Vonblum is the kind of professor that you either love or hate, there is no in between. He usually teaches at night, which is great, just one three hour lecture a week. Trust me, you won't fall asleep, because vonblum is extremely loud and passionate when lecturing. The class is very interactive so don't be afraid to speak up. Vonblum does not believe in exams, two papers is all it take plus a few short answer questions on the final day of class. However, to get A's on your paper, you really have to bring your a game and take a stance. Vonblum is very political, left-wing, if you belong to the Tea party, this may not be the class for you. The readings are of secondary importance, but you have to go to lecture. TA takes roll at the discussion sections, so you want to show your face there too. Even though Vonblum is a little too radical for my taste, I admire his passion and intelligence. You will not fall asleep in this class. All in all a great elective for comm majors.

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!!!

VonBlum is definitely atop the list of the best teachers i have ever had in my life. He is the most passionate professor ever! the material for 165 is 1960's history, but boy oh boy does he spice it up. his lecture was 3 hours and it wasn't anything remotely close to too long. i loved every minute of this guy. The TA's determine your grade, so make sure you go to discussion. 2 papers, 50/50 for your grade. They didnt tell us, but make sure you use MLA or APA and they one i had ERIN was a pretty tough grader, but shes super nice and helpful. The paper topics are really broad and they're just looking for creative thinking ideas. GRAMMAR is really important. i got marked down a loooot for grammar that would have been beyond sufficient in most classes. Have people go over your papers, maybe even a tutor. I wouldnt call it an easy A unless your an unbelievable writer. Pretty easy B, but regardless take this class because you truly gain invaluable information that you'll hold with you for the rest of your life.

I loved this class. Very liberal views but from his experiences (which he shares thoroughly during the lectures) you will understand his POV. We had Todd as our T.A and he was an amazing, very cool guy and is really passionate about the material. Todd and Vonblum both do all they can to help you so make sure to go to office hours!

Professor Vonblum is a great man with a strong passion for what he teaches. He taught me a lot about life and he is very admirable. His class consisted of 2 papers along with a 5 question final quiz which was fair. Make sure to do very well on the two papers since those are the only assignments assigned. I had Todd as a T.A. and he was great.

VonBlum is definitely atop the list of the best teachers i have ever had in my life. He is the most passionate professor ever! the material for 165 is 1960's history, but boy oh boy does he spice it up. his lecture was 3 hours and it wasn't anything remotely close to too long. i loved every minute of this guy. The TA's determine your grade, so make sure you go to discussion. 2 papers, 50/50 for your grade. They didnt tell us, but make sure you use MLA or APA and they one i had ERIN was a pretty tough grader, but shes super nice and helpful. The paper topics are really broad and they're just looking for creative thinking ideas. GRAMMAR is really important. i got marked down a loooot for grammar that would have been beyond sufficient in most classes. Have people go over your papers, maybe even a tutor. I wouldnt call it an easy A unless your an unbelievable writer. Pretty easy B, but regardless take this class because you truly gain invaluable information that you'll hold with you for the rest of your life.

A passionate and driven teacher that really wants his students to understand the material. Very nice guy and will definitely keep you awake during class. For the midterm and final he give s you several questions to choose from and you pick one and write a 6-7 page paper. Easy as long as you know what you're talking about and you have good writing skills.

i must say, i STRONGLY disagree with some of the recent comments about prof. von blum. I LIKE THIS TEACHER. for one thing, yes he is quite passionate/loud in lecture, but i didn't mind that. secondly, he definitely lets people voice their opinions, in class and also in their papers, even when they disagree with him. there is testimony on this page from people who have disagreed with him and gotten an A. for those of you upset by his opinions but unable to formulate effective responses to them, maybe you should work on that or reexamine your beliefs. it's true he doesn't cover the readings very thoroughly in lecture, but if you read them on your own, you might find them valuable - i did. i like hearing from someone who isn't afraid to admit he has an opinion. the class is thought-provoking and although he might seem like an agitated guy, he is friendly in office hours and has good reasons for his views. he is also smart and aware that many students probably get out of class and spend their free time talking on cell phones and partying and rarely considering issues of social justice, but some people do care, and for those people especially, his classes are fun and perhaps inspiring. the grades and discussion section experience depend largely on the TAs, and i had a bad TA a couple years ago but this past quarter, they were good.

Von Blum was cool. I liked how he lectured because he really broke everything down and form the beginning, he said that he didn't want us to take notes - just to listen to his lecture. His assignments (a midterm and final paper) weren't hard - they were actually fun because they were basically you just voicing your opinion. I just hated that the class was blankin' 3 hours long... I can't handle any class that long... Over-all, I recommend Von Blum.
And John the TA is DA BOMB!!!! He's sooooo cool and personable! If you have a choice, choose him!!!!!!!

this class has absolutely zero academic worth. if you want to hear a man preach to the choir for three hours, then take him. he offers NO insight into assigned readings...or anything for that matter. other than being male, he's essentially a professor prover. working the crowd with loud and "provocative" statements, devoid of any intellectual insights, but full of entertaining soundbites. i have so many problems with this man's ability as a professor, but ill just throw this one out there. for two weeks or so, he goes off on how despicable the university system is for producing conformist, mindless, cookie-cutter images of students...but when he has his captive audience, he encourages the same thing. he urges conformity with his opinions and unquestioning acceptance of all things liberal. on the other hand, the class is easy...not hard on the readings, papers are uncritically and easily graded, and the final quiz is a joke. if you dont want to be challenged or stimulated in any way except to how pathetic it is that he teaches here, then go ahead and take him.