This class wasn't at all what I was expecting when I enrolled in it. I did read reviews prior but didn't understand how his journalistic perspective or outlook could actually shape the class. There was a ton of reading, much of which had nothing to do with the four writing assignments throughout the quarter. The quantity of readings per class was excessive, but if you like participating in a small class discussion then doing them may be helpful. He does not lecture, and that was something difficult to overcome because I personally love taking notes and learn better through lectures with slides rather than through the views and opinions on what my classmates thought about the reading for the entire class period. The grading for the assignments fluctuates and is really unpredictable, especially because he grades on creativity and accuracy which seems difficult to balance perfectly. Guest speakers were a highlight of this class, and the fact that he is an accomplished journalist himself. Maybe this course just wasn't my cup of tea because I prefer a more struct academic environment and look to lectures to provide more structure. I was initially very interested in this topic before this course, but the more American government courses I seem to take here, the more I regret my major.

This class was a joke. The professor assigns roughly 8-12 different readings per class, many of which are well over 20-30 pages. In total, you are expected to read (or skim as some people say) over 100 and sometimes over 200 pages per class. However, the problem with the class is that these readings (and even the lectures) are completely useless in your grade. There are about 4-5 writing assignments that make up your entire grade, and the papers are not related to the lecture material at all. The final paper is a research paper, (which is about any president from the 20th century) so most of what you actually learn is self-taught.) Also, there are no lectures, just discussion about the readings (most of which never even get talked about because there are so many). It's not very hard to get a good grade (given you are good at writing) but the lectures (which are actually discussions so you don't learn anything there either) and readings are just completely unrelated to the assignments. Luckily, I figured this out in week 4, when I stopped doing the readings or attending lecture completely. I have never done this in any other class, but the amount of readings assigned and my lack of time to spend 4-5 hours reading for each class was enough to make me stop even going. Also, if you don't do the readings, the lectures make even less sense because the entire discussion is mostly student-run discussion about the readings (which are horrible because nobody talks because nobody can finish all the readings). There are break out rooms every class, and a bunch of time is wasted. The material was interesting, but the professor really went with quantity over quality in this one and I would not take it again, even though I got an A with minimal work.

BEST PROFESSOR EVER. Take him when you get the chance!! Some people have stated that he gives out too much papers to work on but its really easy. He also assigns readings (which may be a lot but you can skim through it). The prompt for the papers are really straightforward. There are papers that are 1-2 pages long or 3-5 pages long (which is not bad). He also has a final paper that is 12-15 pages but it's about choosing a President like Clinton, Bush, Reagan, etc. So its not bad and really fun. I got to learn a lot from him and props to this professor. You don't have to go to his lectures but you can get extra credit for participation. We do these activities like Defending/Presenting with the readings he assigned us. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND. I wish he had other classes and if he did, I would definitely take him again.