth 20% each), two papers (one worth 15% and the other 25%), and participation (worth 20%). There were two books for this class, the main textbook and then another book that we were supposed to read for discussion. You probably need to actually have both of these unfortunately. The first exam was based on lecture and reading material. You might be able to get by without reading but there were a couple questions on the exam that weren't in lecture, so I would recommend reading. I don't think there was anything too tricky about the exam, it included term definition and a couple short answer questions. The second exam, at least the quarter I took the class, did not require knowledge of course material at all. Like I didn't do any of the readings the second half of the class and it didn't matter. It presented you with a graph and you had to answer some questions about it. We were given 5 graphs ahead of time to study and ask questions about and then one of those was used on the exam. The first paper was pretty straightforward and required us to analyze a graph (based on polling data) that they gave us. I was a bit confused on how to structure the paper but went to office hours and a TA was able to clear it up pretty nicely. The final paper required us to use a bit more creativity; we had to come up with a potential slogan and message for a presidential candidate. You're provided with clear instructions on how to do this well so it's not too difficult. I believe the final paper our quarter was different than the previous so it might change. Your participation grade comes from discussion. You are only allowed one unexcused absence from discussion. Just showing up isn't enough to earn you participation points; the TA actually keeps track of how many times you talk. Some of the discussions were based off of reading, so you probably need to at least partially do the reading so that you can contribute. Part of our participation grade also comes from three short, 600-word essays we had to turn in during discussion; these were about our upbringing, beliefs, etc, so were pretty easy to write. Professor Vavreck is the best! I've never seen someone so enthusiastic about the Constitution.She is so well-versed in the topics of this class, it never ceased to amaze me. Her presentations were always well organized and always seemed to be exactly timed to fit the length of the class. When she spoke, I almost felt as if she were giving a performance rather than a lecture, as it was so entertaining and well thought out.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Your grade in this class heavily depends on your TA! For the Fall portion of this cluster, your grade mainly consists of your midterm (an in-class essay), a commercial analysis paper, and a book analysis paper. Your TA grades all of these, so make sure that you form a good relationship with them and go to their office hours in order to make your papers as seamless as possible! There are 4 professors that teach this class, my favorite one being Professor Vavreck, who is super concise and straightforward about the information she presents to you. The other professors are also great, and I highly recommend attending each lecture in order to completely understand the context of the situations you will be writing about. Overall, this portion of the cluster was not bad, though it was definitely a lot of work to get through. I would mainly recommend this class in order to secure 6 units and to knock off some GEs.
Fall 2021 - Your grade in this class heavily depends on your TA! For the Fall portion of this cluster, your grade mainly consists of your midterm (an in-class essay), a commercial analysis paper, and a book analysis paper. Your TA grades all of these, so make sure that you form a good relationship with them and go to their office hours in order to make your papers as seamless as possible! There are 4 professors that teach this class, my favorite one being Professor Vavreck, who is super concise and straightforward about the information she presents to you. The other professors are also great, and I highly recommend attending each lecture in order to completely understand the context of the situations you will be writing about. Overall, this portion of the cluster was not bad, though it was definitely a lot of work to get through. I would mainly recommend this class in order to secure 6 units and to knock off some GEs.
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Winter 2023 - this class was, 4 all purposes, a continuation of the required class from the previous quarter: 60a. the class continued 2 meet on tues and thurs 4 non-mandatory lectures from 9:30 am 2 10:45 am in de neve auditorium (supes convenient if u live in the dorms on the hill - especially if u live in de neve!!) and 4 1 hr 45 min mandatory discussions whose times varied depending on the teaching assistant in question. weekly readings continue 2 b excessive 4 a ge but expected 4 a cluster. j skim the texts (sometimes i even j glanced at the 1st and last page of them) and watch vids on 2x speed (i even put them on in the background while i did other hw although im not sure how effective this was...). the only major differences were as follows: weekly reading assigments were no longer assigned/mandatory/due and the final paper was replaced with a final exam. additionally, the midterm and final for the quarter were cumulative based off of the mandatory pre-requisite course from the past quarter (60a) meaning all the content from both quarters was subject 2 appear on both tests, making them slightly harder than those from the previous quarter. as before, however, simply studying basic key concepts and knowing the music section well (i believe there r many spotify study playlists already available although the songs may vary with each iteration of the course) should be enough to amply prepare u 4 all assesments. there r other papers but these r ez as long as u implement time management, as w any class. there is also 1 mandatory movie viewing outside of normal class hours (in the evening) at the de neve auditorium. while it is easy 2 get an excuse 4, it was pretty entertaining so I wld def recommend going if u have the time 2 do so. as 4 prof vavreck specifically, i found her lectures v interesting and engaging. professor vavreck always led lecture with great energy, enthusiasm, although this passion sometimes resulted in her not being able 2 finish all of the slides she had prepared 4 the day or otherwise holding the class over past when it was scheduled 2 finish and we were meant 2 depart.
Winter 2023 - this class was, 4 all purposes, a continuation of the required class from the previous quarter: 60a. the class continued 2 meet on tues and thurs 4 non-mandatory lectures from 9:30 am 2 10:45 am in de neve auditorium (supes convenient if u live in the dorms on the hill - especially if u live in de neve!!) and 4 1 hr 45 min mandatory discussions whose times varied depending on the teaching assistant in question. weekly readings continue 2 b excessive 4 a ge but expected 4 a cluster. j skim the texts (sometimes i even j glanced at the 1st and last page of them) and watch vids on 2x speed (i even put them on in the background while i did other hw although im not sure how effective this was...). the only major differences were as follows: weekly reading assigments were no longer assigned/mandatory/due and the final paper was replaced with a final exam. additionally, the midterm and final for the quarter were cumulative based off of the mandatory pre-requisite course from the past quarter (60a) meaning all the content from both quarters was subject 2 appear on both tests, making them slightly harder than those from the previous quarter. as before, however, simply studying basic key concepts and knowing the music section well (i believe there r many spotify study playlists already available although the songs may vary with each iteration of the course) should be enough to amply prepare u 4 all assesments. there r other papers but these r ez as long as u implement time management, as w any class. there is also 1 mandatory movie viewing outside of normal class hours (in the evening) at the de neve auditorium. while it is easy 2 get an excuse 4, it was pretty entertaining so I wld def recommend going if u have the time 2 do so. as 4 prof vavreck specifically, i found her lectures v interesting and engaging. professor vavreck always led lecture with great energy, enthusiasm, although this passion sometimes resulted in her not being able 2 finish all of the slides she had prepared 4 the day or otherwise holding the class over past when it was scheduled 2 finish and we were meant 2 depart.
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