Professor
Paul Von Blum
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - 3 hours is a really long class, so it was hard to pay attention. prof talks a lot about his own anecdotal experiences, fairly interesting but the length of the class was rough. class is composed of 2 papers with an optional quiz at the end to boost your grade if you wanted to. get a good TA and the papers have prompts from which you can choose 1 prof will use crude language sometimes so don't be taken aback now that you've read this selling "The Sixties Paper" for $15 (bought for $30) and course reader for $30 (brand new condition, bought for $50). shipping is $5, but I'll pay for shipping if you buy both :) **********
Fall 2020 - 3 hours is a really long class, so it was hard to pay attention. prof talks a lot about his own anecdotal experiences, fairly interesting but the length of the class was rough. class is composed of 2 papers with an optional quiz at the end to boost your grade if you wanted to. get a good TA and the papers have prompts from which you can choose 1 prof will use crude language sometimes so don't be taken aback now that you've read this selling "The Sixties Paper" for $15 (bought for $30) and course reader for $30 (brand new condition, bought for $50). shipping is $5, but I'll pay for shipping if you buy both :) **********
Most Helpful Review
Von Blum was great but DO NOT GET ERIN AS A T.A.!!! Von Blum was an incredible professor, with only 2 papers- no tests- completely manageable work load. He also podcasts his lectures so you can make up any classes you have to miss online. This class would be perfect and an easy A, but Erin, the girl T.A. graded her sections so harshly that her entire class banded together to complain after realizing she did not give a single person in the class a grade higher then a B+ on the midterm paper. In addition to this, she added a zero credit but mandatory presentation to all of her discussion sections. Take Von Blum, but GET ANOTHER T.A. BESIDES ERIN PETTIGREW!!!
Von Blum was great but DO NOT GET ERIN AS A T.A.!!! Von Blum was an incredible professor, with only 2 papers- no tests- completely manageable work load. He also podcasts his lectures so you can make up any classes you have to miss online. This class would be perfect and an easy A, but Erin, the girl T.A. graded her sections so harshly that her entire class banded together to complain after realizing she did not give a single person in the class a grade higher then a B+ on the midterm paper. In addition to this, she added a zero credit but mandatory presentation to all of her discussion sections. Take Von Blum, but GET ANOTHER T.A. BESIDES ERIN PETTIGREW!!!
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - The class itself was really easy. There was only one assignment that we had to complete the entire quarter. It was a 20 page research paper. You do not need to attend his lectures to do well on the paper. If anything, go to office hours to clear up confusion. Other than the light workload, I really did not like the class. He said that we are allowed to freely express our political views in class, but you’re really only allowed to say things that go in line with what he views as correct (left-wing extremism). The other students in the class (who were even farther left) acted as thought police to shut people down who have differing opinions (thoughtcrime). I had to stop going to his lectures because they were basically a 3 hour version of 1984’s “Two Minutes Hate” towards the Republican Party. The only reason why I would take this class again is because it is 5 units of easy A.
Winter 2021 - The class itself was really easy. There was only one assignment that we had to complete the entire quarter. It was a 20 page research paper. You do not need to attend his lectures to do well on the paper. If anything, go to office hours to clear up confusion. Other than the light workload, I really did not like the class. He said that we are allowed to freely express our political views in class, but you’re really only allowed to say things that go in line with what he views as correct (left-wing extremism). The other students in the class (who were even farther left) acted as thought police to shut people down who have differing opinions (thoughtcrime). I had to stop going to his lectures because they were basically a 3 hour version of 1984’s “Two Minutes Hate” towards the Republican Party. The only reason why I would take this class again is because it is 5 units of easy A.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - This guy cares about his students. Period. You would have to try your hardest if you wanted a poor grade in this class. 1. Show up 2. No hw 3. Final paper is your entire grade. Not a tough grader at all. You always pick the topic of your own paper. 4. One quiz, worth 5% of your grade. THIS MAN IS AN ANGEL!
Fall 2020 - This guy cares about his students. Period. You would have to try your hardest if you wanted a poor grade in this class. 1. Show up 2. No hw 3. Final paper is your entire grade. Not a tough grader at all. You always pick the topic of your own paper. 4. One quiz, worth 5% of your grade. THIS MAN IS AN ANGEL!
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - Professor Von Blum is amazing!! He really cares about all of his students! Classes can feel a little long, and he doesn't record/post any slides. No midterm/final just 2 papers (which he assigns with enough time) and one final quiz so you need to have a basic understanding of the material (films and books) to do well.
Fall 2023 - Professor Von Blum is amazing!! He really cares about all of his students! Classes can feel a little long, and he doesn't record/post any slides. No midterm/final just 2 papers (which he assigns with enough time) and one final quiz so you need to have a basic understanding of the material (films and books) to do well.
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